Becoming a Holy Man: the Ethno-Moralistic Shift and the Marginalization of Angelology in Castilian Kabbalistic Intentions for the Qedushah

In their interpretations of the Qedushah prayer, medieval Castilian kabbalists transformed ancient traditions, shifting from angel-centric approaches in ancient Hekhalot sources and German pietism to delve into theosophical sefirot. Castilian Qedushah interpretations integrated angels into theosophy while diminishing their role. Kabbalists connected the recitation of liturgy to the biblical commandment of holiness, preparing the Jewish male body as a sacred vessel through sexual purity and the performance of commandments. Thus they grafted an ethno-moralistic dimension onto the recitation of liturgy, in which the human body and intentions serve as active agents in drawing divine effluence into the material world.