Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Creating a Jewish Studies Curriculum

I really enjoyed working in groups on Monday to create a Jewish Studies curriculum for a secular university.  It was really interesting to develop a good program for Jewish Studies students.  I myself am a Jewish Studies major, and there are definitely things about the current curriculum that could use some improvement here at Indiana University.
One thing that was discussed that I strongly agreed with in my group was the need to have a core curriculum, and then to break things down into more specific concentrations, based on the needs of individual students.  I, for instance, am interested in becoming a Jewish professional, and I feel like in order to achieve that I need to take more classes aimed towards that, perhaps through SPEA or the Kelley school.  I feel like that having classes to suit different interests, such as Jewish professionalism or rabbinical and cantorial students would make more students at a given university be interested in learning more about the Jewish Studies program.
Maybe those who have changes should discuss and meet with the Jewish Studies department.  I, in fact, am planning on doing that when I meet next with Carolyn Lipson-Walker.  I feel it is very important to give input on the Jewish Studies program, because there is always room for improvement.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Queer Judaism

After being mentioned in class, I decided to read the article "Synagogues working to be more open to gays" on the JTA news website.  I found the article quite interesting, because I personally believe that any human being should be allowed the right to belong to a synagogue, no matter what their race, sexual identification or background is.  Denying someone the right to belong to a synagogue because they consider themselves to be gay, lesbian, or bisexual is ridiculous, or so I think so.
What struck me most interesting was the comments left on this article about allowing gays into synagogues.  One person wrote "homosexuality is an abomination before G-d," following a response of "People have a right to be homosexuals, Jewish leaders don't have a right to destroy Judaism to appease crazy homosexuals."  I think this is an outright terrible message, and I do not think those people understand that homosexuals are just like any other human being, just with a different sexual belief.
I could go on and on about the issue of queer Judaism, or how I believe there should be no issues.  Let them do what they want.  They are humans, and just because they have different sexual desires does not mean they are the root of all evil.  Let them live a normal life, for they shouldn't have it any other way.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Paskudnyak - A Short Story

I chose to read the story "Paskudnyak" for our class discussion on Jewish fiction.  It is written by Sonia Pilcer, and is part of a compilation of Jewish fiction.  It is first important to know what Paskudnyak means.  It is from Polish and Ukrainian language, and means "a man or woman who is nasty, mean, odious, contemptible, rotten, vulgar, insensitive and dirty."
From the first line of the story, I could tell that it would be one with many Jewish references.  "We live in Brooklyn," it says, an area in New York that has always been prominent with Jews.  The characters in the story also have very European and possibly Yiddish names, such as Genia, Heniek and Zosha.
The way the story is written and what the characters do and how they interact with others brings out a lot of things that could be seen as Jewish.  Jews are all about storytelling and what not, and I think this story is a perfect example of the love Jews have for telling stories from the past, like the narrator is in this story.  
The story takes place in the 1960s, soon after the Holocaust.  To me, the most interesting thing about the story is that Zosha, who is brought up in a Polish-Jewish family rebels against all she has been taught to join a Latino gang.  This is something that is not common at the time, and to hear it from a Jewish perspective makes it all the more interesting and compelling to read.  It is not your typical Jewish story, but I believe it just adds to the excitement in reading it.
I hope that in class I will be able to learn about each story, and learn what distinguishes fiction to be Jewish, and if there are stories that are more subtle about the religious background in which the story is set to.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

The Tribe

The first time I watched the film The Tribe was my senior year of high school.  I went to a Jewish high school, and every year we were required to take a Jewish law/studies class, and that year I was in Introduction to Jewish Thought.  On the very last day of the class, our teacher showed us the film as a good way to wrap up class.  I then watched it again last semester, in my American Jewish Thought class with Professor Magid.  
In my opinion, The Tribe is a great short film that uses such interesting techniques to describe the Jewish population today, especially in America.  I particularly enjoy how the Jews are compared to Barbie dolls. Like Barbie dolls, over the years Jews have evolved and grown to fit the American stereotype, and often loose most of the attributes to distinguish themselves to be unique or different.  
The filming techniques are very interesting and not often seen in most films and movies.  The producers and directors use a combination of photography and animation, not an actual streaming video, which I think is very unusual - but at the same time, really helps establish meaning and the point of the film.  
I believe that discussing this short film in class will be very interesting.  I think a lot of different ideas will come out of class, and many that are different my preconceived ideas.  I am excited to learn what other people think about the movie, especially if this is the first time they have stached it.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Jews and the Theater

I've grown up appreciating theater, whether it be dramatic or musical.  My mom grew up on Long Island, and would go see Broadway shows with her family quite often.  My dad grew up seeing a lot of plays with his family up in Oregon, a rich and cultural environment.  Of course there is Fiddler on the Roof and plays about Anne Frank which are often seen as stereotypical Jewish theater, but until exploring the internet I was not fully aware that Judaism was brought to light in many other plays, dramas and musicals.
The website Jewish-Theatre.com is quite an interesting and informative website, in my opinion.  The front page has a lot news articles that somehow tie Judaism and theater together.  There are also job and writing opportunities, and a lot of research about theater throughout the world, with a concentration in Europe it seems.  Their advertisements are mostly geared for those living in Europe.  For example, there is an ad for UCL's Jewish studies and Hebrew program, which is the University College London, where in fact my brother studied abroad last spring.  It seems as if there is not a lot of focus on American Jewish theater, which then makes me question if there is much of American Jewish theater community.
I also really enjoyed looking at Yuri Lane's website.  I think beatboxing is an awesome way of expressing yourself, and to put a Jewish and Hebrew twist on it makes it much more fascinating since I can relate myself to the music in a way.  Yuri Lane seems to be very talented, and I wish I had heard of his work before.
For me, the whole concept of taking theater and putting a Jewish "twist" on it is really interesting.  I hope that in class tomorrow we will take a closer look at things such as Yuri Lane and Caroline or Change.