Lecture: Kursi, From the Miracle of the Swines site to the Enchanted Bench Site – An Alternative-Spiritual Invention of Tradition Revolving a Christian Site Sponsered by the Israel Nature And Parks Authority

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.

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Lecture: Israeli New age and Jewish Praxis

In this research project, we've discerned a new religious identity category emerging in Israel - Spiritual Secularity. The research focuses on the issue of glocalism (globalism + localism) of the New Age movement (global) among Israeli Jews (local). The reseach presents Jewish Israeli New Agers' attitude to Jewish Law (Halakha) and custome, and deals with the tension between alternative spiritual values and Jewish traditional ones, and its various solutions - ranging from indifference to Halakha on the one end, and rejecting New Age on the other. The most interesting attitudes have to do with the processing of Halakha in the spirit of New Age (New Ageization).

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Lecture: Lilith’s Comeback in Contemporary Feminist Spiritualities

What a glorious career did Lilith had in thousands of years! Alas, always as a negative and dark image… However, in the last decades, in the feminist spirituality she's actually admired. So, what does she represent for the contemporary feminist spirituality? Not one thing, but rather different things. The lecture presents a research, that was also published in an Article. See below links to relevant items. The lecture took place at a panel on "New Religious Movements" at the 2nd Annual Conference of the Israeli Association for the Study of Religion, dedicated to the Scriptures (their nature and place in religions). The conference was conducted at Bar Ilan University on March 11th-12th, 2018. This conference's session took place in English. For the conference's program in English.

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A lecture: Lilith’s Image in Contemporary Feminist Spirituality and its Meanings

"Lilith sets inspiration fo women and men in the contemporary femenist spirituality, a sourse of theological/thealogical imagination, and an image for mimicry." This lecture, on Lilith's Image in Contemporary Feminist Spirituality, took part inSchocken Institute for Jewish Research's workshop on Feminine Spiritual Leadership. The research was awarded a scholarship from the Institute. The research project on Lilith includes more articles and lectures.

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Lecture: The gates of creativity shall never be locked – A comparative study of the spiritual-musical adaptation of the liturgical poem ‘Im Nin’alu’ in contemporary pop-culture

This lecture is part of the research project on the current reincarnation of the liturgical poem 'Im Nin'alu' in contemporary western pop-culture. The lecture deals with issues and challenges of coping in the postmodern situation, and presents three models of contemporary spirituality through the study case that is discussed: a spirituality of return to tradition, a spirituality of yearning to the Other, and a remix-postmodern spirituality. I've co-published an English article on this subject in the journal Folklore. The lecture took place in the 2nd international conference of the center of Yemenite Judaism and its culture, conducted on September 2018, marking 400 years of Shalem Shabbazi's birthday, at Yad Ben Zvi in Jerusalem. A simultaneous translation (Hebrew-English) has been executed in the conference.

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Lecture: A Sexual Spiritual Jewish Awakening – Observing the Wonder (=Pele in Hebrew)

This (Hebrew) lecture opened the launching event for the book Glowing Gloom by Pele Ohad Ezrahi, the second one in the triligy Kedesha (holy/pristess prostitute). The lecture presented thoughts on the book, its wider context, and a critical reflection on the sacred sexuality scene. The lecture is 20-min. long. The event's title is "Sex-kind Revolution". (The word "Min" in Hebrew means both sex and kind".)

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A lecture on New Age elements in mainstream advertisments in Israel, in a conference at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute

The lecture took part in a conference titled "Political, Sociological and Historical Aspects of New Age in Israel", in a panel dedicated to "The New Age and the Israeli Arena: Education, Consumerism and Political Act", chaired by Boaz Huss, and with the participation of Dalit Simchai.

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Research article: “The Enchanted Benches” at Kursi National Park as Case Study for the Formation Processes of Alternative Sacred Geography

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.

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