E Ben-Lulu
Biographic Data
| ID | 7082 |
|---|---|
| NAME | E Ben-Lulu |
| GIVEN NAMES | E |
| FAMILY NAME | Ben-Lulu |
| SIGNATURE | BEN-LULU E |
| AFFILIATIONS | Ariel University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-4258-541X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 41 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 91 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 41 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2020 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
“Hey, It Ain’t Europe Here”: The Emergence of Israel’s First Mizrahi Gay Dance Party
Nightclubs and bars are more than leisure spaces allowing participants to forget daily troubles and have fun; they are also political sites that illuminate social and cultural tensions and conflicts. This ethnographic study examines the first Israeli Mizrahi gay party—Arisa—which was dedicated to presenting Mizrahi culture (i.e., the cultural products of Jewish communities who immigrated to Israel from North Africa and Islamic countries). Arisa w…
Archiving queer Jewish history: Power, memory, and identity in the American Jewish Archive (AJA)
In the past two decades, queer archives have proliferated worldwide as LGBTQ+ communities seek to preserve their histories. But what happens when queer histories are incorporated into archives dedicated to ethno-national Jewish narratives? Drawing on research at the Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives (AJA), this study examines how Jewish LGBTQ+ individuals negotiate belonging and produce new ritual and communal practices. I…
Who Is the Woman Who Desires Life? Israeli Female Religious Leaders Craft Liturgy for Jewish–Arab Peace in Wartime
The Israel–Hamas War, which erupted with the horrifying events of 7 October 2023, stands as one of the pivotal breaking points in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict since its inception. Both sides have been left battered, pained, and devoid of any trust or hope for peace. Among the local immediate social grassroots responses to repairing the fractured relationship was the production of a special prayer booklet focused on coexistence and shared life…
‘Remember those whose souls were taken in transphobic violence’: Jewish prayers for transgender day of remembrance
The Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) is observed annually in November to commemorate individuals who lost their lives to transphobic violence. This study explores a non-Orthodox Jewish approach to acknowledging TDOR through the analysis of newly crafted liturgical texts intended for this solemn occasion. By recognizing the significance of remembrance within Jewish tradition and its role in fostering communal solidarity and empathy, I contend…
Singlehood and Religion: The Case of Israeli Religious Zionist Singles, by ARI Engelberg
Journal Article Singlehood and Religion: The Case of Israeli Religious Zionist Singles, by ARI ENGELBERG Get access Singlehood and Religion: The Case of Israeli Religious Zionist Singles, by ARI ENGELBERG. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2023, 334 pp.; $105 (hardback). Elazar Ben-Lulu Elazar Ben-Lulu Ariel University, Israel [email protected] https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4258-541X Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Sc…
Discovering the Stream in the Desert: Toward Homosexual Inclusion in the American Conservative Jewish Movement
In recent decades, various communities and organizations have been working to promote LGBTQ+ inclusion and justify their equal rights. This task becomes more complex within religious communities that are based on traditional values that reject homosexuality. This historical-anthropological study presents “K’Afikim BaNegev”—a special manual that includes more than 347 pages and incorporates 73 diverse sources distributed in early 1994 in American …
Queer Liturgy for Active Coping: Jewish Prayers for LGBTQ+ Treatments and Medical Tests
In recent years, the field of medicine has increasingly embraced inclusivity for the LGBTQ+ community, marking a new era focused on addressing diverse health needs associated with varied identities. This qualitative study illustrates this progressive trend by textual analyzing specific six Jewish prayers that address LGBTQ+ concerns, including support for medical care and treatments related to sexual and gender identity, such as HIV/AIDS care. Th…
When the Synagogue Is Turned into a Delivery Room: Embracing Gender and Sexual Bodily Experiences through a Kabbalistic Renewal Custom
