Objects of Our Affection: How Holy Objects, Old and New, Give Our Lives Spiritual Shape
Eleni and Neil Litt
Description
How do the objects in our environment embody who we are and reflect our many identities? We start by taking inventory of our bodies and the objects that we use to adorn ourselves (and that may signal our identity to others), moving outward to the objects with which we surround ourselves in our homes and workplaces, our communities, and finally the world at large. How do these objects communicate who we are (to ourselves and others?) Do the objects take on special or even spiritual meaning to us? What do we hold close to ourselves? What do we yearn to own? What would we be devastated to lose? Do we build rituals around these objects? Do we share these rituals with others? Through text study that suggests a traditional context for how we live now, through lively discussion, and by constructing written (and/or visual) narratives around the objects in our lives, we will develop a deeper understanding of what we own and (hopefully) why.
Eleni is a visual artist and independent scholar with a Ph.D. in Social Anthropology. She is a long-time Havurah teacher, having taught on a variety of Jewish practices and texts and is currently studying and practicing Mussar. She works at The New School in New York City.
Neil is an am haaretz with a Masters in American Literature from CUNY. He has previously taught at the Summer Institute on modern echoes of the Talmud and how to understand a Torah that is "not in Heaven." He is the Director of Editing, Design & Production at Princeton University Press.
Eleni and Neil live together in Princeton, NJ, where they are members of The Library Minyan.
Notes
Categories
- Spiritual and Religious Life
- Contemporary Issues
- Afternoon Course