New Rituals—Old Societies : : Invented Rituals in Contemporary Israel / / Nissan Rubin.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Academic Studies Press Backlist eBook-Package 2008-2013
• VerfasserIn: Rubin, Nissan,
• Place / Publishing House: Boston, MA : : Academic Studies Press, , [2009]; ©2009
• Year of Publication: 2009
• Language: English
• Series: Judaism and Jewish Life
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (208 p.)

Rituals provide public solutions to some types of life crises. There are crises which beset individuals in modern and post-modern society which are not easily addressed by traditional rituals. However, rites have not disappeared in contemporary society, but have merely changed their guise. New Rituals - Old Societies examines rituals which were invented by individuals and communities in order to celebrate important turning points. In contemporary Israel a process of innovation of new rituals was introduced, either by the adoption of ritual elements from outside sources or by the transformation of existing Jewish symbols through the infusion of new contents originating in secular ideology. The term "personal definitional rites" coined here refers to rites carried out by individuals undergoing a change in identity. Structural analysis supplies an additional dimension to this collection of studies.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- TABLE OF CONTENTS -- PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS -- PART ONE. RITES AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE -- CHAPTER ONE. SOCIAL NETWORKS AND MOURNING: A COMPARATIVE APPROACH -- CHAPTER TWO. UNOFFICIAL MEMORIAL RITES IN AN ARMY UNIT -- PART TWO. RITES AND CIVIL RELIGION: INVENTION OF TRADITION -- CHAPTER THREE. ETHNIC CIVIL RELIGION: A CASE STUDY OF IMMIGRANTS FROM RUMANIA IN ISRAEL -- CHAPTER FOUR. DEATH CUSTOMS IN A NON-RELIGIOUS KIBBUTZ: THE USE OF SACRED SYMBOLS IN A SECULAR SOCIETY -- CHAPTER FIVE. PERSONAL BEREAVEMENT IN A COLLECTIVE ENVIRONMENT: MOURNING IN THE KIBBUTZ -- PART THREE. PERSONAL DEFENITIONAL RITES: CHANGING ONE’S IDENTITY -- CHAPTER SIX. FROM FAT TO THIN: INFORMAL RITES AFFIRMING IDENTITY CHANGE -- CHAPTER SEVEN. FORMAL AND INFORMAL RETIREMENT RITES IN THE ISRAELI ARMY -- REFERENCES -- GENERAL INDEX -- AUTHORS INDEX