Zionism

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.

0 Comments
March 21, 2024
Read more about the article Session: Periphery and Alternative – Spiritual Communities in the Galilee between Nature and Environment and Confrontation with the Establishment
Disputation or conflict / Geography / History / Identity / Israel / State politics and law

Session: Periphery and Alternative – Spiritual Communities in the Galilee between Nature and Environment and Confrontation with the Establishment

The connection to the land and nature of Israel is at the core of the Zionist ideology, and is closely related to ideological concepts of the conquest of the wilderness, the renewal of Jewish sovereignty, inhabiting the land, continuity of the people of Israel, and more. In alternative spirituality, on the contrary, there is a different ideological array, which also leads to different kind f practices, for example in regards to the relationship with the place/nature, national/personal identity, loyalty to the establishment. Naturally, this leads to conflicts between the bodies of the establishment and those communities. Therefore, it is convenient for such communities to operate in the periphery, such as the Galilee. A three-lecture session organized by Prof. Marianna Ruah-Midbar Shapiro dealt with these issues, in the framework of a conference at Tel Hai College in the spring of 2022.

0 Comments
November 12, 2023
Read more about the article Lecture: “And the Canaanite was then in the land” – Local Deities from Ba’al to Mother Earth in the Last Century
Feminism gender and sex / Geography / History / Identity / Israel / Judaism and Kabbalah / Magic and paganism / Myth / State politics and law / Typology and comparative study

Lecture: “And the Canaanite was then in the land” – Local Deities from Ba’al to Mother Earth in the Last Century

Two Israeli Pagan movements of the last century have glorified an ancient panteon of god. What is the difference between them? In this lecture we've presented both similarities and differences in the relation to deities in the two movements.

0 Comments
May 17, 2023
Read more about the article Essay: From a Hoe to a Hug – A Constitutive Narrative of Zionism and Renewal
History / Identity / Israel / Judaism and Kabbalah / Myth / State politics and law

Essay: From a Hoe to a Hug – A Constitutive Narrative of Zionism and Renewal

"A good story is never just a story. A good story is a founding story; it is a basis for identity, for action; it creates a network of meanings in which we cling to in our lives - as individuals, as a group." With these word the essay opens, dealing with the renewal of cultural values ​​in contemporary Israeli Judaism - the transformation of our national story and our hero/ines. The text (about 500 words, in Hebrew) was incorporated into the "Israeli Talmud - Tractate of Independence", edited by Dov Elbaum, with the support of BINAH. It is included in Unit D of the anthology, entitled "The Israeli Traditionalism in the Present and Its Vision for the Future".

0 Comments
January 20, 2023
Read more about the article Lecture: Time Perceptions and Body Images in the Contemporary Spiritual Discourse
Feminism gender and sex / History / Identity / Israel / Mind and psychology / Myth

Lecture: Time Perceptions and Body Images in the Contemporary Spiritual Discourse

Many Cultures share the yearning to a far ideal past - the lost paradise. What is special in the past-time perception of New Age Spirituality, especially in its Jewish/Israeli version? How does this spiritual discourse narrates the Jewish and human history? Answers to these questions were presented in a lecture at the conference of the Israeli Anthropological Association. These theses also appear in studies published by Ruah-Midbar Shapiro.

0 Comments
January 20, 2023
Read more about the article Essay: The Never-Ending Story – From the Land of Israel to Mother Earth
History / Identity / Israel / Judaism and Kabbalah / Myth / State politics and law

Essay: The Never-Ending Story – From the Land of Israel to Mother Earth

"Don't give us the old, but the ancient. And instead of the future, we'll discover the present. Instead of a plow, give us a hug. Let's flow and connect... We'll find our ways and turn back, return to ourselves - dive into the depths of our Selves." In this article, Ruach-Midbar describes the shift in values and narratives that accured in the Jewish-Israeli story within the New Age realm, as a replacement for the Zionist story that was cast in the image of the Enlightenment. The text (about 500 words, in Hebrew) was incorporated into the "Israeli Talmud - Tractate of Independence", edited by Dov Elbaum, with the support of BINAH.

0 Comments
January 19, 2023
Read more about the article Article: Canaanites and Neopagans in Canaan – A Comparison between Two Israeli Movements over the past Century
Feminism gender and sex / Geography / History / Identity / Israel / Judaism and Kabbalah / Magic and paganism / Myth / State politics and law / Typology and comparative study

Article: Canaanites and Neopagans in Canaan – A Comparison between Two Israeli Movements over the past Century

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.

0 Comments
October 6, 2022
Read more about the article Research Article: The Hippie Colony of Rosh-Pina – Appropriation and Design of Buildings and Scenic Elements for Creating an Alternative Spiritual Milieu
Geography / History / Israel

Research Article: The Hippie Colony of Rosh-Pina – Appropriation and Design of Buildings and Scenic Elements for Creating an Alternative Spiritual Milieu

An article describling an unknown chapter of the Sixties in Israel (some 10,000 words, in Hebrew). The article is part of a special issue of Horizons in Geography (edited by Anat Kidron) that was dedicated to the "Functional Places and Collective Memory" (how functional sites - such as a road signs, sports stadium or film theatre - are designed as to construct a collective memory and conciousness). Horizons in Geography is a journal published by the University of Haifa. See below links for a lecture on a similar subject as well as a research article on another site, that was also included in the same special issue.

0 Comments
November 17, 2021