Thursday, November 24, 2011

A Wonderful Post: A Jew in the Rain: Frogs and Spoons and Orthodox Jews

A wonderful post on a new blog. Looks like it will be intriguing!

A Jew in the Rain: Frogs and Spoons and Orthodox Jews

Frogs and Spoons and Orthodox Jews

I do not want to write a blog. I think it is demeaning for an adult to spout the details of her everyday life to an invisible audience of millions of strangers.
But, I sometimes suspect that there is no one addressing the general public to make the point that "Orthodox" Judaism is
1. not necessarily urban, but organic, green, skookum, alive, warm, familial, and comfy
2. not small-minded, but deep and profound
3. not Establishment, but personal
...in sum, poetic.
4. unlike any other "organized religion" you've ever heard of.

It is a bit contradictory to create a blog to make this point, because the medium itself is inherently impersonal - I do not believe that blogs have the power to change their readers in the same way as books, let alone conversation with real people. If you have a choice, and if you do not find it too daunting, stop reading here and go to http://www.shabbat.com/ and sign up to meet real people.
Otherwise, keep reading, because you probably will not find any other Orthodox women spouting the details of their everyday lives to millions of strangers.
I have asked several people to contribute to the blog - so there will be many different voices behind the word "I".

The decision to try writing a blog came when I read a newspaper article interviewing an Orthodox rav. He said something about how we should all do what G-d wants us to.
An observant Jew reading this paper will see what the rav said, and understand that although the thought was not expressed poetically, there are mountains and rivers under that idea, and births and deaths, and frogs and spoons, and nostalgia and parties, and if you just add water to those words and stir, they will burst into flame like potassium.
The average person reading this particular paper sees sees the word "G-d" and turns the page. Next.

Too bad. Someone has to demonstrate that Torah is poetic.
Stay tuned.

4 comments:

  1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10Xo7cBK2bU&feature=related

    ReplyDelete
  2. Off topic - did you see the scholars page at the Pesach hotel website? Of the 4 rabbonim listed, 2 live in Hamilton and one did for a while and maintains ties with it. And then there's 1 who doesn't but wants to start a yeshiva but doesn't have a building yet.
    Might that be a hint as to where to relocate?

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  3. "Reuven Meir Caplan's Repository of More of my Recorded Shiurim"

    I'd be so appreciative if you could get this link fixed.

    ReplyDelete
  4. it's sumseq.com, click on shiurim on the left

    ReplyDelete