Holy pleather: materializing authority in contemporary orthodox jewish publishing

Abstract

ArtScroll-a major contemporary Orthodox Jewish publishing house based in Brooklyn, New York-offers a compelling case for studying the roie of materiality in religious print culture. This essay draws upon actor-network theory to examine the "material agency" of key ArtScroll publications, such as prayer books. Bibles, and cookbooks, showing how these artifacts play an active roie within various arenas of Jewish social life, from public prayer to domestic display to kitchen labor. By focusing on the role of book covers, binding materials, and graphic icons in the constitution of ArtScroN's material agency, this essay explores how these devices help to define patterns of ritual performance and consumer lifestyles and how they contribute to struggles over institutional identity and the politics of Jewish authenticity. By examining the actual processes of distribution of actions among people and their books, this analysis complicates the stereotypical image of Jews as a "people of the book" and challenges sweeping claims about Jewish text-centrism.

Handbook of Islamic Sects and Movements

“…A shift of focus that has occurred in scholarly work on religion lately, and which also can be observed in the study of religious authority, can be found in the increased emphasis on aesthetic, sensorial, bodily and material dimensions (Meyer 2009(Meyer , 2010Schulz 2006;Stolow 2005Stolow , 2007. Such a focus also turns out to be fruitful when it comes to analysing the changing role of the maddāhān in Iran.…”

The Heyʾati Movement

“…A shift of focus that has occurred in scholarly work on religion lately, and which also can be observed in the study of religious authority, can be found in the increased emphasis on aesthetic, sensorial, bodily and material dimensions (Meyer 2009(Meyer , 2010Schulz 2006;Stolow 2005Stolow , 2007. Such a focus also turns out to be fruitful when it comes to analysing the changing role of the maddāhān in Iran.…”

Purge the Evil From Your Midst: Material Cancel Culture Among Religiously Observant Jews

“…But it is worth mentioning that it has been a focus of significant scholarly attention, particularly in the study of Jewish homes, Jewish religiosity, cultural transmission, and daily life. Among many authors: A, 2018; Ochs 1999, 2010; Mann 2022; Stolow 2007.…”