Independent Jewish Spirituality
Shira, the Vice Chair of GLOE – GLBT Outreach of Washington, DC continues her thoughts on “What is G-d?” Having a relationship w/G-d and other humans are the biggest challenges. When people don’t treat people with fundamental dignity it’s because they aren’t seeing G-d in the other person.
Watch more videos at www.theg-dproject.org
Brought to you by PunkTorah.org
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXDpaMEe_dI
Gil would do some “not so nice things” if he were God for a day. Or would he? The G-d Project is the world’s first social media platform dedicated to Jewish spirituality. We bring God back to the conversation.
www.theg-dproject.org.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-62quzpWKs
Israel-born Itai sees God as community, and not the supernatural.
Filmed at Lake Norman Jewish Congregation.
I am always looking for topics that relate to people on a less academic level. So Patrick shared with me what I think is an enlightened thought. He said, “I was thinking about how in every generation there are “houses”…the hippies had crash pads, punk rockers had house venues, queer people have the queer house movement and how in the Jewish world you now see the Moishe Houses.”
I love the idea of group spaces in houses. I live in what is called a shotgun house. It is so called, supposedly, because if you shot a shotgun though the front door, it would come out the back door. Our house has two side rooms added, but they are small. The point of explaining this is that four of us live in a house with only one real bedroom and a finished attic room. One of us live in the laundry room. One of us live in a “pod”, which is a short of loft room in the room that is on the way to the bathroom. These “house” sort of situations are occurring more and more, I think in my generation. I believe this because of the people I interact with. Patrick was right when he said, “this [“house” movement is a] need for counter cultures to have “houses” of their own”.
I find it most interesting that many of these “houses” have names. It feels like are real community when this happens. My house is called Mulberry Manor. We, I feel, are counter culture in that we are creating a family unit to replace our dysfunctional relationships with our blood families. Our house is where people come to think and feel better. I think this is partly because our mantra is, “Mulberry Manor Loves You!”. We work to build a place that is really a family home and safe space. We also now have many young groups moving into our small in-city neighborhood which by default makes us into an interesting community.
You may ask how this relates to PunkTorah. What could this possibly have to do with the internet user, the blog readers? These ideas are a real reflection of what PunkTorah and OneShul are trying to create, a community of support. All those who participate are part of our community and we want them to feel part of a group and benefit from all the content and programs. Patrick pointed out that Moishe Houses are a physical reflection of many of the ideas of young, Jewish groups (for those who don’t know, Moishe House “supports and sponsors young Jewish leaders as they create vibrant home-based communities for their peers”). Patrick said that, “because Jewish college students are creating these unique houses, that shows that being Jewish today is, in a sense, counter cultural.” This belief is based on the idea that these houses are cropping up because these movements are rooted in this “house” concept.
I feel these new “house” movements are the next step in making our future one in which we all fit. I have found that the PunkTorah family of works have created a community, a home I can always come to. It is my virtual “house”. I can learn, express myself, and be involved in something on the front-line of change. What a wonderful world we might have if we can move these ideas forward.
Rivka
Opening The Gates: An Essay
(Loosening up about faith, welcoming converts, and letting go of the past)
When one thinks of spreading their faith one probably imagines a ‘Jehovah’s witness’ type, going door to door, harassing poor folks about G-d, salvation and the like. Judaism, once upon a time, had its own tradition of proselytizing. In the Roman Empire, Judaism was well known as a missionary faith and accepted converts from all regions of the Empire until the Roman Emperor Hadrian outlawed the practice around 131 C.E. As Jews, we shouldn’t necessarily feel obligated to spread our faith, but at the same time we shouldn’t shy away from talking about it either. The Torah itself specifically commands us to be open to Converts, with the passage of history and in large part due to the Diaspora, Conversion to Judaism has been, up until modern times, largely not talked about openly amongst the Global Jewish community. Biblically, the first Convert to Judaism – Ruth had herself a relatively easy time coming into the community versus the experiences of prospective converts in contemporary times. With that said, it has to be asked, why is it so hard? Why are Converts often subjected to long periods of study and Reflection often lasting a year or more?
Some Rabbinical opinions cite ‘Sincerity of the Convert’ and ‘integration/acceptance into the community’ as being key reasons for such lengthy periods. Jewish communities everywhere are shrinking, areas of the United States where Jewish communities once thrived are now largely faint specters of what once was a mere five years ago. The remedy to our decline lies in future generations, how we continue our traditions and talk about our faith is key to our survival as a people. Halakah, Jewish Law, contrary to some, was intended as malleable work, open to revision and change as the world evolved. While this is not the case for a number of us, and that’s fine, we must confront and adapt to the changes we see around us, more importantly, As Jews, we should not shy away from talking about faith. The Torah teaches to live so as to be an example to the Nations. Sharing our spiritual and religious life with others is a major part of not only our bonds to our brothers and sisters, but also allows those who may be curious or spiritually a glimpse of the Joy and connections Judaism, and religion in general, can provide.
The world Jewish community still forces the global community to be reminded of the Holocaust, and for good reason, that we ‘never forget’. Yet, if we dwell in the past how can we ever look to the future? While Yom HaShoah by its very existence, causes us all, Jew and non-Jew alike, to be mindful of past evils, it should not force us to live in a bubble, Judaism is not some exclusive country club, it is a vibrant and all-inclusive living spiritual tradition that, together with Christianity and Islam, commands the attention of some several million people. If Judaism is to survive into the 21st century, we as a people must go forward with open hearts, open minds, and, more importantly no fear. The story of the Jews lies in the soil of the fields, from dust we came to dust we return, so lets keep our ears to the ground and our eyes towards Zion.
Bud W. Andrews 2/3/11
Ari Ben-Avraham
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