New Age Judaism / editors, Celia E. Rothenberg and Anne Vallely.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Rothenberg, Celia, 1970-

Vallely, Anne, 1966-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Judaism--United States.

Judaism.

United States.

Jewish renewal.

Spiritual life--Judaism.

Spiritual life.

Buddhism--Relations--Judaism.

Buddhism.

Relations.

Judaism--Relations--Buddhism.

Yoga--Judaism.

Yoga.

Women in Judaism.

New Age movement.

Physical Description:

xii, 96 pages ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

London ; Portland, OR : Vallentine Mitchell, 2008.

Summary:

Experimentation with yoga, drumming, meditation, eclectic musical forms, Buddhism, and egalitarian prayer were once the province of the most marginal of Jewish religious practices. Today, however, they are being embraced with varying degrees of enthusiasm within mainstream Jewish denominations, revealing the gradual 'normalization' of New Age Judaism's religious forms. New Age Judaism focuses much needed scholarly attention on these new forms and expressions of Judaism both within and outside of the synagogue setting.

This edited volume explores a range of experiences and conceptualizations of 'New Age Judaism', an imprecise term denoting new and evolving forms of North American Judaism that are typically innovative, combinative, and often controversial. Chapters analyze the phenomenon of New Age Judaism from theoretical, theological and ethnographic perspectives. As a result, they offer a broad sampling of some of the most fascinating forms of Jewish religious expression and philosophy in North America today. Rothenberg explores the teachings of Jewish shamanism and Jewish yoga, outlining how these practices demonstrate New Age Judaism's most central characteristics: practitioners' use of a Jewish 'core' in combination with non-Jewish teachings and practices, and a central focus on the achievement of individual healing. Vallely explores the revitalization of Jewish ritual practices achieved through the embrace of Buddhism, and situates its ideological syncretism within the context of postmodern religious revivalism. Other chapters include accounts of one Conservative synagogue's re-framing of wealth as a form of 'energy', and its use of a non-materialist 'spiritual' discourse to legitimate and bolster its increasingly corporate-style management; a women's ritual within ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal; and the 'inclusive' writings of New Age Jewish Renewal leader Rabbi Schachter-Shalomi, which claim not to be combinative at all, but rather a 'retrieval' of ancient Jewish wisdom.

Contents:

Introduction / Celia E. Rothenberg

New Age Jews: Jewish shamanism and Jewish yoga / Celia E. Rothenberg

Jewish redemption by way of the Buddha: a post-modern tale of exile and return / Anne Vallely

Jewish spirituality and late capitalism / Ayala Fader

'Women of vision' in the Jewish Renewal movement: the Eshet Hazon ['Woman of vision'] ceremony / Chava Weissler

Beyond New Age: Jewish Renewal's reconstruction of theological meaning in the teachings of Rabbi Z. Schachter-Shalomi / Marie-Josée Posen.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

9780853038504

0853038503

0853038600

9780853038603

OCLC:

213844596