Abstract
This study focuses on the creative reconstruction of Jewish history in New Age Judaism (NAJ) in Israel. NAJ reformulates the biblical period as a sacred time by focusing on its spiritual aspects, namely as a period distinguished by un-institutionalized forms of religious experience, of indigenous pagan and nature worship, and of prophecy and direct divine revelation. This reconfiguration of the past underpins NAJ’s radical ideas and provides them with a sense of cultural continuity and authenticity. NAJ’s narrative emulates and subverts the ‘classic’ Zionist narrative and presents its own claim for a more accurate representation of history. This narrative ignores the particularistic and national constituents of the Zionist narrative and emphasizes instead universal spirituality realized by indigenous religions and practices. The result is what I call a spiritual neo-Canaanite narrative of the past.
Judaism is ailing. It is lying, dying, right in front of us. Only we can nurture its recovery. In the linguistic code of Judaism, this malady is named ‘Exile’. The Kabbalah calls it the ‘Exile of the Shechinah’. What, however, is the meaning of ‘Exile’? In the tacitly understood code, it represents the infirmity of Judaism since the destruction of the Second Temple. As those who eat the bitter fruits of this status, daily, as Jews, and particularly—and ironically—as Israelis, we should try to better understand it (Ezrahi 2004, 32).
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Werczberger, R. (2017). A Sacred Time in the Sacred Land: Authenticating the Past in New Age Judaism. In: Feraro, S., Lewis, J. (eds) Contemporary Alternative Spiritualities in Israel. Palgrave Studies in New Religions and Alternative Spiritualities. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53913-7_1
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