Discussion | 

Advance registration is required >

The number of seats is limited

The tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai in Meron is in many respects the most important sacred place in Israel. Yet, despite its importance for the Israeli public, the state is barely present there. Following the disaster during this year’s Lag B’Omer celebration in memory of the rabbi, we will examine the national and political aspects of the holy site in Meron and the relationship between them and its religious and historic meaning. What is the meaning of a holy site in a modern state? What are the relations between religious sanctity and secular sovereignty? What is the social and historical background to the state’s absence from Meron? Is it possible to imagine Israeli society without a holy site?

To read the article titled Mt. Meron: What has changed since 2015 ? >>>

Participants

Racheli Ibenboim, Head, Haredi Society Department, Shacharit Institute

Rafael Balulu, filmmaker, Faculty of Architecture, The Technion—Israel Institute of Technology

Prof. Elchanan Reiner, Tel Aviv University; academic director, The National Library of Israel

Dr. Oryan Shachar, Faculty of Architecture, The Technion—Israel Institute of Technology

Moderator: Ido Harari, The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute