English

Read more about the article Article: The Creating-Our-Reality Motif in Contemporary Western Popular Spirituality
Art (music\film\literature etc.) / Critical theory / Magic and paganism / Methodology and models / Mind and psychology / Popular culture and mass media / Postmodernism / Science/medicine and technology / Typology and comparative study

Article: The Creating-Our-Reality Motif in Contemporary Western Popular Spirituality

One of the most prominent themes in the contemporary spiritual discourse, as well as in the general popular discourse, is that we are those who create our own world. This idea has various versions. For instance, the positive psychology version depicts how thoughts and expextations may create a reality through the change of behaviour; the science fiction version sees us as players in a virtual space that choose and shape their enviroment; the magical version teaches us to cast spells of reality; and more. This research analyses the popular spiritual discourse on the creation of reality, and thereby reviels a few insights on the contemporary cultural tendencies, the cultural contradictions, and the emergence of a new ethic.

0 Comments
December 4, 2022
Read more about the article Article: The film “Noah” (2014) as an Environmental Cinematic Midrash
Art (music\film\literature etc.) / Feminism gender and sex / Judaism and Kabbalah / Myth / Popular culture and mass media

Article: The film “Noah” (2014) as an Environmental Cinematic Midrash

The film Noah (2014) is a cinematic Midrash. What does this mean? That it creatively interprates the biblical story of Noah anew, fills in existing gaps in the story, and striving at delivering an ideological message. This article surveys the sources of inspiration integrated in the film - from the sages' midrash to Zen Buddhism stories, and explains the film creators' interpretative choises and their message.

0 Comments
December 1, 2022
Read more about the article Article: “Not Your Grandmother’s Bible”—A Comparative Study of the Biblical Deluge Myth in Film
Art (music\film\literature etc.) / Critical theory / Disputation or conflict / Feminism gender and sex / History / Judaism and Kabbalah / Myth / Popular culture and mass media / Science/medicine and technology / Typology and comparative study

Article: “Not Your Grandmother’s Bible”—A Comparative Study of the Biblical Deluge Myth in Film

Do you know the story of Noah and the deluge? Well, every generation had its interpretations and versions of the story. And when the deluge is retold - they actually talk of a humanity worthy of annihilation. Why? Every commentator has its own explanation, where lies criticism of the society they live in or encounter. The deluge as presented in current cinema isn't the flood as depicted in old traditions, since the story continues to evolve and get renewed. In this comparative study, we've surveyed Hollywood films that present the deluge iver the last century - in each of them the humanity is presented as facing annihilation, while offering an a current critic. Recently, for instance, the deluge myth is linked to the ecological discourse.

0 Comments
November 30, 2022
Read more about the article Article: The Dynamics of a Cultural Struggle in Academia – The Case of New Age Music Research
Art (music\film\literature etc.) / Critical theory / Disputation or conflict / Education and higher education / Methodology and models / Popular culture and mass media / Postmodernism / Science/medicine and technology

Article: The Dynamics of a Cultural Struggle in Academia – The Case of New Age Music Research

The academia is a cultural player, and when it deals with a culturally controversial issue - the academic discourse actually plays a role in the cultural game and struggle between forces. This article - dealing with New Age Music - is a product of a scholarly cooperation between Omri and Marianna Ruah-Midbar, as a crossroad of their sceintific interests. It was published in Berkeley University's journal - Cultural Analysis.

0 Comments
November 30, 2022
Read more about the article Article: Worldviews in the Film “Noah” – Hedonism, Fundamentalism, and Ecofeminism
Art (music\film\literature etc.) / Disputation or conflict / Feminism gender and sex / Judaism and Kabbalah / Myth / Popular culture and mass media

Article: Worldviews in the Film “Noah” – Hedonism, Fundamentalism, and Ecofeminism

"We broke the world — we did this. Man did this. Everything that was beautiful, everything that was good, we shattered. Now, it begins again." (Noah's words, from the film) In this article we interprate the film Noah (2014), and identify various cultural/ spiritual/ religious worldviews that clash in the contemporary western society: a hedonistic-materialistic approach, religious and enviromental fundamentalism, and eco-feminism. We show how the film maker, Daren Aronofsli, express through the protagonist, Noah, the problematicalness in the various cultural stances, when the plot leads its hero thorugh a transformational process.

Comments Off on Article: Worldviews in the Film “Noah” – Hedonism, Fundamentalism, and Ecofeminism
November 30, 2022
Read more about the article Lecture: Jewish Spirituality in the New Age
Art (music\film\literature etc.) / Feminism gender and sex / Identity / Israel / Judaism and Kabbalah / Magic and paganism / Mind and psychology / Typology and comparative study

Lecture: Jewish Spirituality in the New Age

This lecture (about 30 min.) surveys and maps the various ways in which New Age and Judaism meet and mix together. The full name of the lecture was: "Jewish Spirituality in the New Age - Emerging Jewish-Israeli Phenomena in the Junction with New Age Culture". It presents ten "types" of these meeting places, accompanied by many examples, while presenting a relevant theoretical background, and discussing the characteristics and trends of this emergent multifaceted space, one of them being the exotization of Judaism process in the New Age realm.

0 Comments
November 20, 2022
Read more about the article Article: Current Jewish Spiritualities in Israel – A New Age
Art (music\film\literature etc.) / Feminism gender and sex / Identity / Israel / Judaism and Kabbalah / Magic and paganism / Mind and psychology / Typology and comparative study

Article: Current Jewish Spiritualities in Israel – A New Age

This fundamental article (about 6500 words) - that gained dozens of scientific citations - surveys and maps the junction between New Age and Judaism, in Israel. It presents the scenes of Jewish-New-Agey meeting, with many examples, and it deals with the question, how such a thriving and vibrant space may avoid the research gaze.

0 Comments
November 16, 2022
Read more about the article Encyclopedic entry: “New Age Judaism”
Identity / Israel / Judaism and Kabbalah / Magic and paganism / Mind and psychology / Myth / Typology and comparative study

Encyclopedic entry: “New Age Judaism”

This Encyclopedic entry presents one of the main reseach specialties of Ruah-Midbar Shapiro - The meetingplace of Judaism and New Age spirituality. It includes several exemplifications of the phenomena generated in this meetingplace, such as Jewish Reiki, Jewish Shamanism, Jubu, contemporary alternative spiritual versions of Kabbalah and Hassidism.

0 Comments
November 14, 2022