Atheistic Existentialism and Post-Rationalism in the Lives of Atheists Jews in Israel

This paper explores spirituality and associated practices in the daily life of Jewish Atheists in Israel. While the atheist narrative excludes a belief in God, our findings show a bricolage of spiritual practices and strengthening strategies in times of crisis and loss of control. The article uses the ‘Lived Religion’ approach as a theoretical tool for exploration and focuses on everyday practices that facilitate a sociological examination of individual experience hitherto overlooked. Drawing from in-depth interviews and fieldwork conducted between 2019-2021, our article demonstrates a continuous internal discourse which emphasizes rationalism anchored in an atheistic perspective, and spiritual perceptions that resort to comforting practices influenced from a diversity of theological toolbox, such as luck management, specific prayers, perceptions of faith in a just-universe, and relating to Jewish sacred objects in their homes. Describing our interviewees' daily experiences takes their worldview into account but also seeks to illustrate their ‘lived atheism’ as a whole within which rationalism is combined with what we term ‘post-rationalism.’ Our findings add a dimension to the understanding of Israeli secular identities as bricolage, as well as the understanding of religious and spiritual symbolism in ostensibly distant fields.