Abstract
This paper explores spirituality and associated practices in the daily life of Jewish Atheists in Israel . While the atheist narrative excludes a belief in God, our findings show a bricolage of spiritual practices and strengthening strategies in times of crisis and loss of control . The article uses the ‘Lived Religion’ approach as a theoretical tool for exploration and focuses on everyday practices that facilitate a sociological examination of individual experience hitherto overlooked . Drawing from in-depthinter views and fieldwork conducted between 2019 - 2021, our article demonstrates a continuous internal discourse which emphasizes rationalism anchored in an atheistic perspective, and spiritual perceptions that resort to comforting practices influenced from a diversity of theological toolbox, such as luck management, specific prayers,perceptions of faith in a just - universe, and relating to Jewish sacred objects in their homes . Describing our interviewees’ daily experiences takes their worldview in to account but also seeks to illustrate their ‘lived atheism’ as a whole within which rationalism is combined with what we term ‘post - rationalism . ’ Our findings add a dimension to the understanding of Israeli secular identities as bricolage, as well as the understanding of religious and spiritual symbolism in ostensibly distant fields.
Translated title of the contribution | Atheistic Existentialism and Post - Rationalism in the Lives of Atheists Jews in Israel |
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Original language | Hebrew |
Pages (from-to) | 228-252 |
Number of pages | 25 |
Journal | עיונים : כתב עת רב-תחומי לחקר ישראל |
Volume | 38 |
State | Published - 2022 |
IHP publications
- ihp
- Atheism
- Fortune
- Judaism
- Judaism -- Liturgical objects
- Prayer
- Predestination
- Rationalism
- Secularism