Counter-Mapping as a Jewish Spiritual Practice

Abstract

This paper considers how “counter-mapping,” or the production of maps by a community seeking to challenge those produced and used by hegemonic power structures, can serve as a legitimate expression of diasporic Jewish identity and spirituality. Using frameworks from human geography, Jewish studies, and sociology, I contextualize the Ashkenazi and Jewish diaspora in a framework of critical geography in order to propose a distinctly Jewish countermapping paradigm. I also explore the meaning of “spirituality,” drawing on several existing spiritual practices that illustrate the lay-led, visually creative, and political possibilities of Jewish spirituality. Merging these concepts, I propose the spiritual significance of a Jewish counter-mapping practice. Finally, I explore concrete examples of what maps might be produced through this novel spiritual practice, and to what political ends.