Jessica

Overall

2006-12-14T23:46:00.000-08:00

Overall, this was a very interesting class which opened me up to many different aspects of Judaism. I am the type of person who likes to learn about anything, everything! This class was able to explore many different types of people along with organizations and levels of observance and learn about them with an open mind. One thing that many don’t know about me is that I am a very organized, neat freak and being that, I noticed that the way this class was structured was done in a very organized manner. To some this may not be such a big deal, but I find it very important while teaching a class. There are some professors who are unorganized and that alone can really affect the class. To really look at things with different perspectives and explore other ideas with a different viewpoint are both very important ways to learn. Professor Cohen did a great job in explaining the different aspects of Judaism by going in with an open mind and teaching what that specific aspect is and what it believes in instead of judging or generalizing it. This is a type of class which can really help someone explore and understand the Jewish culture and all the amazing things that are apart of it, I highly recommend it.

Jews and Genetics

2006-12-14T23:24:00.000-08:00

While learning about Jews and Genetics I was shocked by the amount of Jewish Genetic Diseases. I definitely believe that Judaism comes from one’s genes or lineage. I liked how our handout said “important to consider that Jewish identity both defines and is defined by genetics”. I never even thought about genetics like that, but it brings a very good point. Whenever I heard the word genetics, I would automatically think about one’s genes or descent, hardly ever as a part of Jewish identity. Genetics in Jewish identity is a very important issue because it is regarding one’s health. There are some diseases which are associated with Jews which are called “Jewish” Genetic Diseases. I can’t believe I never even thought about genetics in Jewish identity because it is even going on in my life and I didn’t notice. My father, Larry, has three brothers, Bart, Stuart and Mike, all of which live in Dayton, Ohio. One person from each of the four families has the same type of disease just different levels of it. I am not exactly sure the name of the disease; however it is very common among the Weprin family. Fortunately the Jewish people have such a strong trust in the medical field because of their involvement. Even in my family alone, it’s quite amusing to see how many people are in the medical/dental field.

Jews in the Christian Imagination

2006-12-14T23:07:00.000-08:00

Even though I have yet to finish the 'Left Behind' book, so far it has really made an impression on me. I have never really read a book about the last days of the Earth. It was really crazy to read about people just disappearing yet leaving all their stuff behind. It was interesting to see how the people left on Earth were feeling and what was going through their minds at the time. Left Behind is a good read and has kept me interested and excited to see what is going to happen next.
The whole idea of materialistic things getting left behind along with other humans getting left behind makes me wonder when the Messiah comes will we leave our things left behind? I think we will leave our things because where we will be going is going to be completely different and much more spiritual than physical. I am very excited to finish the book and get an overall look at it.
It is very interesting to know that two men who both follow Christianity wrote this book. Not that by the authors being Christian will I look at this book differently, but it is important to know the author/s of a book and understand their perspectives behind it.

Messianic Judaism

2006-11-27T15:30:00.000-08:00

Jews for Jesus was founded by Moishe Rosen. I found it very interesting that he chose a Yiddish name because Yiddish is combination of German, Hebrew and I think Aramaic. Which is very similar in the sense that the title ‘Jews for Jesus’ is a mix between Judaism and Christianity. It is absolutely fair for these people to believe in whatever they want to believe in, but they don’t necessarily have to keep preaching about it everywhere. These people know that others getting very offended by it and hurting many Jewish people, yet they still preach and still fight for their point. It’s wrong for them to call themselves Jews for Jesus when they aren’t even Jewish, they are just trying to catch other Jews attention.
If these people want to believe in Jesus being the Messiah that’s fine they can believe in whatever it is they please, but they don’t have to go around preaching it, hurting others, and accusing Jews of whatever just because they don’t believe in Jesus.
Messianic Judaism is actually Jewish people who follow some Jewish laws, feel strongly towards Hebrew, knowledge of Jewish culture and Jewish history. They consider themselves ‘completed’ Jews but are not Christians. They feel completed because they consider Jesus as the messiah.
One question that came into my mind was, is it better that Messianic Jews at least believe in some type of Messiah coming (Jesus) rather than none? I have heard the saying; it is worse if you know and don’t do rather than not knowing and not doing. Today, there are so many different parts, types and organizations in Judaism that I can look at Messianic Judaism and say that at least they are following some laws and at least they do believe in a Messiah coming.

