Encounters around the Text

An Ethnographic Study of Jewish Textuality

Shlomo Guzmen Carmeli
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Bar-Ilan University

Abstract
Both traditional and modern Jewish culture attributes great ideological importance to the Torah
(Bible). Torah study is viewed as a basic activity in the religious and cultural life of countless
Jewish communities. Many Jews believe that everything that exists in our world is concealed or
imbedded in the Torah, and that Torah study forms the spiritual foundation of the entire universe.
The use of the term Jewish bookcase referring to an entire gamut of Torah texts whose
composition varies from one Jewish community to another is even prevalent in non-intellectual
contexts such as religious, national, communal and personal practices and rituals. The religious
text is also a mainstay in the Jewish world of images.
Academic research depicts Jewish culture as a textual culture that places great emphasis on
literacy, and much has been written about the cultural meaning and significance of text.
However, relatively little has been written about the social significance of the use of religious
texts as an instrument that establishes Jewish identity, awareness and culture. Similarly, little has
been written about the way that Jewish cultures are created, maintained, and altered in the
present time, through encounters involving the use of text.
This study examines Jewish textuality the reference to text and the symbolic meanings
attributed to religious text in five different arenas of contemporary Jewish culture. Fieldwork
was carried out in communities and in social encounters involving sessions of study, prayer,
healing, communal performance and bonding which involved the use of written religious text.
The study describes how the encounter with the text creates Jewish cultures on the one hand; and

on the other hand, how Jewish culture is renewed and maintained during encounters with the
texts, sometimes while debating or arguing with them. The fieldwork conducted in dissimilar
arenas led to the formulation of concrete questions that complement and supplement the broad
research question. These questions examine the role of the individual in the encounter with the
text and the contexts in which the different religious texts are used in the various arenas. The five
study arenas are: a kollel operating in an ultra-Orthodox yeshiva of the Lithuanian sector; a
secular yeshiva; a Sephardic kabbalistic yeshiva; a Beit Midrash for Storytellers, operating as
part of a pluralistic beit midrash ; and the Toldos Aharon chassidus. These arenas are planted in
diverse cultural, social and political contexts that vary greatly, thus exemplifying the
multicultural Jewish reality in Israel.
The first chapter of the study deals with the symbolic significance attributed to scriptures in
traditional and modern Judaism. The second section of the chapter discusses the theoretical
approaches used to analyze Jewish textuality, including: key theories in symbolic anthropology;
theoretical aspects of text-community relationships; and theories dealing with the molding of the
self and of the text in the transitions between tradition, modernity and post-modernity. In
addition, this chapter presents the cultural performance approach as a key analytical approach in
the discussion regarding processes of meaning-making and cultural creation of distinct cultural
genres, created in the course of encounters around the text in the research arenas. In the last part
of the chapter a comparison is drawn between the attitude to, and use of, the religious text in the
Jewish culture, to that of sacred texts in other religions: Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and
Hinduism.
The second chapter presents the research methods used in the qualitative study based on
fieldwork. The main research tool is multi-sited ethnography and the chapter describes the choice
of the various arenas, the process of entering the research arenas and the course of the fieldwork
while addressing the major qualitative paradigms used to analyze the observation data: the
phenomenological and hermeneutic approaches. In addition, the chapter discusses ethical
challenges that stemmed from the participatory-observation nature of the study as well as issues
of limitations, validity, and reliability of the ethnographic research.
The findings of the multi-sited ethnography are described in four chapters. The first (Chapter 3)
is called, The Text as Mirror: Talmud Torah (Torah study) from the Secular Yeshiva to the

