The current research explores the Lotus NGO and its initiation as a sphere of negotiation aimed at promoting Druze pious women in the professional labor market. This study suggests that the Lotus venture offers new opportunities while also addressing the needs of women through negotiation with the religious clergy and state authorities. The author examined how the complex mutual relations between the state and the Druze community were reflected in the measures used by the founder to develop her initiative. The main argument in this research is that the workspace model developed by Lotus is dynamic and changing based on the interactions between pious women and employers, high-tech companies, and religious leaders.
Literature about the interface between religion and gender in the labor context is constantly on the growth. Mostly, researchers examine the way by which gender-biased religious conceptions affect the ability of pious women to integrate in the labor market, as well as elements that enable or limit this integration. Literature often focuses on Muslim women in Western countries, as well as in Muslim Middle Eastern countries, recently also adding pious Jewish women, particularly in Israel. Other religious groups are often under-researched.
The current research is based on two theories – religious feminism and intersectionality. According to the first theory, of religious feminism, the actions taken by women to shape their religiosity is a protest against neo-liberal, individualistic culture, which consumerizes the female body, as well as against patriarchal culture. Researchers who base their work on this approach resonate Deniss Kandiyoti’s paper, “Bargaining with Patriarchy”, arguing that pious women bargain with power cores based on their social, cultural, religious, and organizational context to establish their pious identity. In their piety, in their daily routine, in their religious activism and in adapting their work environment to their religious identity, they ostensibly obey religious orders, while at the same time bargaining with a number of social power cores. The second theory is intersectionality, which assumes that people are subordinated simultaneously to multiple systems of oppression, control, racism and discrimination. Based on this theory, the different oppression categories (race, ethnicity, gender, class, sexual preferences and more) are not separated; they are intertwined, gaining an accumulative effect on the action of social power relations.
The paper is based on a case study, explored through 18 semi-structured in-depth interviews with 14 Druze pious women who work at Lotus, Lotus CEO, a religious leader and two Jewish women representing high-tech companies, as well as a discussion group session and two observations. The interviews were conducted in 2019 (when the Lotus venture was established) and in 2022. The analysis of the interviews and observations was conducted based on the coding and analysis stages offered by Corbin and Strauss.
The interviews yielded two main themes. First: Lotus as a dynamic workspace, which integrates Druze pious women in the labor market. The greatest achievement of the Lotus founder and partners was the creation of a model that allows Druze pious women with no academic education the opportunity to work in quality high-tech jobs. This goal was achieved by adjusting the workspace to the needs of women through al-Sheikh’s negotiation with the various stakeholders, which took into consideration the women’s needs, the limitations set by religious leaders, and the state’s opportunities. The second theme is high-quality professional development while maintaining religious identity through negotiation: The pious Druze women in this venture conduct negotiation, which testifies to the complexity of this project – on one hand, the women set the boundaries of their work environment vs. the CEO and the employers, adjusting it to religious requirements. On the other hand, they work for a relatively low wages compared to other high-tech employees, and they often prioritize their work over their family to realize their dream of professional development.
The Lotus workspace model, which is gender segregated, was created based on the women’s desire to integrate in the professional labor market. The formal liberal perception opposes gender segregation in the public sphere, claiming this segregation leads to women’s exclusion from senior positions and sometimes their humiliation as well. Yet, in pious social groups, like the Druze community, which forbid religious women from spending time in mixed-gender society and leave their place of residence without an escort, the creation of a high-quality, safe workspace within the community itself is the only way to promote their integration, even at the expense of gender segregation. In this workspace, the pious women develop a new professional identity while maintaining their affiliation with the religious community. While the Lotus workspace is located within the Druze villages, it is still a global workspace, which exposes women to the high-tech world, enhances their ability to integrate in high-quality positions and develop a professional career with legitimation from the religious leadership. These findings reaffirm those of previous studies, which explored safe workspaces for pious, excluded women, like Jewish ultra-orthodox. These spaces, whose success in the professional field has been proven, contribute to the women’s sense of security and strengthen their religious identity. The discussion highlights how pious women, who are oppressed by different intersections, act from this position to create workspaces that fit their religious identity. Therefore, these intersections may be viewed as opening women’s opportunities, rather than merely an oppressive force.