Identity and Exogamy

2006-11-27T13:16:00.000-08:00

Interfaith marriages, always a touchy subject for one to discuss…so many people have so many different views on it. There are many who disagree and there are many who agree with interfaith marriages. I can definitely look at both sides and understand where they stand.
Diversity is very important, everyone should try and meet as many different types of people as possible and experience as much of the world as possible. I have met many amazing people from all over the world but marrying someone Jewish is very important to me therefore that is something I have to control. It's hard to control love but I guess by not even starting a dating relationship with a non-Jew from the very beginning would help prevent that.
In the religious world, they go on ‘shitach’ (sorry about spelling) dates. I use to be very skeptical towards that, but once I learned more about it, it made more sense to me. A ‘shitach’ date is when someone sets you up with another person and you go on a date (usually a hotel lobby, coffee shop) and if you like each other then you continue to go on dates and if you don’t, then you call the person who set you up with your date and you tell them you are not interested. Now the people who usually do this type of dating are looking to get married, which is why they think with their heads and not their hearts. Many people today will not even think about after the marriage and how they are going to raise their children and their future plans. This can really help a relationship especially if you are planning to live the rest of your life with this person.
My cousin Ben recently married a non-Jewish woman from Tennessee. This was the first interfaith marriage in our really big family. This caused a lot of discussion between many of the family members. It wasn’t anything personal against the woman, she is a very nice person but she’s just not Jewish.
I believe that is very important to keep the Jewish people strong and continue the Jewish religion and when a man marries a non-Jew right away that is breaking a little bit away from the Jewish nation, especially since the kids won’t even be Jewish. It was a very tough situation, of course we always welcome everyone into our family but it really upset some.
I don’t get upset and I definitely don’t show any disrespect towards anyone who decides to marry someone out of the Jewish religion. It is completely up to that person, I would definitely hope that they would at least try to teach their children about Judaism and maintain some sort of a Jewish life however if they decide not to, then that is completely up to them. There is so much more to say about interfaith marriages but sometimes it can be putting down in words. I would love to read any responses!

Judaism and Multicultural Identity

2006-11-27T09:52:00.000-08:00

I found the book The Flying Camel a very good read and extremely interesting. I found most stories that I read to have a balance of good and bad. Bad because it seemed as if the character in the story always had to hide who he/she really was and be afraid of what all the people who think they are "normal" say or do. Good because the person is happy where he/she is at now in their life and feels comfortable with themselves. It's horrible for a person to have to struggle with who the yare and constantly having to move back and forth in one place or the other just to feel comfortable. I really enjoyed how in the story “Home is where you make it” the character simply starts having fun with telling people where she comes from. ‘It allows for certain flexibility of identification, a kind of public playfulness about the way people see us” (Camel pg 134). So many times people ask me what my major is or what I am going to do when I am out of college and I just got to the point where I start having fun with my answers.
In the story “Benign Ignorance of persistent resistance” the character was talking about how people are considered ‘others’ in the face of other Jews. “”those people”-those people who love their Judaism enough to create a safe synagogue, There are no “those people” within Judaism, be they inblack hats and shiedels or hippie-inspired “rainbow” tallits, be they gay, bisexual, transgender, lesbian, or heterosexual, Ashkenazi, Mizrahi, Sephardi, or Ethiopian, women or men. The list is lon. And no group needs to be “other”. If we love our Judaism, our history, our culture, and our survival as Jews, we can open up the narrow spaces that harbor ignorance of how diverse a people we are” (Camel pg 64). I agree with what she said in this quote. As Jews I think it is important for us to realize how diverse a people we are and that we should all have respect for each other. Obviously back then when many Jews came to the United States from all over the world they were looked at as others and as different from the so called “normal”.

AFTERdark organization

2006-11-14T03:11:00.000-08:00

I actually did see some AFTERdark signs hanging up; however I never knew they were related to Christianity until your email. It seems as if this group is some what related to other Jewish campaigns. AFTERdark is after college students and trying to help them find the “truth”. There are a lot of Jewish programs which are directed towards college students, but not necessarily to find the “truth”. Even though this program is only one night, they are trying to recruit Christians to a lifelong commitment to Jesus something that could obviously last a persons whole life. Then they said that they will have a leader on each campus to help insert each person who makes that commitment into different learning places so they can continue their "education". Almost seems that this one night program is basically about recruiting students to a lifelong commitment to Jesus, and after signing up, they are basically on their own.AFTERdark makes it seem, that college students really want the truth and that this program has the answer to that truth. Most Jewish programs for college students are mainly about bringing the students together and getting them to interact with each other. Not necessarily about finding the truth or making a lifelong commitment.This program seemed as if they were trying to hide who they really are and that they are related to Christianity. Usually, when it comes to Jewish programs, they make it very clear that it is Jewish related. Maybe it is this way because Judaism is a very confident religion which doesn’t feel the need to hide anything. I feel as if Jewish programs don't usually try and look for a specific age group, they simply advertise their event without having to hide anything and let the viewer decide if they want to come to that event or not. Whereas this AFTERdark program feels like it needs to hide their true identity, so maybe they can trick more people into coming to their events? They hang up catchy signs which only tell the basics of the event, where and when, and try to get as many people as possible to come.They aren’t as confident in this program therefore they hide certain aspects of it. I think it is funny how they said that from the ages 18-27, many Christians take vacations from church and they want to try and fix that. I guess their idea of "fixing" that is to have this one night event to try and get people to commit themselves and then leave them to do their own studying? It’s ironic that such a huge religion such as Christianity sort of hides itself when trying to get more people to come to events whereas Judaism, a much smaller religion doesn’t hide anything.With the female Orthodox singer, I think it is great that there are some Female Orthodox singers out there making cds. I know there are some levels of Orthodox where the women are not suppose to sing in front of men. Therefore, this sort of gives the women a chance to express themselves through their singing. Along with being able to express themselves, these orthodox women are able to connect with other religious women and give them something to relate to.(a lot of orthodox women live very similar lives and mainly do very simliar things because of their beliefs therefore they sort of have an understanding of each other.) (I know my mother has the Jewish Housewives cd and thinks it’s hilarious).One great cd that I highly recommend would be the, “You don’t Have to be Jewish” cds. Absolutely hilarious.

