In this course, the students encounter the various combinations of spirituality and education. The focus of the course is wide and theoretical, namely - we address different approacher to spiritual education and their principals. The course has multitude online creative activities, intended for learning and self practicing the material (see examples in the galery).
This study (some 10,500 words, in Hebrew) is a comparative research of two Israeli pafan movements from the last centurt: the Canaanites and the Neopagans. Some surprising similarities, as well as salient differences are revealed, while focusing on questions of land, Identity, politics, gender, and more. The article ends with a table that summarizes the comparison.
This lecture opens with the Neo-Shamanism in Israel, and presents two modes in which the local alternative spirituality approaches Judaism - positively and negatively. The lecture focuses on the demonstration of a negative connection with Judaism, in an Israeli Neo-Shaman text. The text is an alternative nrrative of a rabbinic legend of a witch hunt conducted by one of the Rabbis in Ashkelon in the days of the Hasmonean Kingdom. The text was analysed in a few publications (one in English) . The lecture took part at a conference in Zefat Academic College.
This article deals with transformative positive peak experiences, bearing significant and positive consequences. We offer to term those "Positive Peak Experiences".
This recorded lecture (in Hebrew) was given at an evening in honor of the inaguation of Semadar Cherlow's book "Who moved my Judaism? Judaism, postmodernism and contemporary spiritualities" (Resling publisng house). The evening took place on June 27th 2016 at Matan (Women's Institute for Torah Studies) in Ra'anana.
One must refrain from ugliness And from what is ugliness-like, And from what is in its likeliness. (BaMidbar Raba 10:8) This article compares two corpora of folktales in Israeli culture - early rabbinical texts and European folktales. The article presents major examples of folktales of ugliness, and the attitude towards ugliness in both corpora, and analyses them in various manners (philosophical, gender-wise, anthropological).
This article deals with Chazal's (rabbinic sages) legend of King David and the abyss (tehom) - which doesn't lean on
"G-d came from Sinai, and rose from Seir unto them" (Deuteronomy 33:2) This column deals (in Hebrew) with the "easternization of the west" thesis, and its implication to Israeli search for the East. This small piece holds some complex critical moves, and makes some scholarly questions available, along with their relevance to contemporary western, and Israeli, life.
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.
This article examines the special contribution of the journet to the orient to the Jewish identity and relation to religion of Israeli backpackers. It includes the "easternization of the west" thesis and a variety of criticisms on the thesis is surveyed. These criticisms serve in turn to the analysis of processes that the Jewish Israeli identity undergo, following the meeting place with religions in India (and more generally, Far east). Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey. Without her you wouldn't have set out. She has nothing left to give you now. And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you. Wise as you will have become, so full of experience, you’ll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean. (Ending lines of the poem "The City", C. P. Cavafy)