Monday, December 10, 2007

Feed your mind, body and soul!


Many Jewish youth have become disillusioned with traditional forms of engagement and they struggle in answering the question “Why be Jewish?”. From synagogues to the stigmas associated with many Jewish events, JUMP seems to be breaking down some of those walls. For those of us north of the 401 and Bathurst, The Jewish Urban Meeting Place serves as Markham's answer to "The House" often utilized by various youth divisions of Toronto's Federation.

Having been present at a number of the events organized since the centre's inception, it is extremely pleasing to witness each program amassing just the right number of new and returning participants; making each experience quite unique and most enjoyable. From cooking demonstrations to dinners and discussions there is just the right variety of programming to entice a variety of interests & tastes.

I was taken aback this past Friday upon discovering that attendants to JUMP's first Shabbat dinner brought Young Professionals to the corner of Yonge and Centre Street, not only from the local area but also from the downtown core. In a short time the buzz surrounding this diamond in the rough has brought Jewish Youth together from one end of this extensive city to the ever expanding burbs. Kol ha Kavod. May you continue to see a year of great goodness in 08.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Its' too bad we don't have something like JUMP here.

Blintzkrieg said...

Hey Jorge,

Where's "here"?

Anonymous said...

I live in Mexico City.

Anonymous said...

Why don't the Heebonics bloggers use their real names?

Anonymous said...

All Heebonics posts are stories derived from contributors personal interests and experiences. Some of us choose to keep our real names tied only to the printed material.

Anonymous said...

Most newspaper blog writers use real names. I cannot think of one that uses all aliases except Heebonics.

Blintzkrieg said...

Hi Jorge,

Your point is well-taken. But the reporters for major publications who have their own blogs are usually columnists who write more subjective, editorial pieces and thus have their own career/personas to begin with.

As Heebonics is, at this point, still more of a forum for opinion for the "younger" CJN reporters, some of us here, myself included, feel that publishing our real names with our postings could a) jeopardize our interviewees' willingness to speak with us as impartial CJN reporters if we take an opinionated stance on volatile issues and b) make us seem like CJN columnists when in actuality, we're not.

Still, it could be that we're being too sensitive or over-thinking this issue, as you're not the first to ask this question.

I for one, would be happy to hear your opinion.

Anonymous said...

I understand your point, Blintz. I would think that Heebonics could only benefit from having real names listed.

I have downloaded several Heebonics pages from the cjnews website and see that the stories are written by staff reporters (e.g. Sheri Shefa), whose names appear on other stories posted through the website. Why can't those reporters put their names on their blog postings that have little or no editorializing?

This JUMP story is a good example. There's nothing that shows kosherspeare's personal opinions or biases. What couldn't he/she just use his/her real name? I'd like to hear your response.

(I will post this comment on the next Heebonics blog entry too to ensure you read it)