The kotel: Toward an ethnographic portrait

Danielle Storper-Perez, Harvey E. Goldberg

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Scopus citations

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.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)309-332
Number of pages24
JournalReligion
Volume24
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 1994

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