Jews and Racial Identities

2006-11-06T23:35:00.000-08:00

Today we learned about Jews and Racial Identities, a topic which I found very interesting. I don’t assume or judge any Jew of Color and I definitely do not consider them “lesser” members of the Jewish community. Actually, I love diversity; I think it is extremely important in ones life and a very significant topic to discuss. The fact that there are actually Black Jews out there who believe and practice the ways of Judaism is fantastic! I kind of feel honored that they believe in Judaism! I definitely think it is possible to have Jewish people from all over the world because ever since the beginning of time Jewish people have gone through many diasporas and exiles which has spread them out all over many different countries. I really enjoyed watching the Black Israel movie, and getting to see a little bit about how this group of people actually practice the ways of Judaism and how they feel about being accepted as Jews in America. The Rabbi’s answer about why they all went through conversions even though they shouldn’t have had to, really impressed me. I liked how he said that they know and believe that they are Jewish and that is enough for them. However coming to America, others wanted them to go through the conversion process for them to be considered real Jews. Even though they are already real Jews and know that they are, they still went through the process and made others feel more comfortable. Usually people fight back or would start some sort of revolt in arguing against having to go through this whole process of conversion. But they didn’t, they respected the others opinions and simply went through the process. The Shabbat services and the wedding ceremony that the Black Jews had in the Black Israel movie were very fun to watch. As a viewer, it seemed to me that this group was mixing their African culture with Judaism. For example, during the Shabbat services, they did the prayers, read from the Torah and at the same time had some musical instruments and other African influences during the service. It is really interesting to see how a certain group of people practice Judaism in their own ways while incorporating their own culture which makes it different from others. There are some who believe that these Black Jews should not be considered real Jews and think lesser of them. I feel really sad for these people who look down upon the Black Jews, especially since they judge others and feel as if they have the right to tell someone that they aren’t really 100% Jewish. There are many different types of Jews out in the world today, and many of those Jews feel that their way is the correct way to a real Jewish life, almost like everyone is competing with each other. Many Jews believe that Judaism is a very straight forward religion where it’s either all black or white. I think many Jews feel that way with the Torah too, very straight forward. However, I disagree. I think that the Torah may come off as a straight forward Divine Book, however, it really isn’t. It is filled with so many things that there is more to it than only reading it and following what it says. The Torah was put here for a reason and we are supposed to use it as a guideline for our lives. Same goes for Judaism, it is such an intriguing religion filled with so much history that it is not suppose to be all black or white. After everything the religion has been through, all of the different countries and cultures Judaism has been with, (especially since other cultures have influenced Judaism in many ways) it amazes me there are still Jews out there today who look down upon Black Jews just because of their color and considered them lesser Jews. One thing Judaism really expresses is kindness and being a good person. Judaism is suppose to be a good, kind, all about the love and respect, religion, definitely not hate! After watching parts of that film, it really gave me the urge to travel around the world and see how other people practice Judaism in their own different ways depending on their backgrounds.

What am I learning here? The meaning of Jewish Studies

2006-11-05T23:36:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of this year, I enrolled in the Jewish studies program here at IU. Apparently IU has one of the biggest Jewish studies programs for public schools in the country. They offer many different classes ranging from interpretation of biblical texts to Jewish folklore! I think we should be very lucky that we are able to have such a wonderful program, filled with excellent professors, a wide range of classes and great people in the program. After I became part of the Jewish studies program, I started getting emails and emails about all the interesting events going on. Being apart of this program has really helped me see what else is out there and all of the different programs the Jewish studies department offers. Ever since I became a Jewish studies member, all of the dinners and meetings I have been to, have all been very welcoming, and I enjoyed the very personal feeling of the environment.

