Praying with a camera phone: Mediation and transformation in Jewish rituals

Ori Schwarz

doi:10.1080/14755610.2010.505424

Praying with a camera phone: Mediation and transformation in Jewish rituals

Ori Schwarz

Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

Digital cameras are now intensively used by ordinary participants of Jewish mass rituals. The article explores how their introduction led to religious change and re-definition of sacred time/space. I first outline the development of new religious technologies-of-self, in which videos of mass rituals are used for mediated interaction with the sacred and for emotional, moral and spiritual management and self-disciplining. I then address the transformation of traditional rituals: seen as embodied motional and vocal performances, rituals are affected by the physical engagement with cameras, whereas photography is incorporated into ritual scripts as a ritual role.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	177-194
Number of pages	18
Journal	Culture and Religion
Volume	11
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/14755610.2010.505424
State	Published - Sep 2010
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work has been partly supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) MRI (FA95501110001); Army Research Office (ARO) (W911-NF-0910500); and ARO Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP) (W911NF1010491).

Funding

I wish to thank Scholion – Centre for Interdisciplinary Jewish Studies – for funding this research. I also thank Gideon Aran and Jackie Feldman for their careful reading and thoughtful comments.

Funders	Funder number
Scholion – Centre for Interdisciplinary Jewish Studies

Keywords

Judaism
photography
rituals
technologies-of-self
video

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10.1080/14755610.2010.505424

Cite this

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Praying with a camera phone: Mediation and transformation in Jewish rituals

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

Access to Document

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