Hindu Hair and Jewish Halakha
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4765129 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Benjamin J Fleming (University of Pennsylvania, corresponding author), Annette Yoshiko Reed (0000-0002-5748-7812, University of Pennsylvania) |
| Year | 2011 |
| Volume | 40 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 199-234 |
| Publication date | 2011-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0008-4298 • E-ISSN: 2042-0587 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0008429811399998 |
| OpenAlex | W2074683617 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 44 |
This pair of essays reflects upon the unexpected encounter of Hindu and Jewish perspectives in the wake of the prohibition of wigs with human hair from India for use by Jewish women by prominent Haredi (''ultra-orthodox'') legal authorities in May 2004. The rulings sparked distress among Haredi communities in New York, London, and Jerusalem; some women took to the streets to burn their wigs, attracting international media attention. Yet questions about the status of the wigs also occasioned intensive halakhic discussions of Hindu rituals among Orthodox Jews, centered on tonsuring practices of pilgrims to the Ve kateśvara temple near the city of Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, India. These essays explore some of the insights that arise when one examines the controversy from historical perspectives, and in relation to theoretical questions about comparison and the study of religions. The first essay focuses on the tensions surrounding hair and its interpretation within Vaisnavite textual traditions and ritual practices, while the second essay situates the controversy within the history of Jewish discourses about ritual, ''idolatry,'' and the ''Other
Hinduism · Idolatry · Interpretation (philosophy · Judaism · Relation (database · Sociology · Anthropological Studies and Insights · History · Indian History and Philosophy · Islamic Studies and History · Philosophy · Religious studies
Laws Regarding Idolatry in Jewelry as a Mirror Image of Jewish-Gentile Relations in the Land of Israel during Mishnaic and Talmudic Times
Defenders of the Faith
Deconstruction of the Body in Indian Asceticism
Medusa's Hair
Unifying Hinduism
Between the Babylonian and Palestinian Talmuds
Jewish Yoga
Sacred Speakers
Outline of a Theory of Practice
Orientalism and the Jews
Border Lines
Genealogies of Religion
The Haredi Ghetto the theology behind the geography
Religious Law and Change
War against the idols
Mapping Sacred Geography in Medieval India
Bones, Stones, and Buddhist Monks
Rabban Gamliel, Aphrodite's Bath, and the Question of Pagan Monotheism
Peace Without Conciliation
Magical Hair
Beyond Comparison
Fundamentalisms' Compared
The Non-modern Confronts the Modern
Transcending Dichotomies in History and Religion
History and Religion in the Modern Age
Paradigms Behind (And Before) the Modern Concept of Religion
The zombie commodity
The Sale of Animals to Gentiles in Talmudic Law
Revolt of the Colonized
Idolum and Idololatria in Tertullian
Hair
The Invention of World Religions
Reclaiming Sacred Sparks
From Milah (Circumcision) to Milah (Word)
Who Invented Hinduism
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,13 |
| Citation span | 2018 - 2018 (1) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |