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Read more about the article Article: The Sixties Did (Not Altogether) Skip Israel – Rosh Pinna’s Hippie Community
Disputation or conflict / Feminism gender and sex / Geography / History / Identity / Israel / Science/medicine and technology / State politics and law / Typology and comparative study

Article: The Sixties Did (Not Altogether) Skip Israel – Rosh Pinna’s Hippie Community

An article that presents the story of the first spiritual-alternative community in Israel, which was a bubble of the sixties at the heart of the mobilized Zionist miliee at the time. The hippy community of Rosh Pinna was an extraordinary refuge where a fascinating "social laboratory" functioned, which also gave birth to other spiritual and alternative Israeli spaces. The article includes a comparison between hippie and Zionist values - from the fields of society and the law to the attitude to nature and music. It includes unique illustrations and photographs.

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March 21, 2024
Read more about the article Lecture: The Film “Noah” (2014) as an Intersection Between Alternative Spiritualities and Popular Culture
Art (music\film\literature etc.) / Feminism gender and sex / Judaism and Kabbalah / Myth / Popular culture and mass media

Lecture: The Film “Noah” (2014) as an Intersection Between Alternative Spiritualities and Popular Culture

The film Noah (2014) is analyzed in this lecture as a cinematic Midrash, that presents three different contemporary worldviews, and promotes eco-feminist values while criticizing materialism and fundamentalism. The lecture presents central theses formulated in a couple of articles published by Prof. Marianna Ruah-Midbar Shapiro and Dr. Lila Moore as part of this research project.

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December 26, 2023
Read more about the article Session: Around the Temple- Holy Places and Contested Spaces in Israel
Disputation or conflict / Geography / History / Identity / Israel / Judaism and Kabbalah / State politics and law

Session: Around the Temple- Holy Places and Contested Spaces in Israel

How is the Holy Land perceived and shaped by thinkers of new religions? In this session, at an international conference that dealt with new religions, four researchers (from the USA, Scotland and Israel) presented different religious approaches: by Freemasonry, channelers, Jewish and Christian groups. The session was moderated by Prof. Marianna Ruah-Midbar Shapiro, at a conference of CESNUR (Center for Studies on New Religions), and the lectures were videotaped.

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November 12, 2023
Read more about the article Lecture: Recycled Witches – The Retelling of Narratives from Rabbinical Literature within Contemporary Alternative Spirituality
Art (music\film\literature etc.) / Feminism gender and sex / Identity / Israel / Judaism and Kabbalah / Magic and paganism / Myth / Popular culture and mass media / Typology and comparative study

Lecture: Recycled Witches – The Retelling of Narratives from Rabbinical Literature within Contemporary Alternative Spirituality

This lecture presents a surprising and innovative spiritual-alternative strategy of Israeli-Jews to refer to the Jewish tradition - an interpretation of the tradition while identifying with the anti-heroines of an ancient Jewish legend. In this way, the characteristic approach of the "spiritual-but-not-religious" (SBNR) trend that criticizes the religious establishment is expressed, while adopting the criticism inherent in the ancient Jewish sources. In our case it's the retelling of an ancient Jewish legend - about a witch hunt conducted by Rabbi Shimon ben Shatach in Ashkelon in the second century BC.

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October 13, 2023
Read more about the article The Event Marking the Closing of the Department of Mysticism and Spirituality
Education and higher education / Judaism and Kabbalah / Science/medicine and technology

The Event Marking the Closing of the Department of Mysticism and Spirituality

In this event (14th Elul 5784; August 31st, 2023) the end of the journey of the Department of Mysticism and Spirituality at Zefat Academic College (Safed) was marked. An exciting, sad-happy event, which included a presentation by Prof. Marianna Ruah-Midbar Shapiro, memories of students and lecturers, a lecture by Prof. Moshe Idel, a special ceremony, a Playback show by the members of the department, songs and blessings.

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September 13, 2023
Read more about the article Article: “The Most Powerful Portal in Zion”—Kursi: The Spiritual Site that Became an Intersection of Ley-lines and Multicultural Discourses
Feminism gender and sex / Geography / History / Identity / Israel / Judaism and Kabbalah / Magic and paganism / Myth / Science/medicine and technology / State politics and law

Article: “The Most Powerful Portal in Zion”—Kursi: The Spiritual Site that Became an Intersection of Ley-lines and Multicultural Discourses

This article deals with the sanctification process of a site in the Land of Israel, by the Alternative Spirituality, or Neo-Pagans/Shamans. The site, that has a Christian history, and is directed by an Israeli governmental authorities, has become a focus if an invention of tradition that synthesizes a variety of discourses and traditions. Though it is percieved as a hub in a network of power sites arrayedthroughout Israel and the whole planet, some view it as the most powerful spiritual site on Earth.

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June 19, 2023
Read more about the article Article: Outdoing Authenticity – Three Postmodern Models of Adapting Folklore Materials in Current Spiritual Music
Art (music\film\literature etc.) / Critical theory / Identity / Israel / Judaism and Kabbalah / Methodology and models / Popular culture and mass media / Postmodernism / Typology and comparative study

Article: Outdoing Authenticity – Three Postmodern Models of Adapting Folklore Materials in Current Spiritual Music

The liturgical poem “Im Nin'alu” got various popular musical adaptations in recent decades. These adaptations raise questions - and provide different answers - regarding authenticity, identity, tradition, and more. Each of them embodies a different way of coping with the postmodern situation. The article presents three different models of relation to traditional materials, which are different ways of dealing with the problems of individuals in relation to these questions.

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January 9, 2023
Read more about the article Lecture: Did God Attend the Screenings of “2001: Odyssey “in Space?
Art (music\film\literature etc.) / Mind and psychology / Popular culture and mass media / Typology and comparative study

Lecture: Did God Attend the Screenings of “2001: Odyssey “in Space?

The film 2001: Odyssey in Space is known as idiosyncratic and became a cult film, however was also harchly criticized. In this lecture we argue that the filmmaker (Stanley Kubric) uses hypnotic technics in order to immerse the audience in a mystical/spiritual trance experiences. In the research we describe three such technics (the article is being prepared), while explaining the contradicting reactions to the film.

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December 5, 2022