Keywords: Pious women, Female workspace, High-tech, Negotiation, Religious rule
Borrowing insights from scholarship on individualization and drawing on the literature on gender, religion, and entrepreneurship, we ask how religious entrepreneur women interpret their entrepreneurial work, which emphasizes competition, individualism, and risk-taking, within their religious world which sanctifies faith, rejects innovation and upholds conservative and patriarchal values. Specifically, we build on a case study of ultra-Orthodox women entrepreneurs in Israel, examining what kind of subjectivity is formed at the intersection of the two worlds and its implications.
The ultra-orthodox society (comprising 12% of the population in Israel), though not homogeneous, all its factions share the core values of faith, community and family, obedience to rabbinical authority, and following religious laws. Unlike other religious-conservative societies, ultra-Orthodox women are expected to work. They have been assigned the role of providing for their families, thus allowing the husbands to devote themselves to religious studies, the highest calling reserved for men alone. This model of the "Society of Learners" (Friedman, 1991), or more correctly, "Society of (Men) Learners" (El-Or 1993), though not followed by all, became its desired ideal.
In the last two decades, resulting from the implementation of neoliberal policies and internal changes in ultra-orthodox society, the rate of working ultra-orthodox women has increased to 80%, out of which 12% are entrepreneurs running traditional women's businesses (e.g., cosmetics, selling home goods, wig making (and recently also modern businesses (e.g., graphic design, digital media marketing, tax consulting).
Two theoretical scholarships provided us with the conceptual tools to understand their world. The first explores current processes of individualization and self-actualization, conceptualizing them as being interconnected, rather than contradicting, with collectivism and communalism and as being of multiple meanings that vary by historical context and social carriers) Ehrenberg, 2014; Beck 2000). The second scholarship studies gender and religion (Mahmood 2006) and their intersection with entrepreneurship (Essers & Benschop, 2007). It highlights the dynamic and intricate processes of religious-entrepreneurial identity formation as manifested among Muslim women in Europe and Christian women of the Pentecostal Church in Africa and the United States. It shows how they constitute an agency while using religious practices and symbols and their entrepreneurial work to expand their freedom of action in business, confront religious authorities, and resist oppressive arrangements at home.
We held seven group interviews (5-7 participants in each), and the second author conducted 30 in-depth semi-structured interviews and participated in 15 network group sessions designed for ultra-orthodox women owners of small businesses. We listened carefully to how these women talked about their work, their daily activities, their work history, the decisions they made and actions they took along the way; about the meanings and purpose of their work and the role it plays within their overall life as a business owner, as haredi women, as the provider and primary caretaker of their children.
Based on the findings, we advance three arguments. First, business entrepreneurship creates a space for ultra-orthodox women to appropriate individualistic language, with which they establish themselves as agents who make decisions and implement them while dealing with the difficulties and constraints embedded in the entrepreneurial world and the multitude of rules that characterize ultra-orthodox society.
Second, they mobilize the discourse of self-actualization and place it as the first purpose of their work while translating it into their religious world by assigning it religious legitimacy, defining it as a religious imperative. (It is important to note that we never brought the term up in the interviews.) In addition, while listening carefully, we could also note signs, though faint, of oppositional discourse that resists male power and focuses on their self-actualization as women, divorcing it from the religious meaning discussed before.
What follows is then, and this is our third argument, they construct their subjectivities employing notions of self-actualization and individualism fused with religiosity, with which they reconcile between their world of faith and their world of business. In that, they undermine the purpose and meaning assigned to their work by the ultra-orthodox leadership. Yet, this does not distance them from ultra-orthodox society and its ideals. First, because, as we noted before, they provide it with a new religious meaning, this time, of their own. Second, the goal of self-actualization, which establishes them as autonomous agents, creates a new motivation for their work that will sustain them in the labor market, even if the economic conditions change. Thus, paradoxically, one of the consequences of this cultural move is that in the name of individualism, one of the fundamental concepts of modernity, they will continue to maintain a "house of Torah" and, as a result, to a large extent the "community of learners" itself.
