Our Bodies Our Health: Jewish Women’s Healing Rituals

Our Bodies Our Health: Jewish Women’s Healing Rituals

Date

Nov 06 2016
, 1PM- 2PM

Sunday, November 6th at 1:00 pm

Speaker Cara Rock-Singer, PhD Candidate Columbia University

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Cara 2013

What place in 21st century life do ancient purity laws governing menstruation have? Since the turn of the twenty-first century, Jewish women, in particular, have increasingly turned to the use of the mikveh (ritual bath) to mark major life transitions, from menarche to menopause or fertility challenges to hysterectomies. Dubbed the Modern Mikveh Movement, there has been a proliferation of community mikveh projects to facilitate meaningful, embodied, spiritual experiences, either in conjunction with or independent of the traditional observance of niddah (the laws surrounding menstruation). This talk, based on ethnographic field research in Jerusalem, Boston, and New York, will explore how Jewish women are integrating the mikveh into a variety of medical treatments, especially those related to reproduction.

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