Read more
This book discusses the development of practices associated with customs and artifacts used in Jewish ceremonies when viewed from the vantage of anthropological studies. It can also function as a guide to practical halakhah. The author examines topics such as Torah Scrolls, ceremonial use of fire, Purim customs, the festival of Shavuot, magic and superstition. This investigation, at times, compares some Jewish observances with the wider cultural observances or notions of the broader, gentile societies in which Jews were located when these customs originated. It is found that the time and location of a practice's origin is often critical to appreciating a shared context. In all cases the Jewish practice becomes reinterpreted within a specifically Jewish narrative and legal structure.
List of contents
Preface and Acknowledgments Introduction Fire Symbolism in Jewish Law and Ritual Behind the Purim Mask: The Symbolic Representation of the Rituals and Customs of Purim In the Absence of Ritual: Customs of the Holiday of Shavuot Holy and Licit Magic and Halakhah: The Case of the Arukh HaShulhan The Symbolic Representation of the Sefer Torah Index
About the author
Simcha Fishbane (PhD, Social Anthropology of Religion, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada 1988) is Professor of Jewish Studies in the Graduate School of Jewish Studies at Touro College. He has published extensively on Jewish subjects and texts. His publications include
The Method and Meaning of the Mishnah Berurah (1991) and
The Shtiebelization of Modern Jewry (2011).
Summary
Discusses the development of practices associated with customs and artifacts used in Jewish ceremonies when viewed from the vantage of anthropological studies. It can also function as a guide to practical halakhah. The author examines topics such as Torah Scrolls, ceremonial use of fire, Purim customs, the festival of Shavuot, magic and superstition.