Queer Judaism

2006-11-05T22:19:00.000-08:00

The movie, Trembling Before God, definitely shocked me as unbelievable. There are so many things that made me very upset regarding how these people have to live their lives because of the community they were in. I can’t believe that some of the people got kicked out of their community’s just because of their personal sexual life. I feel really bad for the people who feel like they have been living a lie or feel as if they will never be good enough. I don’t think it is right for someone to judge another person or tell them that they will never be something. After studying with a Rabbi, I learned that a very important thing is to take care of yourself and that one should figure out who they are, be comfortable with themselves and then once everyone does that, we all come together as one or we are all able to work together to form one. Going off of this, you would think that a religious community should not kick someone out based off of their personal sexual life because “to each his own” and if that person is a good person who is giving back to the community and doing just as much as the other person, then they shouldn’t have a problem. No one is perfect and the people in the community should realize that these people are trying really hard and still have the right to believe and practice in Judaism. Helping a fellow Jew is another extremely important act in Judaism, yet the community is kicking out a fellow Jew because of some differences and not helping them. If someone actually cared for another you would think that they would want to help the person work things out rather than kicking them out and turning their backs on them. The fact that, that one man in the movie, who is trying to “fix” himself by using negative reinforcement each time, and is working really hard to becoming a better Jew is wonderful. However, I don’t think this man should live his whole life thinking that something is wrong with him or that he has to be punished for being the way he is.
Everyone interprets the Torah differently and has many different viewpoints on it. I know in the Torah it says, a man cannot lay/sleep with another man, (or somewhere along those lines) however maybe there is another interpretation or viewpoint on the subject. Each letter, word, sentence has meaning behind it, and all of the words are there for a certain reason. I don’t think God would want such negativity and hatred toward homosexuals even though it does say it in the Torah, maybe we do not really understand the true meaning behind it. Overall, the movie was very interesting to watch and I am glad it was able to open my eyes so I could see how others are living their lives. At the same time, I feel horrible for what they have to go through, it shouldn’t have to be like that.

Zionism: Does Israel Equal Jewish?

2006-11-05T22:16:00.000-08:00

There are hundreds of trips to Israel out there for students to take. I think it is extremely important for a Jewish person to go and visit Israel because it can help one understand, feel and connect spiritually to Judaism. I have been to Israel 3 times, twice with my family and once on a program. The first two times were both great, however they couldn’t compare to the last time I went to Israel on a program. I went on an Aish HaTorah Fellowship program to Israel for 3 weeks this past summer and ended up extending my trip for an extra 10 days. We would usually learn for a couple of hours during the day, travel around and do fun activities, go on trips all over Israel and have as much free time as we wanted. The girls learned at a woman’s yeshiva/college called Neve which is located in Jerusalem. Personally, I felt like I gained so much from only being there for 3 weeks that I plan on returning to learn more. Overall, the trip was amazing and Israel was such a great experience. It makes me happy to see that there are millions of trips out there for one to choose from and some of them can even be free! Israel can really help someone understand their Jewish identity better and see what life is like in a country where the main basis is Judaism, it’s unbelievable!

Fiction

2006-11-05T21:56:00.000-08:00

The required readings for understanding more about Jewish fiction were all great selections. I found the ‘Mr. Mitochondria’ story quite sad! The character was able to overcome some hard times in his life and was able to put closure on his relationship with his lost brother at the end of the story. Those events are all good things and probably great feelings for the character; however it was sad for me, the reader, to realize that the whole time the character was pretending that his lost brother was with him the whole time. I found it quite interesting that this reading is considered Jewish literature because the idea of Judaism isn’t directly inserted in this reading. However, there are many ideas which the author relates to Judaism indirectly in the story. I wasn’t sure exactly what the author wanted to relate to Judaism however I did notice some interesting analogies, such as relating the mitochondria to Judaism. “Mitochondria, the microscopic organelles that dwell within all living cells, are, in reality, ancient bacteria, tiny specks of life that invaded our ancestral cells and made their home there” (mr. mitochondria 7). If you look back in Jewish history, one can find that no one really knew exactly where the Jewish people came from and that they sort of “invaded” other nations/land and made it their own. Also, another comparison was when the author said that the only way to get the mitochondria is through the mother, just like in Judaism in order to be considered a Jew ones mother must be Jewish.

