Academy For Jewish Religion MA Project 2025
This MA project, titled 'Beyond the Forbidden: Reimaging Divination as a Path to the Divine,' examines the historical complexities and contradictions of divination within Jewish tradition. It argues for reframing divination as a legitimate path to dialogue with the Divine in contemporary Jewish practice. The project explores the historical Jewish engagement with various divinatory practices, analyzing how their legitimacy depended on context, authority, and the identity of the practitioner. It proposes guiding principles for modern engagement, including using divination as a form of Hitbodedut, maintaining a monotheistic foundation, focusing on present-moment insight, and serving as a tool for self-guidance, often enhanced by imagery through practices such as Hebrew alphabet contemplation, Tarot, oracle cards, ecological divination, and astrology. The objective is to restore divine dialogue in modern Judaism and empower individuals to seek spiritual guidance.