Mutual responsibility in Kabbalistic thought - ethics, theology and gender

This article explores the evolution of the concept of 'mutual responsibility' from the biblical and Talmudic eras to medieval Kabbalistic literature, and to analyse the notion of arvut and its implications through the prism of gender. I suggest that whereas in the Bible and in rabbinic literature the 'negative' aspect of mutual responsibility was emphasized, with a focus on one's obligation to take responsibility for another's sins or for his soul, in Kabbalistic literature metaphysical and 'positive' aspects of mutual responsibility were developed. I discuss the connection between arvut and the doctrine of gilgul, and other practices such as the Pilgrimage Festival, which illustrates the metaphysical idea of responsibility.