Film

2006-10-30T03:06:00.000-08:00

After watching the Hebrew Hammer, I must say that I was impressed. The quality of the film, the knowledgeable humor and the integrity behind the characters were all very helpful in making this a good film. That’s awesome the main character was able to become such a confident and proud Jew after everything he went through in his life. There was definitely a good feeling about watching this picture and a lot of laughs to go along with it. The whole idea of the Jewish “Shaft” was excellent and perfect for the role of Adam Goldberg and the character he played. This movie actually makes fun of every cliché possible. Such cliché’s as, old fashioned detective films, Black Panthers, superhero films, coke-dealing “really cool” genre and of course the Jewish mother. One thing I noticed which really amazed me was when Adam was leaving the Nazi Bar after beating everyone up inside. Right when he walks outside an older man approaches him saying, “You Bled My Mother, You Bled My Father, But You Won't Bleed Me”. That man just so happens to be Melvin Van Peebles one of the coolest men alive! I was shocked to see that they actually got him to be in this film. Melvin was actually the first to make an independent Black film which started the whole “Blaxploitation” genre. Actually, there were two older Jewish men who allowed Melvin to play his film in their theater, after everyone else rejected it and it turned out to be a huge hit! They remade a movie about his life, called Sweet Sweetbacks Badassss Song, and Melvin’s son Mario actually plays his father in this movie. Highly recommended!

Theater

2006-10-22T11:07:00.000-07:00

After listening to Vanessa Hildary's poem called "culture bandit", it came off to me as a more confident piece rather than an angry piece. It's amazing that Vanessa is able to express how she feels about her life into this poem. She is stating who she is, and what is important in her life. Judaism and Hip-Hop are two extremely important areas in her life which she is able to combine together. I find absolutely nothing wrong with her being able to do this; actually I would probably give her recommendations if I could. She is able to show the world that she is Jewish it is a big part of her life, and along with being that, she has a strong background in Hip-Hop and many other diverse cultures. By being so diverse, she writes poems and she acts about being a mixture of different things and how that is okay for her and she is proud of it. She is who she is. Vanessa has really done well for herself, she is apart of many different organizations and theater groups where they go and perform all of their poems and acts. I have watched some of the Def Comedy Jam acts and for her to be able to win one is amazing.
Jewish theater as a whole actually seems pretty entertaining. The Jewish Theater cleaninghouse website is a very convenient and organized place where one can find all the information they want on Jewish Theater. I knew of Mel Brooks and the Producers and probably a couple more Jewish plays, but after looking at the Jewish theater website, I was shocked to see how many people are associated with Jewish Theater, its really unbelievable. After listening to the Caroline, or Change soundtrack, I would really like to see the play. The soundtrack is filled with great musical instrumentals along with great songs and lyrics to go along with. It makes you forget how great a Musical really is.

Music

2006-10-17T09:42:00.000-07:00

I chose to listen and respond to the Matisyahu, "Youth" album. I remember the very first time I heard of Matisyahu, I was so suprised. I actually remember it perfectly, I went to go visit my cousins at OSU and when I went to their dorms, in the lobby on the bulletin there was a picture of a religious man holding a microphone. On the paper it said, "Chabad presents, Matisyahu in Concert at OSU". I was shocked. I called the number on the paper and actually went to go see that concert. This was probably around 2-3 years ago, and now I sign on to American Online and what's the first thing I see, "Matisyahu". I can't believe how well he has been doing, he really made a name for himself. I really enjoyed listening to his "Youth" album, personally I love reggae. Matisyahu uses good beats, along with Jewish related words. Not only is he promoting good music, he is also promoting Judaism. He is proof that one can be religious and still have a life in the "secular" world. I usually don't choose favorites, but if I had to choose one song off of the Youth album, it would be King Without A Crown. I love how it crescendos throughout the whole song, it makes you feel real good. No one has ever really seen a man like this before, it really is unbelieveable if you think about it. He was able to connect to people through his music, many can relate to the type of music and enjoy it. I don't know Matisyahu personally, however maybe Judiasm and Hip-Hop/Reggae are both extremely important in his life and he is able to express both, Judiasm through the words and Hip-Hop/Reggae through the beats and melodies. Lastly, I even saw the Matisyahu cd at starbucks. That may not sound amazing, however I always look at the starbucks cds and they only pick and choose which cds they would like to sell. It just so happens that out of all the cds, Matisyahu was one of them. That has to say something.