The Reform Jewish community is known today as one of the leading Jewish denominations that promotes a liberal religious discourse and praxis, particularly advancing gender equality. As a non-Orthodox movement advocating this egalitarian ideology, Reform communities face exclusion and condemnation, especially in Israel where the Orthodox establishment dominates. In this article, based on fieldwork in Israeli Reform congregations, I examine how fem…
Tonight, These Lights Are Beacons of Hope for an Aids-Free World: Jewish Prayers of Remembrance and Healing for Those Affected by HIV/Aids
Various religious responses to the AIDS epidemic were and still are often laden with stereotypes and homophobic attitudes, sometimes justifying the disease as a divine response to "sin". This study is dedicated to examining prayers written by non-Orthodox gay rabbis to commemorate those lost to AIDS-related causes and to pray for healing and robust health for those living with the virus. In each of these prayers, most of which are recited on Worl…
Who moved my challah? Evolving practices and innovations in traditional Jewish bread
Challah bread represents one of the most prominent symbols in Jewish tradition, through its visual ritualistic presence, the fact that it is an edible product, and the blessing recited over it, which constitutes a Jewish performance. It is traditionally eaten as part of the Kiddush ceremony preceding Shabbat and holiday meals. Just as liturgical text can be deconstructed and infused with different interpretations, so too can challah as a material…
We make it a Haredi snack: Popcorn consumption among the Israeli ultra-orthodox Jewish community
This ethnographic study aims to clarify how popcorn became the most common snack among the ultra-Orthodox Jewish (Haredi) community in Israel. Every day, huge bags of popcorn are sold in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods and cities. Based on multi-sited fieldwork, I examine the reasons for this massive consumption and the way it sheds light on social and cultural aspects of the community. I argue that beyond serving as an inexpensive snack that facili…
Doorposts of Inclusion: Trans Pride Mezuzah as a Marker of Jewish-Queer Space
A mezuzah is a prominent Jewish symbol that designates a Jewish dwelling space, a reminder of the Jew’s covenant with God. This study focuses on the Trans Pride Mezuzah (TPM), designed to celebrate trans and nonbinary Jewish homes. The research delves into the motivations behind the creation and use of this unique queer Judaica item, exploring various social interpretations associated with this object and how they contribute to our understanding …
Homecoming Rainbows: Queer Jewish Blessings Creating Safe Spaces for LGBTQ+ Individuals
The concept of "home" holds dual significance for LGBTQ+ individuals. It can be a sanctuary, nurturing comfort with identities and aiding in coming out. However, it can also be a place of hostility, reinforcing LGBTQ+ prejudice. Similarly, home preserves family traditions and sustains Jewish identity and practice, but by performing rituals and ceremonies at home, it can also reflect antisemitic attitudes and expressions present in the broader soc…
May our worship help Us to practice Truth'; an interpretive inquiry of Jewish prayers for coming-out of the closet
The experience of ‘coming out of the closet’ differs among LGBTQ+ individuals, shaped by personal, social, and cultural factors. For those who embark on this process, it is not merely a singular reflective moment but an ongoing journey of self-discovery and authentic expression to oneself and others. This study employs textual analysis to present thirteen Jewish prayers for coming out at different steps of this complicated personal process, based…
Ronit Irshai and Tanya Zion-Waldoks: Holy Rebellion: Religious Feminism and the Transformation of Judaism and Women's Rights in Israel
Israeli prayers of resistance and resilience: The politics of faith after October 7 th
Prayer is a direct channel to the divine, to the unknown, which also reveals cultural and social perceptions both of the individual and their environment. During crises, prayer marks a breaking point, an expression of crisis. Prayer is an action of restoring one's faith. Following the outbreak of the Israel–Hamas war on October 7, 2023, Neve Schechter, a center for contemporary Jewish culture and art in Tel Aviv, initiated "Radio Awe"—an online l…
Are You Our Sisters? Resistance, Belonging, and Recognition in Israeli Reform Jewish Female Converts
The religious conversion process is a significant expression of an individual’s intention to gain a new religious identity and be included in a particular religious community. Those who wish to join the Jewish people undergo giyur (conversion), which includes observing rituals and religious practices. While previous research on Jewish conversions in Israel focused on the experiences of persons who converted under Orthodox auspices, this study ana…
