Tikkun (Divine Repair) and Healing in a Kabbalistic Yeshiva: Using Sacred Texts as Healing Devices

Guzmen-Carmeli, Shlomo; Rubin, Nissan

doi:10.1007/s12397-014-9119-9

Cited by 13 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 14 publications

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“…Rubin's proficiency in the text, combined with anthropological sociological theories, has helped to establish a new avenue of research, which is clearly reflected in his works on the Jewish life cycle and the anthropology and sociology of the Talmud (see, for example, Rubin 2004Rubin , 2008Rubin , 2011Rubin , 2019. For more anthropological-sociological works dealing with how the religious text shapes Jewish culture, see, for example: (Heilman 1983;Friedman 1986;Goldberg 1986Goldberg , 2003Boyarin 1989Boyarin , 1991Soloveitchik 1994;El-Or 2002, 2006Rubin 2008;Hakak 2012;Guzmen-Carmeli and Rubin 2014;Guzmen-Carmeli 2020). the long and significant narrative we will call Joseph's Story.…”

Section: The Story Of Joseph As a Cultural Presentationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Structure of Change: A Structural Interpretation of the Biblical Story of Joseph

Cooper

Guzmen-Carmeli

2019

Religions

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In recent years, theories of structuralism in anthropology are being re-examined. This article uses structural analysis to create an anthropological interpretation of the Joseph story in the Bible and to evaluate its modes of interpretation and how it influences the formation of Jewish religious practices. The structural interpretation shows how stories serve as models for the process of cultural creation. In the case of Joseph's story, the narrative creates a mythology but also a recurring operational infrastructure that echoes in different contexts: in ethical actions, in halachic perception, and in the foundation of various practices in Judaism including concealment and removal, covering and disrobing, that appear repeatedly and function as structures that signify and enable change.

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Section: The Story Of Joseph As a Cultural Presentationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Structure of Change: A Structural Interpretation of the Biblical Story of Joseph

Cooper

Guzmen-Carmeli

2019

Religions

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A Permissible Sin: Perceptions of Smoking Among Haredi Men in Israel

Guzmen-Carmeli,

Weizman,

Friedman

2024

J Relig Health

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This essay deals with perceptions of smoking among Haredi men in Israel. Though trends in smoking within the Haredi society have been quantitively examined, no qualitative research has ever focused on the motivations and mindsets stimulating individuals’ choices to take health risks despite religious precepts to the contrary. Israeli Haredi men sometimes start smoking in their early childhood and are unmotivated to quit, and such circumstances should be examined. We interviewed 20 Israeli Haredi male smokers and overviewed the Haredi daily press and rabbinical attitudes toward smoking. Our findings indicate that Haredi men typically consider smoking as either permissible or, at worst, a minor sin. From childhood they view smoking as an expression of maturity, and moreover one which is associated with Jewish holidays and particular religious practices. Such perception relies on the Haredi establishment's normative exclusion of smoking from the Halachic commandments that aim to protect health. Finally, we illustrate key points to consider in paths leading to an intervention process to change these norms and practices.

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“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

Ben-Lulu

2024

J Relig Health

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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, community, and the environment. This study engages in a textual analysis of these prayers, exploring how these mirror cultural and social attitudes toward the body and embodiment. While the body was seen during the COVID-19 period as problematic, an object of contagion and spreader of disease (e.g., by not keeping proper distance or masking), in these particular texts it is no longer slandered, but revealed as an obedient and disciplined agent. The prayers seek to overcome the disruption in the individual’s relationship with their body and with other bodies. The prayer authors propose to the worshipper, while also conceptually changing traditional ideas and practices, to view the body as an object that must be cleaned, vaccinated, purified, and allowed to continue its function. The concern for both the well-being of the living body and the dignity of the deceased extends to care for society and humanity as a whole. Therefore, this liturgy can be seen as a pragmatic means to promote a “theology of humanistic responsibility.”

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Tikkun (Divine Repair) and Healing in a Kabbalistic Yeshiva: Using Sacred Texts as Healing Devices

Cited by 13 publications

References 14 publications

The Structure of Change: A Structural Interpretation of the Biblical Story of Joseph

The Structure of Change: A Structural Interpretation of the Biblical Story of Joseph

A Permissible Sin: Perceptions of Smoking Among Haredi Men in Israel

“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

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