“Tell Me Who Your Enemies Are”: Government Reports About the “Cult” Phenomenon in Israel

Ruah-Midbar, Marianna; Klin-Oron, Adam

doi:10.1111/jssr.12067

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 32 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…New Age developed in Israel at around the same time as it did in the Western world, although it took some time to get off the ground. In the 1980s, the public displayed a favorable attitude toward this culture, while the state authorities exhibited considerable animosity (Ruah-Midbar and Klin-Oron, 2013; Tavory, 2007). However, from the early 1990s until the present, we have witnessed the steady development of New Age culture in Israel, as evidenced in the publication of a collection of articles devoted to the subject.…”

Section: The New Age Culture and Cam In Israelmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Age in Israel: Formative ethos, identity blindness, and implications for healthcare

Simchai

Keshet

2016

Health (London)

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article presents a critical analysis of New Age culture. We draw on two empirical studies conducted in Israel and show that the lofty notions about freedom from the shackles of socially structured identities and the unifying potential this holds, as well as the claim regarding the basic equality of human beings, are utopian. Blindness toward ethno-national identity reinforces identification with a self-evident hegemonic perception, thereby leading to the exclusion of peripheral groups such as indigenous populations. This exclusion is manifested in the discourse symbolically as well as in the praxis of complementary and alternative medicine, which is one of the main fields in which New Age culture is involved. Thus, the unifying ethos in the New Age culture becomes an illusionary paradise. This article contributes to the study of power relationships between New Age culture in diverse Western countries and the native and peripheral populations of these countries, and to the sociological study of complementary and alternative medicine incorporated into health organizations.

show abstract

Section: The New Age Culture and Cam In Israelmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Age in Israel: Formative ethos, identity blindness, and implications for healthcare

Simchai

Keshet

2016

Health (London)

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In 2011, Israel's Ministry of Welfare and Social Services issued an “Examination of the Phenomenon of Cults in Israel” (Ruah‐Midbar and Klin‐Oron 2013; Sagiv 2017). The report defined a “cult” (or a “harmful cult”) as “an entity whose members lose the ability to think independently and suffer from physical and mental abuse by their leader” (Itzkovitz 2011:14–23).…”

Section: Setting: Cults In Israelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Center also estimated that 10,000 people were members of these cults, including 1000 minors. One can understand the popularity of these cults in light of recent trends in the Israeli religious landscape (Ruah‐Midbar and Klin‐Oron 2013; Simchai and Shoshana 2018). New religious movements (NRMs) are a growing presence both globally, as part of a “post‐secular” turn toward greater spirituality, and as a particular phenomenon within Israel.…”

Section: Setting: Cults In Israelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Birthing A Secret Creative Self in Suppressive Organizations

Bar‐Lev

Morag

2022

Symbolic Interaction

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper explores the birth of a secret creative self within suppressive or silencing organizations, such as cults, by focusing on concrete instances in which members of such organizations challenge the organization's leadership and norms. Building on Goffman's concept of the backstage, it considers how cult members create both physical and mental backspaces to allow the birth of a secret creative self within the cult. Through the stories of former cult members, it sheds light on how the “occupied self,” as Goffman called it, can use these backspaces to preserve and restore a sense of personal autonomy.

show abstract

“…Zaidman-Dvir and Sharot 1992). The peak of this wave was expressed in the report on "cults" by the Interministerial Committee for the Examination of the Cult Phenomenon ("New Groups") in Israel, also known as the Tassa-Glazer Report, published in 1987 (Ruah-Midbar andKlin-Oron 2013;Tassa-Glazer 1987).…”

Section: The Concept Of 'New Age' and Its Political Aspectsmentioning

confidence: 99%