“With the Pandemic Still Raging, I am Blessed to Do My Part to Defeat it”: Exploring Covid-19 Jewish Liturgy and Prayers in Israel and the United States
During the COVID-19 pandemic, synagogues faced closure, and many non-Orthodox communities transitioned their prayer services to online platforms. This presented a significant challenge for community leaders and rabbis who were faced with a profound community crisis. An innovative response emerged including new prayers and the adaptation of existing ones to better address the pandemic's unique realities, integrating aspects of health, divinity, co…
We Are All the Sons of Abraham”? Utopian Performativity for Jewish–Arab Coexistence in an Israeli Reform Jewish Mimouna Celebration
Mimouna is a North-African Jewish festival, which in the past symbolized good neighborly relationships between Jews and Muslims. Today, however, this festival has transformed into a neutralized interfaith encounter, resembling a culinary-focused musical show. The particular event explored in this case study was organized by an Israeli Reform Jewish congregation, which is a non-Orthodox liberal Jewish denomination. In this event, the congregation …
Apples – out, mushrooms – in'; toward a theology of queer advocacy in the American Jewish community
In Jewish tradition, two holiday plates, the Passover Seder plate and the Rosh Hashanah Seder plate, hold profound significance due to their inclusion of simanim (symbolic foods) which carry deep social, cultural, and spiritual meanings.The blessings construct and express the Jewish tradition as a means of fulfilling the collective wishes and hopes of the Jewish community for survival, continuity and protection.This article delves into an initiat…
Becoming an Israeli Reform Jewish Movement: Creating Community, Religious Practice, and Social Involvement
The Israeli Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism has grown considerably in recent years. Fifty congregations and initiatives now operate throughout the country, offering prayer services, holiday and life-cycle ceremonies, study houses, conversion courses, pre-army programs, and more. Despite its increased presence in Israeli life, the movement is still known among the general public mainly for its struggle to achieve equal status and gain …
May our hearts rise up in prayer’: Responses of Russian-speaking immigrant Israeli reform congregations to the Russo-Ukrainian war
Russia's invasion of Ukraine in March 2022 stunned the world and recalled levels of aggression unseen since World War II. Along with political, military and diplomatic discussions, this anthropological study contributes a sociological-cultural perspective through the examination of Israeli Reform Jewish congregation responses, which include Russian-speaking immigrants, to the Russo-Ukrainian conflict. I analyze how the crisis pushed congregants i…
Navigating Academic Identity: Autoethnography of Otherness and Embarrassment Among First-Generation College Students
As a first-generation college student (FGCS), I have never felt entirely comfortable with this label, both in academic spaces and in various personal family situations. The notion of being a FGCS has evoked internal embarrassment, a sense of academic otherness, and external micro-aggressions. Through an autoethnographic analysis of my participation in the FGCS annual workshop, I explore the strengths and weaknesses of this category. The workshop …
Celebrating Fifty Years of Jewish Pride: An Autoethnographic View on Queerness, Diaspora and Homeland in an American Gay Synagogue
Anthropologists of religion are preoccupied with questions of identity, community, performance and representation. One way they cope with these concerns is through a reflexive examination of their ethnographic positionality in the field. This provides an opportunity to engage not only with "the other", but also to explore their own identities and background. This article presents an autoethnographic analysis of Pride Shabbat, a special service he…
Teach us to feel proud of all of our identities: Time and space in an American queer Jewish liturgy
Since the late 1960s, the American Jewish community has worked to find creative ways to include lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, Queer+ (LGBTQ+) people in community practices and Jewish liturgy. The pioneering egalitarian denomination was and remains the Reform Jewish Movement, which promotes and supports gender equality and sexual diversity. This paper proposes a typology of queer Jewish liturgy based on classification into two categories: t…
Let Us Bless the Twilight: Intersectionality of Traditional Jewish Ritual and Queer Pride in a Reform Congregation in Israel
