Undertorah takes readers on a journey through the root systems of the dreamworld. Drawing on a deep knowledge of ancient Jewish dream practice, world wisdom traditions, and contemporary ecotheology, this hybrid work of mystical scholarship combines personal narrative, multi-voiced oral history, and a somatic alternative to more symbolic methods of dream interpretation. A practical and paradigm-shifting guidebook for individuals and communities, Undertorah offers a transformative approach to contemporary dreamwork, grounded in embodied experience and ancestral wisdom, that connects us to spirit and inspires us to heal our world.
About the Author
Rabbi Jill Hammer, PhD, is a scholar, ritualist, poet, midrashist, and dreamworker. She is the Director of Spiritual Education at the Academy for Jewish Religion, a pluralistic seminary, and cofounder of the Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute, a program in earth-based, embodied, feminist Jewish spiritual leadership. Her other works include Return to the Place: The Magic, Meditation, and Mystery of Sefer Yetzirah; The Jewish Book of Days: A Companion for All Seasons; and Sisters at Sinai: New Tales of Biblical Women. She and her family live in Manhattan.
See more of Rabbi Jill Hammer’s work on her website.
Praise for Undertorah
“Jill Hammer is one of the most original thinkers in contemporary spirituality, and this book is her most original yet. Undertorah is a passionate call to reimagine the role of dreams in our daily lives, and in the process, find a way to both deepen our connection to the planet and enrich our understanding of ourselves. A wonderful achievement.”
—Bruce Feiler, New York Times bestselling author of Walking the Bible
Undertorah for Dream Circles
Rabbi Hammer writes, “A dream circle is a community whose members share and interpret their dreams—though I prefer the expression ‘reading’ to ‘interpreting,’ as if one were ritually reading a sacred text.”
Undertorah is a powerful guidebook for any group or community hoping to form a dream circle—to read dreams together, and learn from their lessons collectively. If your synagogue, reading group, or organizing team would like to use Undertorah as a resource for communal dreamwork and study, please reach out to us at info@ayinpress.org. We’d be happy to discuss available discounts, and would love to hear what happens with your dreaming.
About the Speculative Theology Series
Undertorah is the first title in Ayin’s Speculative Theology book series—a space for work that springs from the depths and margins of human spirituality. Whether emerging from within a particular wisdom tradition or dreaming beyond its current borders, each text is a testament to the impossible art of naming what cannot be fully named: experiences of the divine, the hidden, the infinite. We curate works committed to reimagining ritual, prayer, hermeneutics, mitzvot; to wrestling with faith and its absence; to seeding many possible spiritual futures.
Book Details
242 Pages | Paperback | 6 × 8 inches | ISBN: 978-1-5323-6200-2 | e-ISBN: 979-8986780375
Publication Date: February 24, 2022