2 days of pluralistic learning (and sex) in Jerusalem

October 9, 2009 - 11:47 AM by Brian Blum

GatewaysSex sells. And in Jerusalem, with its large religious population, a session on how Orthodoxy can come to terms with sexual activity – both in and out of marriage – drew an overflow crowd at the recent Gateways Festival of Jewish Learning and Culture.

The festival is a remarkable event: modeled on the popular Limmud conference that originated in the U.K. it featured two days of pluralistic learning throughout the city in English and Hebrew.

Some of the sessions that were offered: “Mystery of the Mikveh,” “Religious-Secular Coupling in the Gemara,” “Torah for Moderns,” Jewish Meditation, “Do the Ends Justify the Means?” “Loving Difficult People,” and “The Whole of Jewish History in One Hour” – a tour de force by recent immigrant David Solomon.

There was also a free concert of the all women’s A Cappella choir Kolot in the sukka of the ICCC (the German Colony’s community center).

The session on “Sexuality and Orthodoxy” was led by two women – Beverley Damelin, a secular sex educator, and Dr. Jennie Rosenfeld, a religious woman who wrote her doctorate or sexuality in the Orthodox world and was named one of the “36 under 36” by the Jewish Week in 2008.

They were remarkably open, pulling no punches and eschewing the kind of uncomfortable euphemisms one might expect from such an explosive topic, as they covered thoughts and feelings about sexuality; premarital sex; masturbation; and sexual practices within marriage.

The Gateways festival was sponsored by a bevy of individuals and non-profits, under the auspices of the city’s newly revitalized Department of Culture. It was one of the most exhilarating days of Jewish learning I’ve had in years. I’m already looking forward to next year’s event during hol ha moed Sukkot.

Tags: • Category: History and Culture 

Comments

2 Comments on 2 days of pluralistic learning (and sex) in Jerusalem

  1. Dr. Natan Ophir on Sun, Oct 11th 2009 10:14 PM

    2. Hi Brian,

    I also attended the session and enjoyed it very much. I came after completing my lecture/workshop on Jewish Meditation in the previous time slot…If you are interested, perhaps you might like to join one of these future workshops on Jewish Meditation. I also include topics such as SoulMate Meditation, Radiating Love for Healing, Why the Hole in the Sheet is not a myth (The Kabbalistic instructives of RaMaK)…

    Natan

  2. 2 days of pluralistic learning (and sex) in Jerusalem | JewPI on Mon, Oct 26th 2009 10:50 PM

    3. [...] to terms with sexual activity – both in and out of marriage – drew an overflow crowd at the Read More » Share and Enjoy:Tags: Jerusalem, orthodoxy, overflow crowd, religious population, sexual activity [...]

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