The Web and its Uses

2006-10-15T16:12:00.000-07:00

Looking through the different Jewish websites I was happy to see how many different types of websites a Jewish person has to choose from. All of the websites tie to Judaism however they each do it in different ways. The Modiya website looks into many issues that are between Religion and the media. Modiya looks into different units such as travel, art, film festivals, food, museums etc, explains a little bit about each one of them and then relates it to the media. This site can open people up to information, discussions and even questions to think about. The Open Source website is filled with lots of useful information. I found “Jew School” extremely interesting. It seems to me that they offer almost anything, and keep people updated constantly. I can really see young adults connecting with this website. Jew school allows people to voice their opinions and for others to read them. This website offers many different links for people to research through and even has articles related to that link. This is another type of website where it brings people together and allows them to express their feelings. The Shamash website seemed to be directed towards people who would like to keep updated with the news, learn about kosher restaurants in the area, or just look for Jewish information. This website can provide individuals with certain internet tools to help find answers or help search through information on Judaism. The Ask Moses website is an extremely efficient source of information. The ability to be able to ask any question you want and to get it answered immediately is amazing. This can be very helpful for absolutely anyone who has any questions regarding Judaism. However, it can also be unsafe in the sense that you don’t know exactly who will be answering these questions and how valid their answers are. Overall, I enjoyed reading through all of these Jewish websites. It is extremely important that one takes advantage of the information available on the internet. Even though the internet is overused a lot and takes away from making things more personable, it still is an extremely valid source of information if used in moderation. Hopefully these websites will not only open up people’s minds to all of the Jewish information but will also connect people and start helping people communicate with each other.

Recasting Judaism for a new generation

2006-10-15T12:51:00.000-07:00

After reading through each of the Jewish magazine websites, I was really impressed that there are Jewish magazines such as Heeb, Guilt and Pleasure and New Voices out there for people to read. I’m not going to lie, but I don’t think I have ever heard about these magazines before? Just like the title of our Oct 4th assignment, Recasting Judaism for a new generation. That is exactly what these magazines are doing, yet each in their own ways. When I was looking at www.heebmagazine.com, it gave me sort of a young city life vibe. I think this kind of magazine would interest a lot of young Jewish people today because of the humor it uses and how they relate that to Judaism. A lot of people can relate this magazine because it ties in the secular world/city life with Judaism and makes it look “cool”. Heeb is definitely a great idea for a magazine, it seems as if they can relate almost anything to Judaism and even do it in a joking manner. Heeb also puts a lot of famous Jewish celebrities on their covers, which is a great idea to get people’s attention and interests.
I really liked the idea of the Guilt and Pleasure magazine. Their reasoning behind why they have this magazine is to try and get people to talk or communicate more. These “young innovators” meet regularly to discuss issues and changes in identity and community which can help the G&P magazine. To me, this magazine seems like they actually really want people to try and start talking about their community more and this magazine can help provide information and news on what’s going on in the world. Along with current issues, this magazine has a variety of different insights and as one can read on the website, “Guilt & Pleasure is a quarterly mash-up magazine of essays, comics, interviews, reports, photographs, illustrations, memoirs, letters, archival materials, opposing voices, fine lines, private discoveries, and fiction, all from some of today’s most creative writers, artists, and thinkers”. I really enjoyed reading through some of the G&P articles; they certainly grabbed my attention with their informative and humorous information. The first thing I thought when I saw the New Voices website, was “college students”. This magazine is actually written by Jewish students therefore their main audience is the “Jewish student”. New Voices is primarily about reaching out to their audience about world events and primarily Jewish events in the world. It is amazing reading about the many different students from the country will voice their opinions and contribute to this magazine. New Voices certainly brings Jewish people together and helps those who contribute express themselves through their writings and even help those who read the magazine understand how others feel and engage them in the importance of Judaism.
Overall, I was highly impressed with all three of these magazines. Whether it is the message they are each trying to get out, the people they are bringing together or the way they are able to connect with their readers, Heeb, G&P, and New Voices definitely all do great jobs in expressing themselves in different ways. (I might actually have to start getting subscriptions!)

Reboot

2006-09-26T06:11:00.000-07:00

Wow. I can’t believe I am just now finding out about Reboot. After much research of the site, I learned how great of an idea Reboot is. “Our goal is to facilitate that process for our generation and to help us "Reboot" the traditions we've inherited and make them vital and resonant in our own lives”. They definitely do.
Reboot is a non-profit organization, which is based out of New York, and was founded in 2003. They have just about everything when it comes to Jewish material: magazines, journals, films, discussions, readings, and much more. Reboot is a great idea for an organization because it brings people together to discuss, argue, debate, talk, hang out, and hear some new view points; and as it says on the website: “creating opportunities for our peers to gather, to engage, question and to self-organize with their own networks, in their own way, in their own time”. On the website, it has a “do it yourself” link, where it shows you different types of ideas for getting together with a group of people. It even gives you a link to learn more about each one in detail and topics for discussion. In each setting, they have about 4-5 big topics with around 28 links for articles, books, or writings. I think it is a great idea on how to get people together in their own way, having a good time, doing something meaningful and using the Reboot information with different topics to discuss with everyone. As I was reading the website I noticed that the main point of this organization is to get Jewish people to talk, to communicate more, to start to question ideas and theories and to discuss with different types of people.