Our study contributes to the scholarship of individualization by broadening it to include these new social carriers and the discursive links they tie between their world of high religiosity and individualism, resulting in paradoxical implications. It also expands the body of knowledge that focuses on the intersection of gender and religion with entrepreneurship by placing the ultra-orthodox entrepreneurial feminine self at the center and the cultural work required for its constitution. We show that this encounter opens possibilities for an alternative interpretation of the actions of their entrepreneurial work, as this establishes them as an autonomous agent that simultaneously challenges and reproduce existing hierarchies of male power and religious authority.
Finally, we contribute to research on ultra-Orthodox society at large and ultra-orthodox working women, in particular, by focusing on women who do entrepreneurial work, a group that has yet to attract much research attention. We show that the unique nature of entrepreneurial work opens possibilities for innovative interpretive work that might have implications for the ultra-orthodox society and Israeli society in general.
Keywords: ultra-orthodox women, religiosity, self-actualization, religious entrepreneurial self, business entrepreneurship.
Until recently, the workforce integration of Haredi (Jewish ultra-Orthodox) women was regulated by a 'segregated integration regime.' Employers' commitment to treating Haredi women as a collective and implementing tailored diversity practices has facilitated their employment in predominantly Haredi settings, even in gender- and religiosity-diverse workplaces, assisting them in navigating identity complexities that may surface during interactions with the secular world. Nevertheless, as these women move beyond homogeneous environments into career-oriented paths, they often face internal and external inquiries regarding the essence of their Haredi identity.
This article centers on pathbreaking Haredi career women who, through their professional journeys, have diverged from the traditional expectations of the Haredi community and distanced themselves from their insular peer group. These women, equipped with resources and skills, have forged their unique paths despite community pressures but have opted to retain their Haredi identities while navigating the complexities of being trailblazers in a community known for its conformity.
Through a hermeneutic analysis of semi-structured interviews with twenty Haredi career women who have challenged traditional gender roles and societal norms within the Haredi community, this study explores the identity work undertaken by these women and the agency strategies they employ to navigate external and internal tensions between their professional and religious identities. This identity work is characterized by boundary work, involving strategies to delineate differences between groups and establish criteria for inclusion and exclusion. In this context, it signifies a reconfiguration of the boundaries of inclusion within Haredi society, enabling the integration of working women into the group despite deviations from certain established norms. This reframing suggests a substantive social transformation within this close-knit community.
The article delineates four pivotal agentic strategies forged by pathbreaking Haredi women, drawing on their professional expertise and acumen. These strategies, I contend, empower women to effect internal transformation within Haredi society:
(a.) Presenting the choice of Haredi Identity as a Mark of Elevated Commitment: By showcasing the deliberate choices they make in adopting specific facets of the Haredi lifestyle, despite potential sacrifices, these pioneers set themselves apart from those who adhere blindly to conventions. This emphasis on autonomy implies that their conscious decisions bolster the solidity of their Haredi identity.
(b.) Embracing Religious Text Studies: Drawing upon their cultivated learning abilities and proficiencies honed through academic and professional pursuits, these innovators foster the confidence to immerse themselves in the traditionally male-dominated realm of Talmudic studies. Within Haredi society, this pursuit is viewed as the epitome of male religious dedication. In engaging with this field, they root their identity in a fundamental value of Haredi culture - learning - without necessarily conforming to entrenched gender hierarchies. This not only underscores their resolute resolve but also their resilience in the face of societal norms, lending them a foundational identity tethered to a core Haredi value - learning - devoid of the typical gender associations.
