Spurred on by the story and awesome images of The Kolbergs, a Jewish family doing their yoga in ultra-orthodox Israel, Reuters published a slideshow of devout Hasidic Jewish men practicing in a studio in Ramat Beit Shemesh, about 12 miles from Jerusalem. Among them, Iyengar Yoga teacher Avraham Kolberg.
Here we are offered insight beyond what we’ve come to know and expect yoga and practitioners to be. And it’s a wonderful thing.
The first caption reads:
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men take part in a yoga class at a studio in Ramat Beit Shemesh, some 20 km (12 miles) from Jerusalem January 1, 2013. Almost a dozen devout Jewish men meet weekly at the studio, the only one of its kind in a neighborhood where tensions have flared in the past between religious and secular Jews. The studio offers gender separated classes in accordance with the religious beliefs against mixing of the sexes in public.
REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
See the rest of the photos here.
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Earlier…
- Hasidic chakra: Couple introduces yoga to Israel’s ultra-Orthodox
- Perspectives: The Awesome Kolberg Family Yoga Album (Yoga Unorthodox in Hasidic Jewish Israel)
- Fox News Debates Yoga vs Sports and ‘Wussification’ of America
- How to Get Your Boyfriend To Do Yoga – Movie Star Super Hero Edition
- YogaDork Year in Review: Biggest Yoga News and Best of 2012
Wonderful – and recently there was a YTT in nearby Ramallah, West Bank with Palestinians… Yoga can bring the world together in peace 😉
Looks like Iyengar Yoga. Very good!
It’s refreshing to see an all male yoga class. Equally refreshing is there is no Lululemon in sight!