Jewish Federation of Greater Indianapolis

2006-09-26T04:32:00.000-07:00

The community is a very big concept in Judaism. “With an obligation in Jewish law to help the less fortunate, everyone in the community made regular contributions to the collection box, the kuppah (donation box)”. (jfgi) Ever since then, the Jewish fundraising has kept growing and growing yet keeping the same principles today. The federation is always willing to accept anyone who wants to volunteer, and from the website, when the community would come and help volunteer it made the experience ten times better and much more meaningful. I was very pleased while reading about the Jewish Federation of Greater Indianapolis. Seeing all of the places they have helped and are still helping today is amazing. After reading through the JFGI website, I noticed that they offer many places for one to donate. They offer Super Sundays, where you can actually go and volunteer to call people. There is the endowment fund, which is to help guarantee Jewish communities future. The JFGI also has an annual campaign where I believe their goal is $6 million dollars and as of now they have raised $2.98 million dollars. Lastly, they have Operation Promise where their goal is $160 million dollars over a 3 year period. “This promise represents our hope to be a free people, to return to our historic homeland and to create a better future; it represents our dream to be a compassionate people, whose purpose it is to make the world a better place”. (jfgi)
As it says on the website, the goals of Operation Promise are to expand achievements of the federation movement, care for hundreds of thousands of needy elderly and building and supporting the next generation of Jewish life, and also bringing the Ethiopian Jewish community home to Israel! I think that this organization is very well organized; it seems that they have had many years of experience with fundraising and their website is very well done with lots good information that will keep people interesting. I really hope they make their quota!

Chabad

2006-09-23T20:55:00.000-07:00

Personally, back in the day, I use to think that Chabad was all about the money. I am going to have to say I was wrong. Chabad is amazing, the fact that they are all about outreach is awesome.
Every Chabad I have experienced has definitely been a great time. They always make you feel welcomed, and are willing to teach you anything about Judaism! The fact that Chabad cares so much about teaching others and bringing a community together is extremely important. I love how Chabad goes where there are basically not a lot of Hassidic Jews and they just open up to anyone wanting to get involved in the community. I went to dinner at the Chabad in Bloomington, and I absolutely loved it. The Chincholkers are a wonderful loving family who made my family and I feel very welcomed. The laid back, personal environment was great and definitely the type of environment I enjoy the most. Chabad is a great idea, and I am really happy that they are able to do really well because I know it is all going back towards something great.

Sephardic Judiasm

2006-09-23T20:48:00.000-07:00

Reading about the history of Sephardic Judaism one can definitely agree and say that it went through a great deal. I actually find it quite amazing that Sephardic Judaism is still able to maintain such a strong movement. When the Muslims ruled Spain, the Jewish people actually had a sort of peaceful life in the sense that they were able to practice their religion freely. However, when the Christians came in and took over Spain, they forced all the Jews to leave if they were not going to convert to Christianity. Some Jewish people went to Portugal where they were also forced to leave while others went to other countries or the Holocaust. Sephardic Judaism’s’ culture was certainly influenced by its history and where it started from. Sephardic Jews follow all different types of laws and traditions; however there are good amounts that follow the orthodox laws in their own style. Apparently from what I read, Sephardic Jews are more open to change and diversity.

Reconstructionist

2006-09-23T20:00:00.000-07:00

I am going to have to say that this is the first time I actually read about Reconstructionist Jews. To tell you the truth, I really did not know what to expect, good or bad. However, after reading Goldsmith’s article about Reconstructionist philosophy and theology I actually found it quite interesting. I’m not going to lie, when I started reading it, I was thinking in my head “oy vey, here we go.” However, while I was reading it I found some of the points quite true.
“G-d is the Energy enabling us to conquer fear and despair, alienation and loneliness”. To some extent, I can definitely agree with G-d being Energy or force or even a light which guides us to good. Goldsmith also explains how Reconstructionist believes that Judaism is not just a Religion but a Culture also, which is completely understandable. In my opinion Judaism is a balance of the two. It is all about being comfortable with oneself especially in such a society today. Looking at this movement, I can definitely agree with some of the philosophies they believe in and understand what they are saying. However, I also found some of it kind of confusing. I am not sure I understand exactly where they stand compared to the other movements? It says they believe in all of the Jewish values and even practice them. Does this mean they are more towards Orthodoxy in the sense that they follow the laws or the Reform movement?

