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.

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.

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.

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.  

Judaism on the Web

In class today, the topic of having a virtual minyan came up and whether or not it was acceptable according to Jewish practice.  I thought the whole idea was very fascinating.  Has our generation reached the point that they will use the internet as a way to practice ritual and prayer?  This boggles my mind that people would take such extreme measures to observe a daily ritual.

I assumed minyans were still formed in traditional ways - with 10 men.  However, it struck me to be interesting when a fellow peer of mine, in class today, described how at his synagogue, people are able to "call-in" to participate in a minyan.  Should be this allowed?  Personally, I do not think so.  According to Jewish law, using forms of technology is not an acceptable way of prayer since the internet and technology does not have a soul, hence taking away from the spirituality of the minyan.

In my personal opinion, there are certain aspects of Judaism that are getting lost through the internet; however, I do believe most people still treat Judaism with respect and value its meaning and celebrate Judaism in the appropriate manner.  I do not agree that creating virtual minyans accomplish anything religious-wise, but in fact it tears the community apart.  That is not what Judaism wants out of its community.  Hopefully one day people will realize that meaning is being lost, and go back to more traditional roots to fulfill the words of the Torah.

Let My People Go

The Let My People Go CD is very interesting and eclectic, to say the least.  Referred to as "a Jewish and African American celebration of freedom," it is apparent that Kim & Reggie Harris are trying very hard to create music that combines Jewish and African American musical styles.

The cover of the CD has as picture of a matzah wrapped in a cloth, also known as the afikoman during the Jewish holiday of Passover.  While there is no indication that this is a Passover CD, this CD is apparently one praising freedom of the Jews from Egypt.  While each song has a Hebrew title, there is English apparent in almost every song.  It is a CD full of richness and diversity, and I can understand why so many people feel a connection this kind of music.

Honestly, this wasn't what I was expecting.  I was expecting more of a Hebrew gospel CD.  However, I am glad that this music is full of history and culture.  It is a very unique way of bringing cultures and ideals together, and it is a quite effective way of doing so.

 

Jewish Philanthropies

I am majoring in Jewish Studies and minoring in non-profit management through SPEA, so I'm pretty much I'm all about Jewish philanthropy.  In fact, I would love to work at somewhere like the Jewish Federation when I'm older.  As weird and silly as it sounds, it is like two of my favorite things combined.  I cherish my Judaism and my religion, and I love to help people out and make an impact on the world.  

I was really excited to be able to check out a bunch of different websites about Jewish philanthropy - but as I begun to read through them, I realized I didn't have the right expectations of what would be on these websites.  It seemed as each website was a blog, or promoting other blogs.  I wanted information about Jewish philanthropies - and was even hoping that I could possibly find one that I wanted to get involved with.  However, I seemed to be unsuccessful in that search.  I think that while these sites were overall very interesting and did have a lot of information and resources, each of them could have talked a little more about what Jewish philanthropies are and what they have to offer.  I felt there was a lack of description for that.

I think that it is important to understand how Jewish philanthropies work and what is unique about each of them.  Also, it is important to know that there are different levels of philanthropies, each offering services and benefits for different groups of people.  

This kind of stuff is something I am really interested in learning more about - and hopefully I can eventually find more descriptive information about philanthropies, while still having a lot of resources available.