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Read more about the article Article: Abracadabra! Postmodern Therapeutic Methods – Language as a Neo-Magical Tool
Judaism and Kabbalah / Magic and paganism / Mind and psychology / Postmodernism / Science/medicine and technology / Typology and comparative study

Article: Abracadabra! Postmodern Therapeutic Methods – Language as a Neo-Magical Tool

"There are only two things in the world – nothing and semantics." (Werner Erhard) This paper (some 6,000 words) argues that a new genre of therapy has appeared in the arena of contemporary spiritual alternative healing, which expresses an outlook never-before-seen in the history of medicine: postmodern therapy. Postmodern therapeutic methods (PTMs) express a popularization of postmodernist philosophy in regards to language and its role in the therapeutic process. These methods will be illustrated, and then analyzed in comparison to two other groups of methods: traditional magic, and modern medicine. In addition, we shall characterize PTMs as neo-magic, as they exercise the psychologization and rationalization of magic.

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January 17, 2022
Read more about the article A Report on Neo-Shamanism in Israel
Disputation or conflict / Feminism gender and sex / Israel / Magic and paganism / Popular culture and mass media

A Report on Neo-Shamanism in Israel

The report surveys the neo-shaman movement in Israel, approximately at 2014. Due to the dynamic nature and growth of the movement, currently the Israeli neo-shamanic picture is a bit different than described. The report includes an explanation on neo-shamanism as a global phenomenon, a description of neo-shaman centers in Israel, reference to the mass media's coverage of the movement and criticism of the later, as well as a short bibliographic list. The report was written as part of the activity issued by MEIDA center - An Israeli Information Center gor Contemporary Religions, sponsered by the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute (inspired by the British INFORM Centre.

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January 14, 2022
Read more about the article Article: The Witch Hunt in Ashkelon as Retold by Contemporary Spiritualities: From Embarrassment to Treasure Trove
Art (music\film\literature etc.) / Disputation or conflict / Feminism gender and sex / History / Identity / Israel / Judaism and Kabbalah / Magic and paganism / Myth / Popular culture and mass media / Typology and comparative study

Article: The Witch Hunt in Ashkelon as Retold by Contemporary Spiritualities: From Embarrassment to Treasure Trove

Once upon a time, thousands of years ago, dozens of witches operated at the promiscuous city Ashkelon. This study (some 8,000 words; and a similar one published in English - as follows) deals with contemporary spiritual interpretations of an ancient Jewish legend - on a witch hunt executed by Rabbi Shim'on ben Shatach at Ashkelon in the 2nd century B.C.. It presents a comparison of three spiritual leaders in Israel, each re-designing the old story in a different way, thus expressing various values - in relation to Judaism, to their feminism's character, and to the place of magic in the world. The article was published in the anthology "Between Times - Ritual and Text in a Changing Society", edited by Haim Hazan, Rachel Shar'abi, and Inbal Esther Sikurel, in the Hermeneutics and Cuture series at Carmel publishimg house.

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January 5, 2022
Read more about the article Article: The Sacralization of Randomness – The Theological Imagination and the Logic of Computerized Divination Rituals
Magic and paganism / Science/medicine and technology

Article: The Sacralization of Randomness – The Theological Imagination and the Logic of Computerized Divination Rituals

Have you ever had your cards read online? …Hoe is it different than reading cards from a deck? In this article all the divination (foretelling) rituals are analysed, in their new, virtual version: what changes in the virtualization process, in terms of the inner logic of believers? In my opinion, in the course of this process, a new logic is emerging, that gains popularity in our cultue - a logic of sactifying randomness. The artcile (about 13,500 words) was published in Numen: International Review for the History of Religions - a first-rate world-renowned journal in the field of Religious Studies (considered by many scholars in the Humanities as the top Religious Studies journal in the world).

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January 5, 2022
Read more about the article Jewish Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy in Israel
Israel / Judaism and Kabbalah / Mind and psychology

Jewish Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy in Israel

The research on Psychotherapy that integrates Jewish Spiritually in Israel is conducted by Prof. Ofra Mayseless from the University of Haifa and Dr. Marianna Ruah-Midbar Shapiro from Zefat Academic College. This study is part of a wide international research project involving dozens of research teams around the world. The aim of the international project is to expand and deepen the research foundation and knowledge of the integration between psychotherapy and spirituality. The international research and the Israeli research are supported by the John Templeton Foundation and the participation and direction of Brigham Young University, located in Utah, USA.