Lithuanian Kollel, presents a comparison between two research arenas. The first, the Vilna
Kollel, is a Lithuanian kollel situated in an ultra-Orthodox Jerusalem neighborhood. The second
is a secular yeshiva called Binah, situated in Southern Tel Aviv. This chapter compares the
following: the different Jewish bookcases of the kollel and the yeshiva; the configurations of
the text that is studied; the way the textual commentary is carried out; and the processes of selfdesign and ideological paradigms at the basis of the study. The comparison shows us that the
Lithuanian kollel exhibits a transcendental stance vis--vis the text. The experience of chevruta
study (study with a partner) is described as a process in which the learner repairs himself to
become a link in the chain of traditional commentary. This, in turn, cultivates what the chapter
calls the traditional self that strengthens the identity and boundaries of the collective. In
contradistinction, the secular yeshiva relates to the text as cultural toolbox and holds that
concealed within the text is immanent meaning that arouses debate, deconstruction, clarification,
explication and assembly in re-accordance with the spirit of the time. Text in the secular yeshiva
is used to nurture the individualistic reflexive self that makes use of the text for clarification of
ones identity and worldview.
The ethnography conducted in the kollel and the secular yeshiva simultaneously, provided a
unique opportunity for comparative analysis of the act of study or learning. The interaction
between research arenas in the fieldwork notebook created conversations between learners who
do not ordinarily meet in daily life. This chapter presents the conversations that took place in
the pages of the fieldwork notebook between the Lithuanian kollel students and their
counterparts in the secular yeshiva. Through these conversations, an attempt was made to
understand the place and role of Torah study in the cultural tapestry of each arena, and the
presence of what I term the imaginary other in these arenas.
Clearly, numerous and errant differences exist between the arenas, regarding: the manner of
study, the choice of texts to study, and the presence or absence of emunah (religious faith).
Judaism is defined differently in the various arenas; the study routines in the kollel and yeshiva
are comprised of learning rituals in other words, behavioral contexts in which cultural
performance takes place in reference to symbols (i.e. the text being studied), a performance that
molds the identities of the participants. In addition, it is explained how the learner in the
Lithuanian kollel removes the text from liminal, precarious circumstances and stabilizes or fixes
its explication and innovations to traditional, authoritative commentary. By contrast, the students

of the secular yeshiva subvert the concept of Orthodox sovereignty over the text by employing
study performances that emphasize the liminal nature of the texts. The secular yeshiva students
undermine traditional exegesis by turning to personalized commentary and connecting to texts
outside the sphere of traditional study. However, the students of the secular yeshiva, like those of
the Lithuanian kollel, also extract texts from their precarious liminal condition to provide clear
ideological commentary that conforms to the values of the secular yeshiva.
The second chapter of findings (Chapter 4) is called The Text as Object: Practices of Textual
Tikkun and Healing in a Kabbalistic Yeshiva. This chapter is based on participant observation in
the Heichalot Yeshiva, a Sephardi kabbalistic yeshiva in Jerusalem. The participant observation
included participation in the shiurim (Torah classes) and tefillot (prayer services) taking place in
the yeshiva; observation of personal sessions conducted by two rabbis of the yeshiva with
supplicants asking for their council or treatment, and observation of the conversations that took
place between the audience of supplicants waiting for their turn with the rabbi. This chapter deals
with the use of sacred texts as a tool for tikkun (divine repair) and healing, and introduces the
practice called prayer with Kavanot (meditative prayer of mystical intentions), an intricate
form of prayer designated for kabbalistic experts. The chapter also outlines the role and function
of the kabbalist as a therapist who assists the supplicants who turn to him. The fieldwork
findings show that the yeshiva, as an institution for traditional Torah study, also serves as an
institution of personal healing and therapy in which the sacred text occupies a central place.
Instrumental use of texts in the yeshiva means that texts are used as objects for healing and
tikkun. The kabbalists as therapists use texts to create personal symbols that assist the audience
of supplicants to cope with their personal trials and tribulations. This ability is a powerful
cultural tool providing support and solace to the community of believers, and is also a powerful
instrument in the hands of the yeshiva study institution.
The third chapter devoted to findings (Chapter 5) is called, From Text to Performance: Beit
Midrash for Storytellers. This chapter presents the first ethnographic study of the (Talmudic)
Storytellers Beit Midrash that operates as part of the curriculum offered by Beit Midrash Elul, a
pluralistic beit midrash in Jerusalem. Fieldwork included participation in shiurim, chevruta
study, masters classes and theater workshops held in the beit midrash in the course of the studies.
Most of the chapter examines the transition from the study of Talmudic texts that are not usually
accessible to the wide public, to the performance of the Talmudic story statement before an