Kabbalat Shabbat (Welcoming the Sabbath) is a traditional Jewish ritual marking the transition between the profane weekday and the holy Shabbat. Reform Jewish communities maintain this practice with certain ritualistic and textual revisions, in order to include gender and sexual categories previously excluded from mainstream traditional Jewish texts and rituals. This ethnographic article analyzes the particular LGBTQ Kabbalat Shabbat. By creating…
Who has the right to the city? Reform Jewish rituals of gender-religious resistance in Tel Aviv-Jaffa
Reform Judaism is one of the dominant religious movements in the contemporary Jewish world and is known primarily for its liberal approach, such as advocating for gender equality in Jewish religious practices. In Israel, however, the Reform community has been excluded by the hegemonic Jewish Orthodox community and is seen as an outsider that threatens the very continuation of the Jewish people. This article examines Reform rituals that are conduc…
The sacred scroll and the researcher’s body: An autoethnography of Reform Jewish ritual
This article examines the relationship between the researcher's body and the Torah scroll (Sefer Torah) during participant observation of a Jewish holiday ritual in an Israeli Reform congregation. Using an autoethnographic approach, I show how the Reform Jewish ritual demonstrates that the body is a charged religious symbol and the bearer of family traditions and unconscious understandings of the social order. Through this encounter, I discovered…
Casting Our Sins Away: A Comparative Analysis of Queer Jewish Communities in Israel and in the US
Every year, diverse Jewish communities around the world observe Tashlich (casting off), a customary atonement ritual performed the day after Rosh Hashanah. This performative ritual is conducted next to a body of water to symbolize atonement and purification of one's sins. Based on multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork in two egalitarian Jewish congregations in Tel Aviv and in New York City, I show how Tashlich performance is constructed as a politic…
Zooming In and Out of Virtual Jewish Prayer Services During the Covid-19 Pandemic
This netnographic study examines Reform Jewish rituals transmitted by virtual platforms, Facebook and Zoom, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Reform Judaism, which supports modern liberal theology, has adopted the usage of technology for Shabbat services. The transition from the physical space to the virtual one challenges the performance of the ritual: Rabbis change the ritual's structure, and during online services, the congregants have different f…
Who will say Kaddish for me”? The American Reform Jewish response to HIV/Aids
The AIDS epidemic tragically caused the death of millions of people. This article examines the role that the American Reform Jewish community fulfilled in responding to HIV/AIDS in the 1980s, and what lasting effects, if any, these responses had, and how they related to Reform Judaism as a whole. In 1985 the General Assembly of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC)11 The UAHC is the organizational body of the Jewish Reform movement in…
Celebrating Fifty Years of Jewish Pride: An Autoethnographic View on Queerness, Diaspora and Homeland in an American Gay Synagogue
Anthropologists of religion are preoccupied with questions of identity, community, performance and representation. One way they cope with these concerns is through a reflexive examination of their ethnographic positionality in the field. This provides an opportunity to engage not only with "the other", but also to explore their own identities and background. This article presents an autoethnographic analysis of Pride Shabbat, a special service he…
Ethnography of the Sh’ma Yisrael Prayer: A Jewish Performance of Gender and Queer Introspection
Prayer is a performative act to construct religious identity, express faith in God and sense of belonging to the community. In Judaism, reciting the Sh’ma Yisrael prayer is one of the most important commandments which identifies commitment and belief. It is practiced by the worshiper twice a day. According to the Jewish law, women are not obligated to recite the Sh’ma, but non-Orthodox communities, which support gender equality, view this issue d…
Reforming the Israeli–Arab conflict? Interreligious hospitality in Jaffa and its discontents
This ethnography analyzes three Israeli Reform Jewish rituals as manifestations of interreligious hospitality. The Daniel Reform congregation invites Muslim residents of Jaffa to participate in rituals incorporating Arabic and Muslim clergy and prayers. The egalitarian and pluralistic Jewish symbols and narratives promote neighborly relationships. Nevertheless, some participants’ responses reaffirm popular suspicions and prejudices, which the cer…
