Language:
Hebrew
Year of publication:
2023
Titel der Quelle:
מחקרי יהודה ושומרון
Angaben zur Quelle:
לב,1 (2023) 103-130
Keywords:
Jews History
;
Water Religious aspects
;
Judaism
;
Water
;
Judaism Customs and practices 21st century
;
History
;
Memorials
;
West Bank Social life and customs 21st century
Abstract:
This article surveys the development of the public artificial wading pools that have been established in Judea and Samaria since 2007 and examines physical, social, and symbolic aspects that this contemplation brings to light. The pools were built through local initiatives in response to the lack of natural springs in the environs of the settlements in which they are located. They also serve to address the complex geopolitical and security reality that excludes Jewish inhabitants from natural water sources located near areas inhabited by the Palestinian population. Since their establishment, the pools have served as a magnet for many local visitors, hikers, and tourists. Observing those visiting the pools reveals a prominent presence of women and children enjoying the sense of security around them; examining their usage is reflective of a creative and practical solution to the issue of the multi-gender bathing of the national-religious population; and contemplating the actions of the local authorities indicates that these pools serve them as a preferred means of disseminating public information and diplomacy. In addition, their symbolic meanings sharpen the insight that their design was meant to imbue them with a “biblical,” pastoral appearance, as part of the spatial conception of second generation Jewish settlers in Judea and Samaria. These trends preserve the landscape memory that was ingrained in members of the first generation in a new form and hold explicit and implicit political and ideological meanings.
Note:
With an English abstract.
DOI:
10.26351/JSRS/32-1/4
URL:
אתר את הפרסום בקטלוג המאוחד של ספריות ישראל
