Gideon Aran: Jewish Religious Sensitivity To Exposing The Foot

Posted on September 3, 2014 by Gideon Aran
 

Jewish religious sensitivity to exposing the foot is not only a matter of modesty, nor is it merely the result of identifying being barefooted with the “primitivism” of the Mideastern sections of the population scorned by the Haredim.

Written By Prof. Gideon Aran

The symbolic meaning of the foot should mainly be understood in the context of the ritual distinction between purity and pollution. It is a borderline limb that connects these two basic religious categories, the latter of which is associated with danger. The distance, liminality, and contradictions that characterize the foot explain the multiplicity of mystic and magic beliefs focused on it, such as the dibbuk, that possessive, mythological Jewish spirit. Continue reading →

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The Haredim body knowledge – On Foot

Posted on August 25, 2014 by Gideon Aran
 

At the bottom of the lower part of the body we find the foot, the lowest limb, which is therefore particularly sensitive. The Haredim have a body of knowledge concerning the foot of God.

Written By Professor Gideon AranAi??

There are restrictions regarding feet, and limitations on their exposure. Haredim keep their shoes on in circumstances in which others would take them off; and where others would go barefoot, Haredim will not remove their socks. Indeed, it is not uncommon to see Haredim in the park walking around on the grass or sand in their socks. Even at home, among family, the Haredi foot is not to be seen. Continue reading →

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Professor Gideon Aran lecturer in the 15th World Congress

Posted on August 20, 2014 by Gideon Aran
 

Lecturer Professor Gideon Aran fine 15th Congress on religious fanaticism, and Gideon Aran The following video explains why it was decided not to blow up the Dome of the Rock. Want to know? Press:

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Prof. Gideon Aran: The Haredi’s singular costume

Posted on August 18, 2014 by Gideon Aran
 

The Haredi’s singular costume is made complete by a special belt, which is meant to “interpose” (chatzitza) between that which lies above it, and that which lies below.

Written By Prof. Gideon Aran

The Hassidim in particular place emphasis on a sash, known in Yiddish as a “gartel” (sometimes the gartel signifies a social sub-category, such as with the Gur Hassidim, where only married men wear one). There are those that are very wide and made of rough or golden silk, and others made of black shiny thread, with a thickening of the material towards their tapering ends for decoration. This girdel is worn during prayer, and on the Sabbath and festivals, as part of a more elegant and expensive costume. Continue reading →

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Bible confiscation – Gideon Aran

Posted on August 18, 2014 by Gideon Aran
 

The following video Gideon Aran Bible speaks of expropriation by religious Zionism of his lecture was held at the World Congress of Jewish Studies 15th issue of contemporary religious fanaticism.

Enjoy:

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Prof. Gideon Aran – Biblical and national values

Posted on August 17, 2014 by Gideon Aran
 
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Lecture by Prof. Gideon Aran from Fifteenth World Congress of Jewish Studies related to contemporary religious fanaticism.

The theme of this movie is: The Bible’s adoption of national values

Watch the video:

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Gideon Aran: Haredi culture and Jewish tradition

Posted on August 13, 2014 by Gideon Aran
 

Haredi culture inherited from the Jewish tradition an attitude of suspicion and alienation, or even distaste, towards the lower body, and has given it special emphasis, both ritual and practical.

Written By Gideon Aran

Yeshiva students tell of a Rabbi who ai???never let his hands fall lower than his bellyai???. Most prohibitions applied by the Haredim to their body concentrate on the lower parts. This is reflected in the disproportionate amount of educational and disciplinary comments made by parents and teachers in relation to different parts of the body.

A custom widespread amongst Haredim is to use their clothes to highlight the symbolic distinction, if not detachment, between the two parts of the body, between spirit and matter, between the person and his intimate organs.

Taken fromAi??ai???Denial Does Not Make The Haredi Body Go Away Ethnography of a Disappearing (?) Jewish Phenomenonai???, By Gideon Aran.

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one city, three religions – Gideon Aran

Posted on July 29, 2014 by Gideon Aran
 

Jerusalem: one city, three religions. In the hills of the Judean desert, earth and sky have always been separated by a thin line.

Sociologist and anthropologist Gideon Aran said:”The political or religious conflict is imposed upon the national one. And the two of them together obviously are harder to solve and are much more bitter.”

Watch the full video:

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Prof. Gideon Aran: Below The Belt – The Haredi Body

Posted on July 27, 2014 by Gideon Aran
 

It is understandable that the problematics of the Haredi body should be concentrated in its lower regions. One could say that for Haredim the lower part of the body is more bodily than the upper part, where we find the heart, brain and kidneys, which symbolize the spirit, the intellect and morality – an inversion of corporeality.

Written By Prof. Gideon Aran 

The lower part is relatively distant from the sky, the abode of God, and closer to the floor, associated with materialism, lowliness and pollution. Accordingly, the Haredim refrain from sitting on the floor (except when mourning). For similar reasons they have a hesitant relationship with their feet, and they make an effort to avoid direct contact with the ground. Continue reading →

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Prof. Gideon Aran: Short Sighted – Long Sighted

Posted on July 14, 2014 by Gideon Aran
 

After their immersion the Haredim congregate near the exit from the mikveh to prepare for the early morning prayers. As they shroud themselves in their tallits and put on their tefillin one notices that virtually all of them are wearing spectacles. Out of nearly 50 mostly young men who regularly frequent the place, only five without sight problems could be identified. Here, even without undressing anyone, observations provide some kind of hard data, conclusive empirical validation for the claim that there is such a thing as the Haredi body.

Written By Prof. Gideon Aran 

Gideon Aran

Professor Gideon Aran

For their part, the Haredim are aware of this optometric characteristic of theirs, and hurry to provide a passable rationalization that links glasses with erudition. In what is almost a reflex reaction, they bandy around a phrase that sounds as if they have rehearsed it many times in the past: “while the secular children are playing football, our children are reading the Torah, and that’s why they are short-sighted”.

A joke circulates in Haredi circles that suggests that glasses are the identifying feature of the Haredi, a matter of style that has become compulsory, almost like his beard and sidelocks, to the point of implying that there is peer pressure to wear glasses. With a wry smile, they relate that a not inconsiderable number of yeshiva students wear non-optical spectacles with lenses made from regular glass. Continue reading →

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