%0 Journal Article
%T “Outside the Natural Order”: Temerl, the Female Hasid
%A Kauffman, Tsippi
%J Studia Judaica
%V 2016
%R 10.4467/24500100STJ.16.004.5350
%N Nr 1 (37)
%P 87-109
%K Keywords: Hasidism, Hasidic story, women, gender, Temerl, Simha Bunem of Przysucha, Josef Perl.
%@ 1506-9729
%D 2016
%U https://ejournals.eu/czasopismo/studia-judaica/artykul/outside-the-natural-order-temerl-the-female-hasid
%X 
	Abstract: Women are far more present in Hasidic tales than they are in Hasidic teachings. Temerl Sonnenberg-Bergson, a famous wealthy patron of Poland’s tsadikim, is the heroine of a number of Hasidic tales. She is esteemed for her support of tsadikim, but is looked upon as a woman who deviates from the rigid social order of which she is a part, making her a threat to community norms. This article focuses on the literary figure of Temerl, who, within Hasidic discourse, comes to represent a kind of hermaphrodite: on the one hand, her wealth augments her material, feminine side and intensifies her sexual attraction; on the other, her power and influence construct her as masculine, casting the tsadik whom she supports in a feminine role which he must strive to overcome.