{"product_id":"hidden-light-judaism-and-mystical-experience-in-israeli-cinema-9780814350676","title":"Hidden Light: Judaism and Mystical Experience in Israeli Cinema","description":"\u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003eContemporary Israeli cinema's engagement with Judaism as cultural identity and mystical tradition.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOver the past several decades, the prevailing attitude toward Judaism in Israeli society has undergone a meaningful shift; where the national ethos had once deemed Judaic traditions a vestige of an arcane past incompatible with the culture of a modern state, there is now greater acceptance of these traditions by a sizeable part of Israeli society. Author Dan Chyutin reveals this trend through a parallel shift toward acceptance and celebration of Judaic identity and lifestyle in modern Israeli cinema. \u003ci\u003eHidden Light\u003c\/i\u003e explores the Judaic turn in contemporary Israeli filmmaking for what it can tell us about Israel's cultural landscape, as well as about the cinematic medium in general. Chyutin points to the ambivalence of films which incorporate Judaism into Israel's secular ethos; concurrently, he foregrounds the films' attempt to overcome this ambivalence through reference to and activation of experiences of transcendence and unity, made popular by New Age-inflected understandings of Jewish mystical thought. By virtue of this exploration, Judaic-themed Israeli cinema emerges as a crucial example of how film's particular form of \"magic\" may be exploited for the purpose of affecting mystical states in the audience.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eDan Chyutin is a teaching fellow at Tel Aviv University's Steve Tisch School of Film and Television. He has authored essays on Israeli and American cinema in peer-reviewed publications including \u003ci\u003eCinema Journal\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eShofar\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eJournal of Film and Video\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eJewish Film \u0026amp; New Media\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eShort Film Studies\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eJournal of Jewish Identities\u003c\/i\u003e. He also coedited the anthology \u003ci\u003eCasting a Giant Shadow: The Transnational Shaping of Israeli Cinema\u003c\/i\u003e, which received The Janovics Center Award for Best Book in Transnational Film and Theatre Studies in 2021. In addition to being a scholar of cinema, he also works as a film curator, including in the capacity of Artistic Director for the EU-funded \"Another Look: The Restored Film Project.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Wayne State University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50393661702418,"sku":"9780814350676","price":43.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_13f88bd9-e1a1-41d0-8ecc-2120ad9b48d7.jpg?v=1728991289","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/hidden-light-judaism-and-mystical-experience-in-israeli-cinema-9780814350676","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}