Material Culture in New Judaism

Anthropologist James Diet defines the term “material culture” as “objects used by humans to cope with the physical world, facilitate social intercourse, and to benefit our state of mind” (Ochs 90). One small object can either bring a thousand big ideas into the same perspective for a few people. One small object can also mean a thousand things to one person. Because of its materiality, one object has an infinite number of uses, and its mere presence can inspire an infinite number of new practices. Thus, the mere presence of an object can inspire the practice of a new ritual.

In Judaism, objects can help provide identity, inspire new ritual, and provoke a sense of community between Jews. Even though ritual objects in Judaism can be broken into categories of klei kodesh, tashmishei kedushah, tashmishei mitzvah, and reshut, from most to least sacred, respectively, individuals can place more personal value in categorically less sacred objects because of that objects’ material versatility. Whether the an object is explicitly identifiable as used by Jews or implicitly Jewish in the eyes of someone who associates that object with Judaism, it still has endless possibilities for use in new Jewish ritual. According to Vanessa L. Ochs, Jewish objects can “introduce,” “retell sacred stories,” “generate rules and spiritual possibilities,” “make ritual tangible,” “provide assurance,” “appeal to those on the fringes,” and “address communal needs” (Ochs 108, 109). Hence, objects as agents of innovation can bring more community, order, and transformation into Judaism.