Engaging All the Senses

On Multi-sensory Stimulation in the Process of Making and Inaugurating a Torah Scroll

Authors

  • Marianne Schleicher Aarhus University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/post.32694

Keywords:

Artefactual use, Sensory integration, Torah scroll, Procession, Transitivity

Abstract

Based on an analysis of the process of making and inaugurating a Torah scroll, this article describe what is likely to trigger sensory responses in the participants in each phase of the process and the function of activating the five senses of touch, hearing, vision, smell, and taste. By distinguishing between hermeneutical and artefactual uses of sacred texts and drawing on sensory integration theory, it argues that multi-sensory stimulation in handling the Torah scroll brings people close and enables nonconscious internal negotiation between individual memories, cultural representations, and the immediate environment. In this way, sense-stimulation facilitates the transitivity crucial for individual subject formation as part of a greater collective.

Author Biography

  • Marianne Schleicher, Aarhus University

    Associate Professor in Jewish Studies at the Department of the Study of Religion

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Published

2017-08-19

Issue

Section

Special Issue Articles

How to Cite

Schleicher, M. (2017). Engaging All the Senses: On Multi-sensory Stimulation in the Process of Making and Inaugurating a Torah Scroll. Postscripts: The Journal of Sacred Texts, Cultural Histories, and Contemporary Contexts, 8(1-2), 39-56. https://doi.org/10.1558/post.32694