Queer Liturgy for Active Coping: Jewish Prayers for LGBTQ+ Treatments and Medical Tests
In recent years, the field of medicine has increasingly embraced inclusivity for the LGBTQ+ community, marking a new era focused on addressing diverse health needs associated with varied identities. This qualitative study illustrates this progressive trend by textual analyzing specific six Jewish prayers that address LGBTQ+ concerns, including support for medical care and treatments related to sexual and gender identity, such as HIV/AIDS care. Th…
Homecoming Rainbows: Queer Jewish Blessings Creating Safe Spaces for LGBTQ+ Individuals
The concept of "home" holds dual significance for LGBTQ+ individuals. It can be a sanctuary, nurturing comfort with identities and aiding in coming out. However, it can also be a place of hostility, reinforcing LGBTQ+ prejudice. Similarly, home preserves family traditions and sustains Jewish identity and practice, but by performing rituals and ceremonies at home, it can also reflect antisemitic attitudes and expressions present in the broader soc…
Teach us to feel proud of all of our identities: Time and space in an American queer Jewish liturgy
Since the late 1960s, the American Jewish community has worked to find creative ways to include lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, Queer+ (LGBTQ+) people in community practices and Jewish liturgy. The pioneering egalitarian denomination was and remains the Reform Jewish Movement, which promotes and supports gender equality and sexual diversity. This paper proposes a typology of queer Jewish liturgy based on classification into two categories: t…
Dancing Steps of #WeToo Resistance: Choreography of Masculinity, Sexuality, and Violence on an Israeli Stage
Israeli masculinity has been researched by diverse disciplines such as sociology, army studies, gender studies, and more. The dominant theme of such research has been to identify Israeli masculinity as heteronormative and aggressive, and usually discusses it via a nationalistic or religious lens, basing its interpretation on macho, militaristic, and heterosexual values. The current study suggests another perspective for exploring Israeli masculin…
Tonight, These Lights Are Beacons of Hope for an Aids-Free World: Jewish Prayers of Remembrance and Healing for Those Affected by HIV/Aids
Various religious responses to the AIDS epidemic were and still are often laden with stereotypes and homophobic attitudes, sometimes justifying the disease as a divine response to "sin". This study is dedicated to examining prayers written by non-Orthodox gay rabbis to commemorate those lost to AIDS-related causes and to pray for healing and robust health for those living with the virus. In each of these prayers, most of which are recited on Worl…
We make it a Haredi snack: Popcorn consumption among the Israeli ultra-orthodox Jewish community
This ethnographic study aims to clarify how popcorn became the most common snack among the ultra-Orthodox Jewish (Haredi) community in Israel. Every day, huge bags of popcorn are sold in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods and cities. Based on multi-sited fieldwork, I examine the reasons for this massive consumption and the way it sheds light on social and cultural aspects of the community. I argue that beyond serving as an inexpensive snack that facili…
Becoming an Israeli Reform Jewish Movement: Creating Community, Religious Practice, and Social Involvement
The Israeli Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism has grown considerably in recent years. Fifty congregations and initiatives now operate throughout the country, offering prayer services, holiday and life-cycle ceremonies, study houses, conversion courses, pre-army programs, and more. Despite its increased presence in Israeli life, the movement is still known among the general public mainly for its struggle to achieve equal status and gain …
Navigating Academic Identity: Autoethnography of Otherness and Embarrassment Among First-Generation College Students
As a first-generation college student (FGCS), I have never felt entirely comfortable with this label, both in academic spaces and in various personal family situations. The notion of being a FGCS has evoked internal embarrassment, a sense of academic otherness, and external micro-aggressions. Through an autoethnographic analysis of my participation in the FGCS annual workshop, I explore the strengths and weaknesses of this category. The workshop …
Israeli prayers of resistance and resilience: The politics of faith after October 7 th
