maximus otter
Recovering policeman
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2001
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In a scene from a recently released movie, three older women in a small room slowly walk clockwise around a table covered in candles, chanting curses softly.
A scene from the latest “Macbeth” remake? Not exactly: It’s a moment from indie film “A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff,” a musical exploration of spirituality, Jewish identity and the Bernie Madoff case.
Its creator, Alicia Jo Rabins, identifies as a Jewish artist and educator who incorporates elements of witchcraft into her practice of Judaism, an increasingly common, if still controversial, combination.
In this July 2016 photo provided by the Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute, Yael Schonzeit chants from the Torah during a Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute training week in Northern California, accompanied by Kohenet co-founder Rabbi Jill Hammer, bottom right
In both the modern witchcraft and Jewish communities, people are bringing together magic — often called witchcraft — and religious ritual. The ways in which these two seemingly distinct practices merge is often highly personal, depending on heritage, education and spiritual calling.
Rabins admits the two practices seem contradictory, considering that at several points the Torah specifically forbids witchcraft. She interprets these passages as prohibitions against negative practices. The two also overlap in their observance of the natural world: Rabin is a member of a women’s group that gathers for “Rosh Hodesh,” or each new moon, a longstanding tradition in Judaism as well as in witchcraft.
But in an ancient patriarchal society, she said, Jewish leaders likely wanted to set themselves apart from the surrounding culture.
Rabbi Jill Hammer highlighted this point in an interview with Religion News Service, explaining that the difference between Jewish ritual and witchcraft is mostly political.
“Often the way that it’s structured is, if you’re part of the hierarchy … it’s called ritual, it’s called prayer, it’s called ceremony. And if you are doing something outside of the hierarchy, that’s often called magic or sorcery or witchcraft,” Hammer explained.
https://apnews.com/article/religion-judaism-aa34f2501659dfb3a31ca5956860ebc5
maximus otter
A scene from the latest “Macbeth” remake? Not exactly: It’s a moment from indie film “A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff,” a musical exploration of spirituality, Jewish identity and the Bernie Madoff case.
Its creator, Alicia Jo Rabins, identifies as a Jewish artist and educator who incorporates elements of witchcraft into her practice of Judaism, an increasingly common, if still controversial, combination.
In this July 2016 photo provided by the Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute, Yael Schonzeit chants from the Torah during a Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute training week in Northern California, accompanied by Kohenet co-founder Rabbi Jill Hammer, bottom right
In both the modern witchcraft and Jewish communities, people are bringing together magic — often called witchcraft — and religious ritual. The ways in which these two seemingly distinct practices merge is often highly personal, depending on heritage, education and spiritual calling.
Rabins admits the two practices seem contradictory, considering that at several points the Torah specifically forbids witchcraft. She interprets these passages as prohibitions against negative practices. The two also overlap in their observance of the natural world: Rabin is a member of a women’s group that gathers for “Rosh Hodesh,” or each new moon, a longstanding tradition in Judaism as well as in witchcraft.
But in an ancient patriarchal society, she said, Jewish leaders likely wanted to set themselves apart from the surrounding culture.
Rabbi Jill Hammer highlighted this point in an interview with Religion News Service, explaining that the difference between Jewish ritual and witchcraft is mostly political.
“Often the way that it’s structured is, if you’re part of the hierarchy … it’s called ritual, it’s called prayer, it’s called ceremony. And if you are doing something outside of the hierarchy, that’s often called magic or sorcery or witchcraft,” Hammer explained.
https://apnews.com/article/religion-judaism-aa34f2501659dfb3a31ca5956860ebc5
maximus otter