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January 4, 2022
Read more about the article A research Article: “Secular by the Letter, Religious by the Spirit: The Attitudes of the Israeli New Age to Jewish Law”
Identity / Israel / Judaism and Kabbalah / Typology and comparative study

A research Article: “Secular by the Letter, Religious by the Spirit: The Attitudes of the Israeli New Age to Jewish Law”

This Article (some 10,000 words in Hebrew) identifies a new religious category in Israel - Spiritual Secularity. It 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. Nevertheless, the more interesting attitudes have to do with the processing of Halakha in the spirit of New Age (New Ageization). The article was published in Israeli Sociology, the most renowned journal of social sciences in Israel. An article on a similar subject was published in English, and the research was also presented in conferences.

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December 21, 2021
Read more about the article A research Article: “Trance, Meditation and Brainwashing – The Israeli Use of Hypnosis Law and the New Religious Movements Scene”
Critical theory / Disputation or conflict / Mind and psychology / State politics and law

A research Article: “Trance, Meditation and Brainwashing – The Israeli Use of Hypnosis Law and the New Religious Movements Scene”

"Under Israel’s hypnosis law, everyone is guilty of hypnosis—therapists, artists, religious leaders and even mothers who sing nursery rhymes to their children." [Natalie Pik, in Even 2012] This article presents a critical examination of the Hypnosis Law that is unique to Israel - integrating an analysis of the law's wording, an observation of the professional struggle between licensed hypnotherapists and alternative therapists, and moral panics events revolving mind control in Israel. (By the way, since 2018 procedures have been taken in the Knesset that might lead to the law's cancellation.)

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December 20, 2021
Read more about the article Article: Witch-Hunt or Women’s Oppression? The Secularization and Re-Enchantment of the Witches of Ashkelon Tale by Contemporary Spiritualities’ Leaders
Art (music\film\literature etc.) / Disputation or conflict / Feminism gender and sex / History / Identity / Israel / Judaism and Kabbalah / Magic and paganism / Myth / Popular culture and mass media / Science/medicine and technology / Typology and comparative study

Article: Witch-Hunt or Women’s Oppression? The Secularization and Re-Enchantment of the Witches of Ashkelon Tale by Contemporary Spiritualities’ Leaders

This study (some 10,500 words; and a similar one published in Hebrew- as follows) deals with contemporary spiritual interpretations of an ancient Jewish legend - on a witch hunt executed by Rabbi Shim'on ben Shatach at Ashkelon in the 2nd century B.C.. It presents a comparison of three spiritual leaders in Israel, each re-designing the old story in a different way, thus expressing various values - in relation to Judaism, to their feminism's character, and to the place of magic in the world. The article was published in the important journal of Jewish Studies, pronted by the Oxford Centre for Hebrew & Jewish Studies - Journal of Jewish Studies.

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December 14, 2021
Read more about the article Doctoral Dissertation: The New Age Culture in Israel (A Methodological Introduction and the “Conceptual Network”)
Identity / Israel / Methodology and models

Doctoral Dissertation: The New Age Culture in Israel (A Methodological Introduction and the “Conceptual Network”)

The doctoral dissertation was written in the Program of Interdisciplinary Studies of Hermeneutics and Culture at Bar-Ilan University, with the supervision of Prof. Moshe Idel (Hebrew University, Jerusalem) and Prof. Adiel Schremer (Bar Ilan University). The work is written in Hebrew, but entails a long abstract and detailed contents in English. It holds over 450 pages, in two volumes, and was approved in 2006. It was a pioneer big work in the area of the Alternative Spirituality in Israel, and served many dozens of researches that followed. The work surveys the phenomena and trends of New Age culture in Israel, and deals with an array of methodological issues concerning the New Age studies. It offers a model of cultural interpratation - "the ideational/conceptual network". This work was carried out under the supervision of Prof. Moshe Idel (Department of Jewish Tought), Hebrew University, and the supervision of Prof. Adiel Schremer, (Department of Jewish History), Bar-Ilan University.

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December 9, 2021