Prayer is a direct channel to the divine, to the unknown, which also reveals cultural and social perceptions both of the individual and their environment. During crises, prayer marks a breaking point, an expression of crisis. Prayer is an action of restoring one's faith. Following the outbreak of the Israel–Hamas war on October 7, 2023, Neve Schechter, a center for contemporary Jewish culture and art in Tel Aviv, initiated "Radio Awe"—an online l…
Empathy from the Margins: Observing Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews) Events in a Reform Jewish Congregation
The socialization of the Ethiopian Jewish community, known as Beta Israel in Israeli society, is marked by performing cultural customs and rituals to establish its unique tradition and collective ethnic narrative. The Sigd is a holiday that is celebrated on the 29th of the Hebrew month of Heshvan, when the community marks its devotion to Zion by renewing the covenant between the Jewish people, God, and the Torah. This narrative of return to the h…
“We are Already Dried Fruits”: Women Celebrating a Tu BiSh’vat Seder in an Israeli Reform Congregation
Who will say Kaddish for me”? The American Reform Jewish response to HIV/Aids
The AIDS epidemic tragically caused the death of millions of people. This article examines the role that the American Reform Jewish community fulfilled in responding to HIV/AIDS in the 1980s, and what lasting effects, if any, these responses had, and how they related to Reform Judaism as a whole. In 1985 the General Assembly of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC)11 The UAHC is the organizational body of the Jewish Reform movement in…
“Teach Your Daughters to Wail and One Another to Lament”: Jewish Prayers and Liturgical Texts for Female Victims of Sexual Assault
Throughout generations, various prayers have been composed to express religious and cultural experiences of the Jewish community, such as holidays life-cycle and national tragedies. However, some social issues, such as sexual assault, have been excluded from this canon. This article uncovers Jewish prayers and liturgical texts dedicated to female victims of sexual assault. Drawing on a qualitative inquiry based on content analysis and interviews …
Performing Gender and Political Recognition: Israeli Reform Jewish Life-cycle Rituals
Anthropologists see life-cycle rituals as a significant way to understand gender roles and identities in religious communities. While in the past, these compulsory rituals involved a significant change in a person’s social status, today many of their traditional features have been transformed. This ethnographic inquiry examines Bat Mitzvah ceremonies (coming of age rituals for girls) in Israeli Reform Jewish congregations. By including new blessi…
Ethnography of the Sh’ma Yisrael Prayer: A Jewish Performance of Gender and Queer Introspection
Prayer is a performative act to construct religious identity, express faith in God and sense of belonging to the community. In Judaism, reciting the Sh’ma Yisrael prayer is one of the most important commandments which identifies commitment and belief. It is practiced by the worshiper twice a day. According to the Jewish law, women are not obligated to recite the Sh’ma, but non-Orthodox communities, which support gender equality, view this issue d…
Who has the right to the city? Reform Jewish rituals of gender-religious resistance in Tel Aviv-Jaffa
Reform Judaism is one of the dominant religious movements in the contemporary Jewish world and is known primarily for its liberal approach, such as advocating for gender equality in Jewish religious practices. In Israel, however, the Reform community has been excluded by the hegemonic Jewish Orthodox community and is seen as an outsider that threatens the very continuation of the Jewish people. This article examines Reform rituals that are conduc…
Reforming the Israeli–Arab conflict? Interreligious hospitality in Jaffa and its discontents
This ethnography analyzes three Israeli Reform Jewish rituals as manifestations of interreligious hospitality. The Daniel Reform congregation invites Muslim residents of Jaffa to participate in rituals incorporating Arabic and Muslim clergy and prayers. The egalitarian and pluralistic Jewish symbols and narratives promote neighborly relationships. Nevertheless, some participants’ responses reaffirm popular suspicions and prejudices, which the cer…
Let Us Bless the Twilight: Intersectionality of Traditional Jewish Ritual and Queer Pride in a Reform Congregation in Israel
Kabbalat Shabbat (Welcoming the Sabbath) is a traditional Jewish ritual marking the transition between the profane weekday and the holy Shabbat. Reform Jewish communities maintain this practice with certain ritualistic and textual revisions, in order to include gender and sexual categories previously excluded from mainstream traditional Jewish texts and rituals. This ethnographic article analyzes the particular LGBTQ Kabbalat Shabbat. By creating…
