Thursday, July 31, 2008

The Weekend that Was

Living Judaism, a concept, a movement, a paradigm shift in being, is a powerful tool against vicarious Judaism, when applied right. Vicarious Judaism for the most part, is the practice of a few traditions and sometimes a label affixed to ones’ faith in response to the question what is your religion? I returned from a weekend in the Berkshires at the Joseph Eisner Camp Institute for living Judaism and nowhere else in my travels, or really from all my experiences, have I truly been immersed in a ‘community of meaning’.


What is a ‘community of meaning’? It is a working partnership between old friends, new friends, and those who have a piece to your puzzle you never expected they might have. People coming together for no other reason than just to help one another in a ‘community of participation’. The participatory action of helping each other, from organization or simply from one person to another, strengthens all of our resolves to pursue an active and involved Jewish lifestyle. Some organizations like JUMP, the Birthright Alumni Committee and The House are on the right track with events that feed the mind and soul, enabling any one person to walk out their doors a bit more intrinsically fullfilled than they were walking in the doors.

If any one organization stands alone we fall into the trap of propelling forward ‘service communities’, judged by the services they offer rather than the meaning instilled. The landscape of Canadian Jewry should gravitate toward the living Judaism model in order to keep the melting pot of Canadian ethnicities, cultural identities and overwhelmingly general societal behaviours at bay.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Concentrate to the things that could give information to the people.

Kosherspeare said...

Thank you for your comment lottery raffle not everyone is familiar with the concept and so they could stand to be informed.

Anonymous said...

The Weekend that Was

Even putting aside that the grammar was sloppy, the tone of this editorial is opinionated without making any real case. It states this magical epiphany that the author felt and expects us to understand without developing the theme enough to explain or convince. As such it doesn't feel like an 'editorial', rather like an 'advocacy' piece.

Which brings me to the second point: who is 'Kosherspeare' ? If Heebonics has a roster of writers, I would like to get to know them so I can start understanding their frames of reference and who's opinion I agree with, who's I trust, and who to ignore.

Yet when trying to figure this out was frustrating because the whole Heebonics thing is so nebulous. It states that you are part of the CJN yet you carry a hotmail email address (why not an @cjnews.com ?), a google blog, a HEEBONICS ONLINE link which takes you to facebook, a podcast (which is a phenomenal idea and should be expanded to include certain CJN stories). I understand that there are lots of technologies out there and you want to capture facebook users and iPod users and that kind of thing, but the incoherence leads to the third question: WHAT THE HELL IS HEEBONICS???

It might be clear in your mind, but if it were more clear in 'our' minds, then I believe Heebonics would be primed to achieve significantly more popularity.

Anyways, that's my take.

b'hatzlacha.

Kosherspeare said...

Unfortunately, even the best editors miss catching all grammatical errors in a piece of writing. Check the first line of your own third paragraph. That said anonymous, your criticism has been taken to heart and The Weekend that Was has been re-edited. Hope it meets with your approval.

A blog by definition is an open forum. It enables its contributors to share their views on topics deemed relevant for its intended audience. This is an 'advocacy' piece you're quite right. It was meant to enlighten the younger Jewish community of Canada on ways we can relate to one another more effectively.

Clearly this particular post did not appeal to you, yet of all the postings, you felt you had to comment on it. So thanks for stopping by and taking the time to read it.

You say you want to get to know the blog's roster of writers yet you anonymously post your comment. We could reciprocate asking you to answer your own questions re paragraph 2.

Heebonics is an adjunct brand of The CJN and a work in progress. It varies its voice and is charting a rocky course, to make its mark in today's ever changing media landscape.

To reiterate thanks for stopping by we appreciate your take.