Reform Judaism

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 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.

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June 1, 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: 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