audience, by displaying adaptations and performances that were presented in the beit midrash.
The students of the beit midrash describe the adaptations and performance as a process of
redeeming the aggadot (fables) of the Sages. The students feel that they redeem or release
these aggadot from their limited, partial existence in the text to natural existence, thanks to
transforming the forgotten texts to familiar folk tales (in their opinion). The healing quality of the
performance is discussed in Chapter 5 and the story-telling beit midrash activity is described in
its gender-based context, as an arena for womens performances. The fieldwork raised the issue
of the existing division in the field between content viewed as masculine (halachik debates in the
Gemara were described as masculine), and storytelling content in the Talmud described as
appropriate for feminine performance. In addition, Chapter 5 also describes how an inner,
supportive performance arena was created in the beit midrash. This arena was a hothouse that
enabled and even facilitated a feminine performance that changed the traditional text by
combining traditional commentary with new interpretations that sometimes subvert the text.
The fourth chapter of findings (Chapter 6) is called, Constitutive Text: The Social Contract of
Toldos Aharon Chassidim. This chapter presents the relevant fieldwork that included:
observations of classes in the main Toldos Aharon beit midrash; participation in public events,
interviews, and visits to homes of the Chassidim. This sect of Chassidim is extreme in its
lifestyle, its emphasis on self-segregation and seclusion, and its resolved opposition to Zionism
and the State of Israel. The chapter describes the circumstances that led to the creation of a new,
sacred religious text called the Contract of Regulations (takkanot) document. This document was
composed by the first Admor (Hasidic rabbi) of the chassidus. These takkanot are a detailed
codex of stringent rules and regulations, on which the Toldos Aharon Chassidim sign every year.
By signing, the Chassidim commit themselves to following a lifestyle according to regulations
that dictate a segregated communal life. The formulation of the takkanot as a contractual text,
and the act of signing and committing to live in accordance with these regulations, creates a new,
binding communal model that seeks to compete with modernity. The chapter describes how
careful scrutiny of original chassidic literature was combined with examination of the fieldwork
data, thus enabling us to sketch the boundaries of the unique Toldos Aharon chassidic
denomination. In this community, text (as takkanot) is a tool for generating culture. The instance
of the Toldos Aharon chassidism is presented in the chapter as an example of inventing
tradition. This involves an integration of traditional characteristics, use of free choice and

contractual-legal rationality based on documentation and bureaucratization of social life. These

same characteristics are accepted in the modern societies and groups that the Toldos Aharon
chassidus opposes. The chapter describes how, by implementation of the takkanot in the daily
life of the chassidus, the chassidim integrate commitment for the traditional halachik (Jewish
law) texts with commitment to the new text, in a way that creates segregation and also secludes
and shields their community from the winds of modernity and change.
The studys summary chapter (Chapter 7) is called, Book of Creation. The first part of the
chapter is a comparative discussion of the various research arenas. The second part addresses the
changeable, shifting meaning of the term tikkun, a term that appears in each of the research
arenas but with different contexts and meanings. The third section of Chapter 7 discusses
different aspects of Jewish sectarianism and explains how the study can contribute to better
understanding of the role of sacred texts in our social world. This section explains how the
methodological innovation proposed by the fieldwork, also contributes to theoretical knowledge.
The concurrent presentation of the study sessions exemplifies the particularistic complexities of
the research arenas as cultures worthy of ethnographic description in themselves, and analysis of
the central role of the religious text in each arena. In addition, this form of presentation also
reveals the meanings that stem from the importance attributed to the text in reference to the
processes of creation, preservation and change in the overall Jewish culture. Finally, the fourth
section of the chapter briefly cites proposals for additional research.
The Summary makes the claim that in contradistinction to previous research assessments, all the
research arenas under discussion study in the Lithuanian kollel and the secular yeshiva, textual
repair in the kabbalistic yeshiva, the storytelling statement in Beit Midrash Elul, and the social
contract of Toldos Aharon do not share a structural unity. Instead, the common denominator is
that they all share a joint linkage to the text as a symbol. Sacred texts constitute a cultural symbol
of collective existence as they are culturally viewed as books of creation. The common
denominator connecting the arenas is the fact that the members of the various groups turn to their
texts as a creative tool that integrates intellectualization and emotion. They all view their texts as
a symbol through which they can create, form, debate, rectify, heal and also separate from. The
use of texts vary within the various arenas: sometimes semantic meaning is attributed to them,
such as when the texts are studied and discussed; sometimes they are iconographic, such as when
they are used for healing purposes. In the performative context, the texts are used to create

spontaneous study performances or theatrical statements. Sometimes they receive rationalcontractual authority, as in the case of the Takkanot.
The end of the final Summary chapter explains how textual communities are created with
noticeable group styles via the common denominator of all the arenas, that is references to
text and the use of text in divergent social contexts. These styles are created via subjective
readings that are influenced by the social, cultural and political contexts of the research arenas.
Encounters with the text create dynamic cultural scenarios. The subjects of this study engage in
study, tikkun or prayer, thus they are part of the cultural structure, part of the tradition. However,
they change and adjust the culture to suit their world-views and, as a result, they emphasize the
differences and distinctions between the arenas. In this way distinct Jewish cultures continue to
be created, cultures that view themselves as part of a joint inclusive culture. Finally, the
summary examines what can be learned from the use of text in Jewish culture regarding the
complex relationships between human beings and sacred texts in other religions, and the use of
texts as symbolic means of communication in contexts disconnected from religious proceedings.