(c.) Involvement in Community Advocacy: Harnessing their skills and leveraging professional experiences to uplift their immediate society, these pathfinders utilize their resources to advance desired changes within the Haredi community. Whether establishing and overseeing non-profit initiatives or directing communal resources towards Haredi objectives, they demonstrate the intrinsic value of their professional expertise for the community, bolstering the legitimacy of their professional standing while fostering the social transformations they champion.
(d.) Exporting Work Skills Home: Leveraging their professional backgrounds, educational resources, social connections, management skills, and financial means, career women pave the path for upcoming generations by fostering opportunities for both girls and boys while promoting more equitable norms in family and community life within the Haredi society. They do not discard traditional matchmaking practices but seek to leverage them to facilitate the development of more egalitarian relationships. Likewise, they do not abandon gender-segregated educational settings but ensure their daughters can pursue advanced degrees in diverse environments and prestigious institutions.
By exploring the experiences of ultra-Orthodox women in career development, shaping their religious-social identity, and their engagement in the community and family, the article seeks to contribute to developing three theoretical fields. Firstly, it engages with literature at the intersectionality of gender and religiosity in the workplace, scrutinizing how work encounters mold the religious behaviors of devout women. Existing works on religion and gender in work settings typically emphasize how entrenched religious categories shape the incorporation of women into the workforce and the management of their identities and professional practices within defined religious frameworks. In contrast, our study accentuates the impact of individual professional experiences and identities on the formulation of female religious identities, both among career women themselves as they establish religious signifiers aligning them with Haredi society and at a community level where it broadens the conventional understanding of Haredi female identity beyond their usual activities.
Secondly, the research aligns with literature concerning the agency of religious women, shedding light on additional behavioral patterns that possess the potential for inciting social change within conservative settings that attribute religious importance to women's detachment from power structures and decision-making processes.
Lastly, the study intersects with the general literature on the societal repercussions of women's employment beyond the workplace, particularly focusing on the spillover effects of work activities on various aspects of life, such as family dynamics and community relations. This contribution aims to enhance our understanding of how women perceive the outcomes of their professional experiences, not just on the financial stability and education of their families, but also the gender dynamics within conservative societal frameworks.
“Look What You’ve Missed”: The Sociology and Poetics of Contemporary Pop Songs | Uri Dorchin
This article examines the sociological contexts in which the distinctive language of contemporary pop songs takes shape, with particular attention to the ways in which it echoes the vernacular of online social networks and instant messaging platforms. However, I aim to move beyond sociological explanations and delve into the materiality of the music, showing how lyrics are often integrated into the very sonic texture of the song, thereby undermining the distinction between the human voice and non-human sounds. Informed by online discourse and electronic, beat-oriented production, pop lyrics highlight structural rather than narrative dimensions. In this regard, the contemporary pop song resembles written poetry more than traditional songwriting. By paying attention both to the unique properties of the songs and to the various contexts in which they are created, we may move beyond the social construction of artistic values and detect similarities across different forms of artistic expression.
Digital culture has redefined the way people engage with language, favoring concise, multimedia-based forms of communication. This shift parallels new artistic practices in pop music, where interactivity, participation, and remix culture have become central. Social media has also blurred the lines between creators and consumers, enabling young musicians to produce music in ways that mirror the fragmented, nonlinear nature of digital communication. The article highlights the role of sonic materiality in shaping contemporary pop. The now common use of Auto-Tune effect exemplifies this shift, transforming vocal production by allowing artists to manipulate the human voice into robotic or highly stylized forms. Initially a tool for pitch correction, Auto-Tune has become a creative instrument that challenges conventional notions of vocal authenticity, reinforcing the idea that the voice itself is a flexible, malleable material rather than a straightforward conveyor of meaning.
