Doorposts of Inclusion: Trans Pride Mezuzah as a Marker of Jewish-Queer Space
Material Religion, V-22(1), 59-85. [2025]
אנגלית
This article explores the Mezuzah - a quintessential symbol of the Jewish home - within a novel context: the "Trans Pride Mezuzah." Ben-Lulu analyzes how designing a Mezuzah in the colors of the Trans Pride flag (blue, pink, and white) transforms it from a strictly Halakhic object into an identit...
Israeli prayers of resistance and resilience: the politics of faith after October 7th
Sociological Spectrum, V-45(6), 358-374. [2025]
אנגלית
This study investigates the sociological and political shifts in Israeli prayer practices and religious discourse in the aftermath of the October 7th attacks. Through ethnographic observations and an analysis of liturgical innovations, the author explores how prayer became a tool for both nationa...
When the Synagogue Is Turned into a Delivery Room: Embracing Gender and Sexual Bodily Experiences through a Kabbalistic Renewal Custom
Nova Religio, V-28(3), 55-78. [2025]
אנגלית
This ethnographic study explores how women in Israeli Reform congregations reinterpret the traditional Kabbalistic custom of Tikkun Leil Shavuot as a space for processing gendered and sexual bodily experiences. Ben-Lulu examines how these "renewal" ceremonies incorporate Torah study alongside New...
"May the Memory of the Man Stand as a Sign and Example": The Israeli Reform Movement's Liturgical Commemoration of Yitzhak Rabin Memorial Day
Israel Studies, V-30(2), 28–56. [2025]
אנגלית
This study examines the liturgical and ritualistic response of the Israeli Reform Movement to the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin. Based on fieldwork conducted between 2024 and 2025, which included participant observations, interviews with rabbis, and textual analysis of prayers and sermons, the a...
ותכירנו לעמוד לפניך: אתנוגרפיה של ריטואלים לציון הימים הנוראים בקהילה הרפורמית
סוציולוגיה ישראלית, כ"ה(2), 118-141. [2024]
עברית
המאמר מציג מחקר אתנוגרפי שנערך בקהילה רפורמית בישראל במהלך חגי תשרי ("הימים הנוראים"). בן-לולו בוחן כיצד הקהילה מתמודדת עם הדיסוננס שבין הטקסטים המסורתיים של החגים – המציגים את האל כ"מלך", "שופט" ודמות סמכותנית ומפחידה – לבין הערכים הליברליים, השוויוניים וההומניסטיים של חברי הקהילה. הכותרת "ותכיר...
על פי דרכו ודרכה של כל נער ונערה:חינוך יהודי רפורמי ישראלי
עיונים בחינוך, 23, 59-72. [2024]
עברית
מאמר זה מבקש לשפוך אור על שדה החינוך הלא-אורתודוקסי בישראל, שלטענת המחברים נותר "לוט בערפל" מבחינה מחקרית בהשוואה לחינוך הממלכתי-דתי או החרדי. המחברים מציגים את תפיסת העולם החינוכית של התנועה הרפורמית בישראל, המבקשת להציע אלטרנטיבה המשלבת בין מחויבות לערכי היהדות לבין ערכים ליברליים, דמוקרטיים ופ...
Becoming an Israeli Reform Jewish Movement: Creating Community, Religious Practice, and Social Involvement
Israel Studies Review, V-39(2), 22-47. [2024]
אנגלית
This article explores the evolution of the Israeli Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism, highlighting its significant growth in recent years. While often known for its legal and political struggles for recognition, the movement has established about fifty active congregations across Israel...
Empathy from the Margins: Observing Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews) Events in a Reform Jewish Congregation
Religions, V-14(3), 324. [2023]
אנגלית
This ethnographic study examines the intersection between the Israeli Reform movement and the Ethiopian Jewish community (Beta Israel). Based on fieldwork in a Reform congregation in northern Israel, Ben-Lulu explores how liberal Jewish spaces facilitate "empathy from the margins" by incorporatin...
Who has the right to the city? Reform Jewish rituals of gender-religious resistance in Tel AvivJaffa
Gender, Place & Culture, V-29(9), 1251–1273. [2022]
אנגלית
This ethnographic study examines rituals performed by a Reform Jewish community in Tel Aviv-Jaffa through the theoretical lens of Henri Lefebvre’s "The Right to the City." Ben-Lulu analyzes how the community utilizes urban public spaces (such as the Tel Aviv Port or Old Jaffa) to enact a dual for...
“Casting Our Sins Away”: A Comparative Analysis of Queer Jewish Communities in Israel and in the US
Religions, V-13(9), 845. [2022]
אנגלית
This ethnographic study compares the performance of the "Tashlich" ritual in two egalitarian Jewish congregations: a Reform community in Tel Aviv and an LGBTQ synagogue in New York City. The author analyzes how this traditional atonement ritual is reinterpreted to empower gender and sexual identi...
Reforming the Israeli-Arab conflict? Interreligious hospitality in Jaffa and its discontents
Social Compass, V-69(1), 3-21. [2022]
אנגלית
This ethnographic study analyzes the ritual practices of the "Daniel" Reform congregation in Jaffa, specifically focusing on "interreligious hospitality." The authors examine how the community uses Jewish holidays and synagogue spaces to host Muslim neighbors (e.g., hosting Iftar meals or mixed h...
The Wise One, What Does She Say?": Gendering and Queering Passover Symbols and Customs in the Reform Jewish Seder
Israel Studies, V-28(1), 49-69. [2022]
אנגלית
This ethnographic study examines how Reform Jewish communities in Israel "gender" and "queer" the traditional Passover Seder to make it more inclusive of marginalized identities. Focusing on a pre-Seder workshop, the author explores how participants reinterpret classical symbols - such as the "Fo...