The Architecture of Jewish Ritual: Decoding Ceremonial Action in Jewish Life

Catalog description

In this class, we will study traditional and contemporary Jewish lifecycle and holiday rituals such as the waving of the lulav on Sukkot, brit milah, weddings, and funerals, the American bar/bat mitzvah and simkhat bat, aging, healing, and coming out rituals, and other new ceremonies. We will ask questions such as: what are the components of ritual? How does ritual transmit meaning? What elements are common to all ritual? To what extent is the strength of a ritual dependent on its age? What is the role of new rituals? How can we design new rituals to have power and impact?