Zooming In and Out of Virtual Jewish Prayer Services During the Covid-19 Pandemic
This netnographic study examines Reform Jewish rituals transmitted by virtual platforms, Facebook and Zoom, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Reform Judaism, which supports modern liberal theology, has adopted the usage of technology for Shabbat services. The transition from the physical space to the virtual one challenges the performance of the ritual: Rabbis change the ritual's structure, and during online services, the congregants have different f…
Israeli theatre: Mizrahi Jews and self-representation
The sacred scroll and the researcher’s body: An autoethnography of Reform Jewish ritual
This article examines the relationship between the researcher's body and the Torah scroll (Sefer Torah) during participant observation of a Jewish holiday ritual in an Israeli Reform congregation. Using an autoethnographic approach, I show how the Reform Jewish ritual demonstrates that the body is a charged religious symbol and the bearer of family traditions and unconscious understandings of the social order. Through this encounter, I discovered…
Casting Our Sins Away: A Comparative Analysis of Queer Jewish Communities in Israel and in the US
Every year, diverse Jewish communities around the world observe Tashlich (casting off), a customary atonement ritual performed the day after Rosh Hashanah. This performative ritual is conducted next to a body of water to symbolize atonement and purification of one's sins. Based on multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork in two egalitarian Jewish congregations in Tel Aviv and in New York City, I show how Tashlich performance is constructed as a politic…
Dancing your Aliyah passage: An Anthropological Inquiry into the Acclimatisation and Integration of Turkish Jewish Immigrants in Israel
Anthropologists and sociologists explore dance as a political and cultural performance to express beliefs, ideologies and social ideas. This article examines the impact of Israeli folk dance on the socialisation and integration, of Jewish newcomers (Olim) from Turkey into contemporary Israeli society. Based on in-depth interviews, questionnaires, and spontaneous conversations, as well as auto-ethnographic writings, the article clarifies how, by d…
Queer Judaism: LGBT Activism and the Remaking of Jewish Orthodoxy in Israel, By Orit Avishai
Journal Article Queer Judaism: LGBT Activism and the Remaking of Jewish Orthodoxy in Israel. By Orit Avishai Get access Queer Judaism: LGBT Activism and the Remaking of Jewish Orthodoxy in Israel By Orit Avishai New York University Press, 2023. 320 pages. $89.00 (hardcover), $30.00 (paperback or e-book). Elazar Ben-Lulu Elazar Ben-Lulu Ariel University, Israel Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of the…
Empathy from the Margins: Observing Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews) Events in a Reform Jewish Congregation
The socialization of the Ethiopian Jewish community, known as Beta Israel in Israeli society, is marked by performing cultural customs and rituals to establish its unique tradition and collective ethnic narrative. The Sigd is a holiday that is celebrated on the 29th of the Hebrew month of Heshvan, when the community marks its devotion to Zion by renewing the covenant between the Jewish people, God, and the Torah. This narrative of return to the h…
Are You Our Sisters? Resistance, Belonging, and Recognition in Israeli Reform Jewish Female Converts
The religious conversion process is a significant expression of an individual’s intention to gain a new religious identity and be included in a particular religious community. Those who wish to join the Jewish people undergo giyur (conversion), which includes observing rituals and religious practices. While previous research on Jewish conversions in Israel focused on the experiences of persons who converted under Orthodox auspices, this study ana…
“With the Pandemic Still Raging, I am Blessed to Do My Part to Defeat it”: Exploring Covid-19 Jewish Liturgy and Prayers in Israel and the United States
During the COVID-19 pandemic, synagogues faced closure, and many non-Orthodox communities transitioned their prayer services to online platforms. This presented a significant challenge for community leaders and rabbis who were faced with a profound community crisis. An innovative response emerged including new prayers and the adaptation of existing ones to better address the pandemic's unique realities, integrating aspects of health, divinity, co…
We Are All the Sons of Abraham”? Utopian Performativity for Jewish–Arab Coexistence in an Israeli Reform Jewish Mimouna Celebration
