The kotel: Toward an ethnographic portrait |
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Authors: | Danielle Storper‐Perez Harvey E Goldberg |
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Institution: | 1. Laboratoire de Sociologie des Religions , CNRS;2. Faculty of Social Sciences , Hebrew University of Jerusalem , Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem, 91905, Israel |
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Abstract: | An ethnographic portrait of the ‘Western Wall’ (kotel) in Jerusalem, is presented. The kotel is viewed as a pilgrimage site, a ‘place of memory’, and a location linked to a story. Most discussions of the kotel stress its history and archaeology, while this study utilizes ethnography to understand the meanings of the site to a range of social categories. The challenge faced by ethnography is that the social context of the kotel is constituted by Jewish groups all over the world and by cultural distillates stemming from millennia of history. By providing both an overview of kotel activities, and a more detailed examination of several kotel occasions, the paper points to the potential contribution of ethnography to understanding national‐religious shrines. |
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