Date of Award
2019
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelors
Department
Humanities
First Advisor
Lopez Zafra, Manuel
Area of Concentration
Humanities
Abstract
This thesis seeks to examine the impact of the New Age movement and New Age thought on modern American Judaism, its practices and motivations. Through the lens of Celia E. Rothenberg's work on Jewish Yoga and other modalities of ‘New Age Judaism,’ this study uses Jewish practitioners of Kundalini Yoga as Taught by Yogi Bhajan (KYTYB), a New Age postural yoga system, as a case study for understanding the pluralistic ways American Jews incorporate New Age into their lives. This thesis presents interviews with Jewish practitioners of KYTYB that I conducted after spending a year in the community. Ultimately these interviews revealed a dissatisfaction among these practitioners with their experiences of traditional Judaism, and a deep desire for spiritual renewal, which they share with a larger American Jewish population influenced by New Age.
Recommended Citation
Aruj, Bliss, "SPIRITUAL BUT NOT RELIGIOUS, JUDAISM IN THE NEW AGE: A CASE STUDY OF JEWISH PRACTITIONERS OF KUNDALINI YOGA AS TAUGHT BY YOGI BHAJAN IN THE UNITED STATES" (2019). Theses & ETDs. 5642.
https://digitalcommons.ncf.edu/theses_etds/5642