Modern Orthodox

2006-09-23T17:05:00.000-07:00

Before and after reading about Modern Orthodoxy I can say that I definitely have a lot of respect for the movement. Even though I noticed a lot of negative things that it says about the movement, I believe many people are apart of it in their own ways. Compared to Reform Judaism I would say the modern orthodox movement is more about Jewish knowledge rather than politics, equal rights, etc. Even though I really dislike labels, my mother would probably say that her and my father are “modern orthodox”. Starting at Reform, they now have a very large knowledge of Judaism; they continue to learn, go to shul on Saturday mornings, dinner Friday nights and are still able to connect with the secular world. Even though many statistics say that modern orthodoxy is lowering, I still believe that many people are going to stick with it and continue to practice at the modern orthodox level. The same goes for the shul my family and I have belong to for about 6-7 years now, Beth Jacob. Beth Jacob is basically a modern-orthodox shul with mixed seating in the big sanctuary and separate seating downstairs. When it comes to the readings and stating that modern-orthodox is very unorganized, I can agree with it and say that compared to the other shuls I have belong to yes Beth Jacob is a little bit unorganized. However, I love it; I love the fact that it is not too organized to the point where it is extremely strict. When I go to shul I feel like it is one big family and everyone is very laid back. There are definitely more Jewish people who belong to the Reform and conservative shuls however I love the small personal feeling I get everytime I go and wouldn’t change it one bit.

Conservative Judaism

2006-09-10T15:01:00.000-07:00

Growing up I started out at Temple Beth Or, which is a Reform Synagogue. Gradually, my family took baby steps towards learning more about the Jewish religion and trying to follow some of the Halacha’s (laws). My family and I then became members at Temple Israel, which is a reform shul yet a little different in the way the lead their services, their prayer books, etc. After a year, we then became members at the Orthodox Shul, Beth Jacob, and have been there since. As one can see, I never really experienced belonging to a Conservative shul; instead, I went from belonging to a Reform shul to an Orthodox shul.
CJ is considered more religious then reform and not as religious as Orthodox. I have always thought that Conservative was very similar to Reform, especially based off of their services. Reform and Conservative Judaism both allow mix sitting in the shul and they also count women (egalitarian) as part of the minyan
CJ was formed in Germany around the 1850’s due to a reaction of the “liberal religious” stance from Reform Jews. Reflecting on it, I’m happy that some wanted to conserve more of the Jewish traditions and the Halacha’s. It’s always good to have a sort of middle ground, and that is where CJ fits in. It tries to keep the Jewish traditions going, and follow some of the Halachas. I can see how many Americans can definitely favor Conservative Judaism in the sense that it is a little more religious compared to the Reform way and it still is convenient for ones everyday life.
I read the “Ideal Conservative Jew”, and I found it very difficult to understand exactly why they would put lists of things a person has to do in order to be considered an “Ideal CJ”. Looking at it in a positive way, putting that list out there gives something for people to go off of and look at to try and find where they fit in. Also, it helps differentiate between other forms of Judaism. That is what they believe a Conservative Jew should do if they want to be considered a Conservative Jew. However, I don’t feel like they have the right to decide if a person is an “Ideal CJ” or not. Every single person is different, and people do things in different ways. It should be whatever is comfortable for that person.

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Reform Judaism

2006-09-09T12:49:00.000-07:00

Reform Judaism is mainly about evolving and making the religion work with people in society today. I can see how this can be a positive idea and a negative idea. Positive because, I can understand how hard it is for some people today, especially living in such a society where it is very hard to practice and follow all the laws of Judaism. However, negative because this idea can take away from the true meaning, the traditions and the true beauty of Judaism. RJ believes that the religion should constantly change based off of the people today, however, I’m not quite sure how I feel about that. Maybe the religion shouldn’t have to change to conform to the people; maybe the people should change to follow the ways of the religion. After all, the Torah has remained the same ever since the very beginning and RJ does believe that the Torah is the foundation for Jewish life.
After reading about RJ, I noticed that one very big idea they kept bringing up was trying to repair the world, strive for peace, freedom, justice, and joy. Those are all very important things to definitely strive for, and I do believe more people need to start striving for those things. Although, when it comes to Judaism, one of the most important things is to become as close to G-d as possible. Maybe that is one part of RJ that is different then Conservative or Orthodox, the fact that they don’t strive to get as spiritually connected to G-d. They are more concerned with repairing the world, then becoming close to the one who created it.
On the website, it also made very clear that RJ accepts almost anyone, believes in equality among women and equality among gay and lesbians. Equality is extremely important, everyone should be considered equal. However, when it comes to Judaism, women are actually on a higher spiritual level than men. Women don’t have to do a lot of the things men do because they are on this higher spiritual level. It’s not saying that women are unequal to men, its actually saying that women are a little higher spiritually than men. In the Torah it specifically says that a man cannot lay with another man, this isn’t saying that Judaism disrespects or treats those unequal who do. It is just stating something that it wants Jewish people to follow and any person can do whatever they feel is right. I find it kind of contradicting when RJ says that it is open to all of these things that sound really nice, but then how can the Torah be the foundation of Jewish life for them? That’s when it comes down to, how people interpret the Torah differently.

2006-09-03T15:12:00.000-07:00

just making sure everything is working!