The discussion draws parallels between pop music and poetry, both of which foreground sound, rhythm, and structural play rather than explicit storytelling. While other musical forms like rock music has historically sought intellectual legitimacy by aligning itself with literary and philosophical traditions, pop embraces accessibility, catchiness, and phonetic experimentation. This divergence reflects broader cultural attitudes toward artistic hierarchy—rock has often been perceived as "serious" music, while pop has been dismissed as formulaic and superficial. However, the article argues that pop's emphasis on rhythmic and phonetic play aligns with contemporary aesthetic values that privilege immediacy, intertextuality, and hybridity over traditional notions of depth. In this context, pop music is not merely a commercial product but an evolving artistic form that challenges rigid distinctions between high and low culture.
Israeli pop music exemplifies this shift, as contemporary artists increasingly prioritize phonetic texture and rhythmic construction over narrative coherence. Recent songs rely on fragmented syllables, repetition, and a careful alignment of lyrics with beat and melody, mirroring global trends in pop and hip-hop. This contrasts with earlier Israeli pop traditions, which often used lyrics as vehicles for storytelling or ideological expression. A notable divide exists between mainstream pop and another contemporary popular trend, i.e. faith-based pop music, with the latter maintaining a more traditional approach to lyrical content. This comparison highlights how different branches of Israeli pop negotiate between global trends and local cultural identities.
Similar changes can be observed in contemporary rap, particularly in the rise of trap and "SoundCloud rap," which prioritize sonic aesthetics over traditional narrative form. While early hip-hop, including early Israeli rap, often emphasized authenticity, political messages, and lyrical complexity, recent rap trends favor mood, texture, and stylistic experimentation. The influence of internet culture has played a crucial role in this shift, fostering eclectic listening habits and breaking down genre boundaries. Contemporary rap production, like pop, increasingly incorporates electronic elements, auto-tuned vocals, and atmospheric beats, emphasizing sound over lyrical meaning. This evolution reflects a broader cultural transformation in which music is experienced less as a linear narrative and more as an immersive, multisensory phenomenon.
The article concludes by examining how technology has reshaped the creative process in music. The rise of digital production tools has made music-making more accessible, allowing young artists to produce and distribute songs independently from traditional industry structures. Laptops, home studios, and software like Ableton enable musicians to experiment with sounds in ways that were once reserved for professional studios. This accessibility has contributed to a shift in focus from traditional songwriting to production-based creativity, where the manipulation of sound is as important—if not more so—than the lyrics or melody. In this environment, originality is defined not by inventing entirely new material but by recombining and transforming existing sounds, mirroring the logic of remix culture in digital media.
Ultimately, the article argues that contemporary pop music should not be dismissed as lacking depth but understood as part of an evolving artistic landscape where sound, rhythm, and form take precedence over meaning. The fusion of electronic music, hip-hop, and digital aesthetics challenges conventional notions of musical value and invites a rethinking of what constitutes artistic expression. Rather than signaling a decline in musical quality, the shift toward phonetic play and sonic experimentation reflects a broader cultural transformation, in which the very nature of language and communication is being reshaped by the digital age.
Keywords: Pop, Hip Hop, Poetry, Music, Production, Social Media
Beyond the Crisis: Work and Family During and After Covid-19 Lockdowns Lotem Aloush, Orly Benjamin
Previous studies on how dual-earner couples responded to the COVID-19 lockdowns indicated enhanced activities of doing gender (preferring family work for women and paid work for men), assuming that their findings would remain relevant to couples’ coping even after the lockdowns. We questioned this assumption and present an empirical examination of dual-earner couples’ work and family organization, by subjecting the matter to a comparison between three periods: prior, during, and after the lockdowns. To enable a qualitative analysis of the comparison, we developed a theoretical synthesis connecting life course theory, border permeability, and doing/undoing gender. Such a synthesis offers the possibility to observe a reverse development, from which we derived our research question: How did perceptions of family work and paid work change between the three periods?