Mimouna is a North-African Jewish festival, which in the past symbolized good neighborly relationships between Jews and Muslims. Today, however, this festival has transformed into a neutralized interfaith encounter, resembling a culinary-focused musical show. The particular event explored in this case study was organized by an Israeli Reform Jewish congregation, which is a non-Orthodox liberal Jewish denomination. In this event, the congregation …
Apples – out, mushrooms – in'; toward a theology of queer advocacy in the American Jewish community
In Jewish tradition, two holiday plates, the Passover Seder plate and the Rosh Hashanah Seder plate, hold profound significance due to their inclusion of simanim (symbolic foods) which carry deep social, cultural, and spiritual meanings.The blessings construct and express the Jewish tradition as a means of fulfilling the collective wishes and hopes of the Jewish community for survival, continuity and protection.This article delves into an initiat…
Becoming an Israeli Reform Jewish Movement: Creating Community, Religious Practice, and Social Involvement
The Israeli Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism has grown considerably in recent years. Fifty congregations and initiatives now operate throughout the country, offering prayer services, holiday and life-cycle ceremonies, study houses, conversion courses, pre-army programs, and more. Despite its increased presence in Israeli life, the movement is still known among the general public mainly for its struggle to achieve equal status and gain …
May our hearts rise up in prayer’: Responses of Russian-speaking immigrant Israeli reform congregations to the Russo-Ukrainian war
Russia's invasion of Ukraine in March 2022 stunned the world and recalled levels of aggression unseen since World War II. Along with political, military and diplomatic discussions, this anthropological study contributes a sociological-cultural perspective through the examination of Israeli Reform Jewish congregation responses, which include Russian-speaking immigrants, to the Russo-Ukrainian conflict. I analyze how the crisis pushed congregants i…
Navigating Academic Identity: Autoethnography of Otherness and Embarrassment Among First-Generation College Students
As a first-generation college student (FGCS), I have never felt entirely comfortable with this label, both in academic spaces and in various personal family situations. The notion of being a FGCS has evoked internal embarrassment, a sense of academic otherness, and external micro-aggressions. Through an autoethnographic analysis of my participation in the FGCS annual workshop, I explore the strengths and weaknesses of this category. The workshop …
Celebrating Fifty Years of Jewish Pride: An Autoethnographic View on Queerness, Diaspora and Homeland in an American Gay Synagogue
Anthropologists of religion are preoccupied with questions of identity, community, performance and representation. One way they cope with these concerns is through a reflexive examination of their ethnographic positionality in the field. This provides an opportunity to engage not only with "the other", but also to explore their own identities and background. This article presents an autoethnographic analysis of Pride Shabbat, a special service he…
Teach us to feel proud of all of our identities: Time and space in an American queer Jewish liturgy
Since the late 1960s, the American Jewish community has worked to find creative ways to include lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, Queer+ (LGBTQ+) people in community practices and Jewish liturgy. The pioneering egalitarian denomination was and remains the Reform Jewish Movement, which promotes and supports gender equality and sexual diversity. This paper proposes a typology of queer Jewish liturgy based on classification into two categories: t…
Dancing Steps of #WeToo Resistance: Choreography of Masculinity, Sexuality, and Violence on an Israeli Stage
Israeli masculinity has been researched by diverse disciplines such as sociology, army studies, gender studies, and more. The dominant theme of such research has been to identify Israeli masculinity as heteronormative and aggressive, and usually discusses it via a nationalistic or religious lens, basing its interpretation on macho, militaristic, and heterosexual values. The current study suggests another perspective for exploring Israeli masculin…
Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies (36 works) · Judaism (33 works) · Sociology (33 works) · Gender Studies (24 works) · Philosophy (22 works) · Political science (22 works) · Theology (20 works) · Jewish Identity and Society (19 works) · Law (18 works) · Politics (18 works)