invention of tradition

Read more about the article Lecture: The Status of Symbols in Virtual Divinasion – Between Iconography and Arbitrariness
Art (music\film\literature etc.) / Magic and paganism / Methodology and models / Popular culture and mass media / Science/medicine and technology / Typology and comparative study

Lecture: The Status of Symbols in Virtual Divinasion – Between Iconography and Arbitrariness

Does the statue represent God? Is the flag sacred? What is the status of the sacred symbols, and what happens to them when they move to the cyberspace? In this lecture, computerized icons in religious/spiritual/magical ceremonies and their status were examined and analyzed. The lecture is part of a research project in which an article was published and lectures were presented in other directions.

0 Comments
November 3, 2023
Read more about the article Lecture: Neo-Shamanism in Israel – Authenticity and the Invention of Tradition
Critical theory / Disputation or conflict / Feminism gender and sex / Israel / Magic and paganism / Methodology and models

Lecture: Neo-Shamanism in Israel – Authenticity and the Invention of Tradition

This lecture dealt with Neo-Shamanism in Israel, but… actually, how can one describe Neo-Shamanism in Israel when it's unclear what Neo-Shamanism is? And indeed, the tern is unclear. The lecture discussed the term and its problematization, the question of relation between Shamanism and Neo-Shamanism, the search for the common denominator of "Shamanic" phenomena, and more.

0 Comments
December 6, 2022
Read more about the article Lecture: Sanctifying Randomness – The Theological Imagination of Alternative Spirituality with Connection to Internet Technologies
Magic and paganism / Science/medicine and technology

Lecture: Sanctifying Randomness – The Theological Imagination of Alternative Spirituality with Connection to Internet Technologies

This lecture deals with the ideational-ideological aspect of the transformatio processes in contemporary spirituality and religion following the rise of Cyber culture, via a study case: divination rituals (such as a Tarot cards' spread). In the shift of those rituals from the physical traditional space to cynerspace, I argue that a new rationale emerges - namely sanctified randomness.

0 Comments
November 24, 2022
Read more about the article Lecture: “Between Meron and Ashkelon: The Comeback of an Old Witch-Hunt Story”
Art (music\film\literature etc.) / Disputation or conflict / Feminism gender and sex / Geography / History / Identity / Israel / Judaism and Kabbalah / Magic and paganism / Myth / Popular culture and mass media

Lecture: “Between Meron and Ashkelon: The Comeback of an Old Witch-Hunt Story”

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.

0 Comments
June 1, 2022
Read more about the article Lecture: Lilith’s Comeback in Contemporary Feminist Spiritualities
Art (music\film\literature etc.) / Feminism gender and sex / Identity / Judaism and Kabbalah / Magic and paganism / Mind and psychology / Myth / Popular culture and mass media

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.

0 Comments
January 16, 2022
Read more about the article A lecture: Lilith’s Image in Contemporary Feminist Spirituality and its Meanings
Art (music\film\literature etc.) / Feminism gender and sex / Identity / Judaism and Kabbalah / Magic and paganism / Mind and psychology / Myth / Popular culture and mass media

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.

0 Comments
January 16, 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.

0 Comments
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).

Comments Off on Article: The Sacralization of Randomness – The Theological Imagination and the Logic of Computerized Divination Rituals
January 5, 2022
Read more about the article 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
Art (music\film\literature etc.) / Critical theory / Identity / Israel / Judaism and Kabbalah / Popular culture and mass media / Postmodernism / Typology and comparative study

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.

0 Comments
January 3, 2022