Session: Periphery and Alternative – Spiritual Communities in the Galilee between Nature and Environment and Confrontation with the Establishment

The connection to the land and nature of Israel is at the core of the Zionist ideology, and is closely related to ideological concepts of the conquest of the wilderness, the renewal of Jewish sovereignty, inhabiting the land, continuity of the people of Israel, and more. In alternative spirituality, on the contrary, there is a different ideological array, which also leads to different kind f practices, for example in regards to the relationship with the place/nature, national/personal identity, loyalty to the establishment. Naturally, this leads to conflicts between the bodies of the establishment and those communities. Therefore, it is convenient for such communities to operate in the periphery, such as the Galilee.
A three-lecture session organized by Prof. Marianna Ruah-Midbar Shapiro dealt with these issues, in the framework of a conference at Tel Hai College in the spring of 2022.
The session presented three spiritual-alternative communities rooted in the Galilee, and their unique and alternative ideology and practice, in relation to nature and the environment (and other issues, such as lifestyle, identity and community), as well as their conflicts with Israeli establishment bodies.
The first lecture, by Daniel Plotkin, dealt with “Kadita: An Ecological Village in Survival”.
The second lecture was by Prof. Marianna Ruah-Midbar Shapiro (organizer of the session) and Tal Elohav was on “Peace & Love during the Six Day War: The Hippie Community in Rosh Pina Old Town”. For additional lectures and publications of this research project – see links below.
The third and last lecture, by Dr. Ariel Appel, was given under the title “Without Mediation: Connection to Nature, Neo-Gatherers, and Encounters with the Other, away from the Eyes of the Establishment”.
The abstracts of the three lectures and the rationale of the session can be downloaded below, as well as the conference program and its book of abstracts (all in Hebrew).
The session took place on March 22, 2022, at the 24th Galilee Studies Conference at Tel Hai Academic College.