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The Intersection of Hebrew, Judaism and Jewish Spirituality

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Language and Spirit

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to investigate the connections between Jewish spirituality, religious practice, wellbeing and knowledge of the Hebrew language. Drawing on findings from a study of the connections between spirituality, health and well-being, which was conducted across the major faith groups from 2019–2020 in Australia (Study 1) and a longitudinal study from 2008–2015 of Jewish education (Study 2), we argue that developing positive attitudes and love for the Hebrew language among young Jewish students is a challenge in the post-modern world. This can lead to a distancing from the Jewish religion and spirituality, having a negative impact on young people’s sense of belonging, health and well-being.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel

    Zehavit Gross

  2. Department of Hebrew, Biblical & Jewish Studies, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Suzanne D. Rutland

Authors
  1. Zehavit Gross
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  2. Suzanne D. Rutland
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Correspondence to Suzanne D. Rutland .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Robyn Moloney

  2. NSW Ecumenical Council, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Shenouda Mansour

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Gross, Z., Rutland, S.D. (2022). The Intersection of Hebrew, Judaism and Jewish Spirituality. In: Moloney, R., Mansour, S. (eds) Language and Spirit. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-93064-6_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-93064-6_14

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-93063-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-93064-6

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