In developing the theoretical synthesis, we added a dynamic layer to life course theory, focusing on two turning points: entering the lockdown period; and exiting it. Using these two turning points we contribute in three ways to the discussion of crisis and doing/undoing gender: (1) sharpening the conditions under which doing gender occurred at the first turning point; (2) understanding the mechanisms that enabled preservation or change of doing/undoing gender at the second turning point, when couples developed their post-lockdown routine. We shed light on this dynamic by following border permeability changes; (3) developing a framework for examining longer-term implications, by distinguishing crisis routine from the subsequent routine, which could be applicable to crisis situations in general and their implications for doing/undoing gender and border permeability, in particular.
Life course theory provides analytical tools, including comparison between life periods regarding the need for change; examination of turning points due to macro or micro events; and path dependence, emphasizing resources and barriers accumulated in previous life segments. This perspective allowed us to compare the three time periods – before, during, and after the crisis. However, the theory lacks tools to explain recurring findings about doing gender during crisis. Therefore, we propose a framework that connects two analytical tools to the theory: work-family border permeability and doing/undoing gender.
Border theory focuses on border permeability between work and family spheres, ranging from segmentation – distinctiveness and impermeable borders to integration – absence of borders and complete permeability. This approach allowed us to frame the coronavirus lockdowns as a natural experiment involving far-reaching changes in border permeability. The borders, as expressed in control over the domestic sphere and the time dimension during and after the coronavirus lockdowns, required examination of gender dynamics, and for this purpose, we proposed an additional synthesis: to life course theory and border theory, we also added analytical tools from the theory of doing/undoing gender.
Doing gender explains processes of social inequality reproduction through classification processes associating family work with women (housekeeping, parental care, contact with authorities, and contact with extended family) while associating dedication to paid work with men. Undoing gender is a contemporary theory focusing on processes of change in commitment to gender classification expressed in limiting the scope of men's paid work, alongside dedicating time to children; and in career dedication by women, alongside giving up the primary caregiver position. Thus, undoing gender creates conditions that strengthen movement toward equality at home, a process that is interactive, non-continuous, and ongoing. The integrated theoretical framework provides analytical tools for examining family dynamics over time and identifying mechanisms driving preservation and change in gender patterns.
Methodologically, the research focused on families that experienced the coronavirus lockdowns as particularly disruptive - families of teaching staff. This was achieved through conducting interviews with spouses of teaching staff who were asked about their work and family organization before, during, and after the coronavirus lockdown. The research was conducted using a qualitative biographical-interpretative method, suitable for life course research, although its applications are relatively rare. In the spirit of that approach, two tools were included: (1) semi-structured in-depth interviews that enabled deep understanding of participants' perceptions after two turning points; (2) a life grid – reference to critical junctions that break down the narrative into time units and maintain reliable chronological continuity. Research participants were selected using purposive sampling combined with snowball sampling. We identified ten women and ten men who were heterosexual, middle-class, married to teaching staff, from two-earner families, parents of at least one child under age 12, who worked from home during lockdowns.
Findings indicated intensified gender during the lockdown periods. However, after the lockdowns, a reverse trend was observed in several narratives. The reversal was justified by three mechanisms that supported undoing gender: visibility of women's challenges, men's hybrid work, and path dependence based on returning to levels of equal sharing before the crisis. Thus, the empirical implementation of our theoretical framework revealed distinct patterns: during crisis, chaos, and absence of frameworks, men enjoy a position of power that allows them to choose rigid and more convenient borders. In the routine created after the crisis, external educational frameworks reduce the degree of permeability between spheres due to decreased forced integration between them. In this way, they enable families with an egalitarian pattern to return to an egalitarian routine and develop flexibility due to the visibility of women's challenges and path dependence. However, for families with a conservative pattern, an additional physical condition is required: the possibility of flexibilizing men's work-family borders reflecting undoing gender.
By conducting a comparison between the three periods, we demonstrated that the prevalent trend of doing gender during lockdowns, on which the literature focused, is sometimes reversible and undermines prevalent arguments linking crisis situations with long-term implications. We emphasized the importance of understanding that changes are sometimes temporary and that when relevant resources have been accumulated in previous time periods, their implications may be shorter-term. More specifically, even when doing gender occurs during a crisis, it may be only a temporary trend.
