Have you ever worn an amulet? Or 'touched wood'? Or tied red thread on a baby’s cot? Recent research on Jewish women has revealed a wide array of customs that are still being used to protect people and ward off the angel of death. Rabba Dr Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz will investigate Jewish and anthropological definitions of magic and ask why people still believe in these practices and whether they're hocus pocus or if they can be considered 'kosher' according to Jewish tradition.
Her recent book Challenge and Conformity: The Religious Lives of Orthodox Jewish Women has recently been published by the Littman Library of Jewish Civilization. Drawing on interviews as well as on her own experience, she shares her findings of how new norms of lived religion have emerged, influenced by both the rise of feminism and the backlash against it, and also by an evolving understanding of women’s religious roles.
Please register below receive the Zoom link, which will be sent out one day before the event.
Free
JR has an ethical ticketing policy and is offering free tickets to this event, but if you can afford it, please donate to support our work. We are proposing denominations of 18 – the numerical value of the Hebrew word 'chai', meaning 'life'.