Beit Avi Chai presents "Let's Meet on Joyous Occasions": Jewish rituals in Israeli society.
What happens there, in that interdisciplinary, intergenerational, interfaith meeting place of ancient religious rituals and contemporary Israeli life? In this series we explore how the rituals are carried out in contemporary Israeli society and culture, what they mean to those who observe them, and why people choose to connect to Jewish tradition or to the alternative rituals that have started to appear in recent years.
Organizers and moderators: author Sarah Blau and journalist Tali Lipkin-Shahak
Part 1: Covenant of Blood: Circumcision
• Monday, June 14, 8 PM
The knife is taken out, the baby cries, the heart tenses up. Why do most Jews choose to circumcise their sons despite the emotional difficulty?
Guests:
Dr. Avshalom Zoossmann-Diskin, chair of the Israeli Association against Genital Mutilation
Rabbi Dr. Shaul (Seth) Farber, director of Itim
Part 2: Blessed Be He Who Has Released Me: Bar and Bat Mitzva
• Monday, June 21, 8 PM h
Reading the Torah? The first suit? Candies on the head? What about the trip abroad? What turns the bar or bat mitzvah into an initiation ceremony with social and family significance?
Guest: Shai Zarchi of Nigun Halev, Nahalal
Part 3: With This Ring: Weddings
• Monday, June 28, 8 PM
How come he "sanctifies" her and she doesn't "sanctify" him? And why in Aramaic? A look at traditional and alternative wedding ceremonies and at the people who choose each.
Guests:
Secular rabbi Kobi Wiener, Kibbutz Mizra
Rabbi Haim Navon, rabbi of the Shimshoni congregation, Modi'in
Part 4: The Way of All Flesh: Burial and Mourning
• Monday, July 5, 8 PM
In what way do the traditional mourning customs provide solace, and what do people who have no connection to Jewish tradition on a daily basis find in them?
Guest: Clinical psychologist Avner Hacohen
This is a Hebrew-language only event.
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