Keywords: Doing Gender, Undoing Gender, Crisis, Life Course Theory
This article examines the annual pilgrimage of Breslov Hasidic Jewish men to the city of Uman, Ukraine, for Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) under emergency restrictions for three consecutive years (2020–2022). These restrictions first arose due to the global COVID-19 pandemic and were later extended due to the Russia-Ukraine war. The state of emergency under COVID-19 imposed entrance restrictions, which later evolved, under temporary military administration, into a suspension of civilian flights, limitations on entry into the country, and general movement restrictions. Nevertheless, these prohibitions did not deter the Hasidim; instead, they reinforced their commitment to the pilgrimage, viewing the obstacles as opportunities to demonstrate the strength of their faith.
We present an ethnographic study based on four field trips to Uman conducted by Guy Bruker in the weeks leading up to and during the Rosh Hashanah pilgrimage. The findings were gathered through a "patchwork research" approach, integrating diverse qualitative methods to construct a thick description. Extended stays at the pilgrimage site before Rosh Hashanah provided insight into the unofficial, behind-the-scenes dynamics of the sacred space and facilitated in-depth interactions with local guides and pilgrims. Data collection methods included participant observation, formal and informal interviews, spontaneous conversations, social media monitoring, and the collection of cultural artifacts.
Our research indicates that emergency situations intensified hyper-masculine performances, characterized by risk-taking and heroic actions, while simultaneously exposing a sense of male fragility. The pressure to perform heroically was amplified by two major factors. The first was the expectation from families and communities to fulfill the pilgrimage commandment despite the risks—to “be a man” and overcome the obstacles (Heb., meniot) presented by the state of emergency. Indeed, overcoming these obstacles became a central narrative of the journey. As a result, the pilgrimage under emergency conditions became a fertile ground for expressions of sacrifice and risk-taking as demonstrations of piety. The public nature of the ritual—performed in the presence of other men—further intensified its sacrificial undertones. Notably, in recounting their experiences en route to the sacred grave—facing local police, the virus, the dangers of war, and more—the Breslov Hasidim drew upon a diverse repertoire of masculinity scripts, blending the identities of the brave soldier, the pious student, and the modern, emotionally reflective man.
The second symbolic factor that heightened these dynamics was the presence of young sons. During Rosh Hashanah, fathers are encouraged to bring their young sons on the pilgrimage, a minor rite of passage intended to loosen their ties to childhood and the feminine world. In the context of an emergency pilgrimage, with its additional dangers, the presence of sons evoked the biblical story of the binding of Isaac. Fathers and sons alike perceived the journey as a test of bravery, mirroring Isaac and Abraham’s trial. This added an intergenerational dimension to the concept of masculine sacrifice, reinforcing the patriarchal transmission of faith and courage.
Our analysis highlights the dual nature of heroism and fragility. Within the heightened spiritual elevation created by the double liminality of pilgrimage under emergency conditions, hyper-masculine performances also exposed the vulnerability inherent in masculinity. The intense days of prayer and supplication, separation from family, long and exhausting border crossings, and arduous journeys through war-affected regions all created a space where emotional hardship coexisted with moments of profound euphoria. Our findings thus support existing literature on masculinity, underscoring that the centrality of power and competitiveness in masculine identities, coupled with continuous exposure to social expectations, inevitably entails an underlying element of fragility.
Finally, recognizing that the Hasidim simultaneously engage in hyper-masculine performances and encounter their own fragility provides an analytical framework for considering their agency. As men navigating social pressures to conform to dominant masculine norms, the pilgrimage offers them culturally sanctioned avenues to assert their faith and courage. While exposing their vulnerability, the pilgrimage also serves as a refuge from the fragility of their everyday lives and gender identities. By successfully undertaking the journey, Breslov Hasidim gain a temporary sense of security in their masculinity and place in the world.
Keywords: masculinity, fragile masculinity, pilgrimage, states of emergency, Breslov