This lecture, for the general public, addressed the story of the hippies at Old Rosh Pinna, the history of the community they've created, and their influence on the character of the whole settlement till this day.
This study (some 10,500 words, in Hebrew) is a comparative research of two Israeli pafan movements from the last centurt: the Canaanites and the Neopagans. Some surprising similarities, as well as salient differences are revealed, while focusing on questions of land, Identity, politics, gender, and more. The article ends with a table that summarizes the comparison.
This lecture opens with the Neo-Shamanism in Israel, and presents two modes in which the local alternative spirituality approaches Judaism - positively and negatively. The lecture focuses on the demonstration of a negative connection with Judaism, in an Israeli Neo-Shaman text. The text is an alternative nrrative of a rabbinic legend of a witch hunt conducted by one of the Rabbis in Ashkelon in the days of the Hasmonean Kingdom. The text was analysed in a few publications (one in English) . The lecture took part at a conference in Zefat Academic College.
"G-d came from Sinai, and rose from Seir unto them" (Deuteronomy 33:2) This column deals (in Hebrew) with the "easternization of the west" thesis, and its implication to Israeli search for the East. This small piece holds some complex critical moves, and makes some scholarly questions available, along with their relevance to contemporary western, and Israeli, life.
The spiritual journeys Israeli-Jews make to the Far East do not merely provide them with experiences and revelations, but also help them reclaim meaning, answer life’s questions, and shape their identity and lifestyle. Surprisingly, some journeys end in embracing Jewish tradition. Why – and how – do secular Israelis, who have never shown any interest in the spiritual matters and aspects of their native tradition, find, following their journey, that Jewish spirituality is relevant to their quest for meaning? This article conducts a critical discussion on the easternization thesis (which claims the West is undergoing a profound paradigmatic transformation), culminating in the conclusion that the East is not Westerners’ and Israelis’ true object of desire, but rather an object upon which they project their Western/Israeli discomfort, passions and images. Judaism, which has been going through an exoticization process within the framework of local New Age – much like the Far East in global spirituality – has been adapting itself to their coveted imagined model. The article (about 8,500 words) is included in an anthology on the subject of "the search for meaning in the Israeli cultual scene", published by Oxford University Press, and edited by Ofra Mayseless and Pninit Russo-Netzer.
This lecture describes the sanctification process of a (historically Christian) site in the Land of Israel, by the Alternative Spirituality, or Neo-Pagans/Shamans, and analyses the invention of tradition revolving Kursi. In addition to this lecture, there is another one, as well as two articles (in English and Hebrew) that describe different aspects of the sanctification process of Kursi. See links below. The lecture takes part in a research project that deals with the Alternative Sacred Geography of the Land of Israel, by Ruah-Midbar Shapiro. The lecture was included in a session dedicated to "A Geography of Memory", chaired by Anat Kidron, held at the 60th conference of the Israeli Geographical Association - 2020, at the University of Haifa.
This article examines the special contribution of the journet to the orient to the Jewish identity and relation to religion of Israeli backpackers. It includes the "easternization of the west" thesis and a variety of criticisms on the thesis is surveyed. These criticisms serve in turn to the analysis of processes that the Jewish Israeli identity undergo, following the meeting place with religions in India (and more generally, Far east). Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey. Without her you wouldn't have set out. She has nothing left to give you now. And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you. Wise as you will have become, so full of experience, you’ll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean. (Ending lines of the poem "The City", C. P. Cavafy)
Why and what for does the contemporary Jew needs India? How does India help Jews find spiritual meaning in their lives? What helps rehabilitate Israelis' poor relationship with their spiritual/religious Jewish identity? This lecture depicts the special attraction of Jewish Israelis to spiritual journeys in India, and the process they go through following these journeys in their relation to Jewish tradition.
This article deals with the sanctification process of a (historically Christian) site in the Land of Israel, by the Alternative Spirituality, or Neo-Pagans/Shamans. The article analyses the factors that made Kursi a suitable candidate for a sactification process, and presents a model that examines various aspects and elements that contribute to an Alternative Spiritual sactification process of factors in the site. In addition to this (8,500 words, Hebrew) article, there is another (English) article that describes different aspects of the sanctification process of Kursi, and a lecture on a similar subject. See links below. The article takes a part in a research project that deals with the Alternative Sacred Geography of the Land of Israel, by Ruah-Midbar Shapiro. The article is part of a special issue of Horizons in Geography (edited by Anat Kidron) that was dedicated to the "Functional Places and Collective Memory" (how functional sites - such as a road signs, sports stadium or film theatre - are designed as to construct a collective memory and conciousness). Horizons in Geography ("Ofaqim bGeographia") is a journal published in Hebrew by the University of Haifa.
An article describling an unknown chapter of the Sixties in Israel (some 10,000 words, in Hebrew). The article is part of a special issue of Horizons in Geography (edited by Anat Kidron) that was dedicated to the "Functional Places and Collective Memory" (how functional sites - such as a road signs, sports stadium or film theatre - are designed as to construct a collective memory and conciousness). Horizons in Geography is a journal published by the University of Haifa. See below links for a lecture on a similar subject as well as a research article on another site, that was also included in the same special issue.