1: ATARA
“If every Jew realized that what they have inside them has the potential to be more valuable than what they see around them, our world and community would be the richer for the unique and profound contributions that each person will offer.” – Miriam Droz, Founder of ATARA
As an organization that supports Torah-observant creative and performing artists, ATARA, the Arts and Torah Association, offers settings in which artists can express themselves and still preserve a halakhic context. Such milieus might include a shomer Shabbat or women-only venue, exemplified by the second annual womenonly conference ATARA will be holding for the creative and performing arts throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn November 7-10, 2008. The conference will include workshops on various art mediums, visual art displays and film screenings, music and dance performances, and a keynote address by Hollywood film director Robin Garbose.
“The arts are ways to communicate, so there is nothing wrong with them—only what is being communicated,” explains Miriam Droz, the founder of ATARA. “What would the world look like if we truly harnessed our creative potential into beautifying, uplifting, and educating the world, a Jewish imperative to begin with?”
ATARA has responded to a need to be able to create art within an observant religious framework. Participant Leah Sigal from Monsey, NY, knows firsthand how imperative it is: “As a singer/composer, I view my role as an instrument in God’s hand...Composing allows me the freedom to express my innermost sentiments via lyrics or music, in a way that is uplifting and conducive to feeling closeness to God and to my people.”
Participants and ATARA developers include Garbose, who also runs Kol Neshama, a musical theatre camp for girls in Los Angeles; dance instructors Yocheved Polonsky from Cleveland, Ohio and Kari Isaacson and Rivka Lomiansky from Toronto; and former Broadway actress Judy Winegard from Los Angeles. These women will be coming together to build a social community based on the shared values of Torah observance and professional artistic expression.
Further information about ATARA can be found at www.artsandtorah.org and conference registration is now open at http://atara2008.eventbrite.com.
2: Sviva Israel
“From Jerusalem needs to come forth the message of Judaism and the environment. The world is waiting to hear what Judaism’s approach is to today’s environmental concerns… What Carmi Wisemon started as a neighborhood project has quickly become an international project with participants not only from Israel, but also the US and England, and I congratulate him on this achievement.” – Uri Lupolianski, Mayor of Jerusalem
Yedidei Sviva—Sviva Israel is an organization promoting environmental and civic responsibility in Israeli society through the education and training of today’s Jewish youth.
Through combining the study of traditional Jewish texts with hands-on service learning, Sviva Israel’s educational and community programs explore the connection between Judaism and the environment in order to facilitate understanding among Israel’s fragmented society. This is demonstrated in Sviva Israel’s annual conference on “The Environment in Jewish Thought and Law.” The 2008 conference, held on July 9, brought together such diverse participants as the Israeli Minister of the Environment, Gidon Ezra; Israel Chief Rabbi, Yona Metzger; Mayor of Jerusalem, Uri Lupolianski; as well as Haredi rabbis and environmental academics and activists.
Sviva Israel’s international and web-based projects connect young Israelis with each other and with their global peers through programming that contributes to their dedication to environmental protection, to their Jewish identities, and to their pride in Israel. It nurtures connections that will ensure Israel’s future as an environmentally sustainable home for the Jewish people. This was further emphasized by Minister Gidon Ezra in his address to the conference: “It is thanks to this kind of programming that the religious public has become a full partner in the efforts to bring environmental protection to Israel.”
Carmi Wisemon, the executive director of Sviva Israel, proclaimed at the conference: “We are delighted that we have been able to bring together in a public forum the highest levels of rabbinical leaders in Israel with environmental professionals, activists, academics, and educators—religious and non-religious. In understanding Judaism’s approach to the environment, it is incumbent upon us to first learn about the environmental issues that we face today.”
More information on Sviva Israel can be found at http://www.svivaisrael.org/.
3: OurJewishCommunity.org
“The online congregation will provide many of the same services of a brick-and-mortar congregation, such as access to rabbis, sermons, educational materials, social networking, discussions, and more. The benefits of the online congregation are many: It is not restricted to geographic boundaries. It provides a place for people who may not have a progressive synagogue in their local community to which they feel connected.” - OurJewishCommunity.org
When a friend found out that I am the Rabbi of an online congregation, her reaction was, “I understand the words ‘online’ and ‘congregation,’ but I have no idea what the phrase ‘online congregation’ means.” The concept is so revolutionary that it’s hard to explain in one sentence – sometimes it takes a haggadah, or at least an article, to answer important Jewish questions.
Among American adults whose religion is Judaism or who indicate they are of Jewish parentage or upbringing, only 44% say they are members of a Jewish congregation. Studies have shown that synagogue growth has increasingly concerned rabbis.
One exciting evolution that may reverse this trend is a bricks-and-clicks congregation, a congregation with a building and a freestanding presence online, taking the Jewish experience to a new level. While Jewish websites have existed for almost as long as the internet, they have often been informational resources, as well as interactive discussion boards, blogs, or courses.
At Our Jewish Community Online (www.OurJewishCommunity.org), we seek to go beyond the existing model. As the Rabbi of an online congregation designed to reach Jews and interfaith families seeking a meaningful contemporary Jewish identity and community, I recognize that people are increasingly mobile. Being able to join a congregation and stay connected to the community and rabbis regardless of one’s location has great appeal. With Jews and others already building community online through social networking sites, a synagogue online makes sense. Building upon generally increasing internet skills and comfort among our target group, the time is ripe to build such a congregation.
OurJewishCommunity.org was started by Congregation Beth Adam in Cincinnati, Ohio (www.bethadam.org). The congregation recognized that the nature of how people connect to others is changing, and consequently decided to create an online congregation. For Beth Adam, an independent synagogue not affiliated with any movement, utilizing the internet also allows it to share its unique humanistic perspective outside of Cincinnati. Beth Adam has spent its 27 year history articulating its unique philosophy, at times drawing from Humanistic, Reform, and Reconstructionist thinkers.
An online congregation provides a solution for engaging, serving, and educating those of all ages who are interested in liberal Judaism. OurJewishCommunity.org has begun providing educational materials for adults and children, podcasts, modern midrashim, innovative discussion forums encouraging community connection, Beth Adam’s internationally recognized liturgy, connection to the Rabbis, and more. Some of the content is open to the public, and some will require membership in the congregation. In its early stages, the evolution of this project has relied on online focus groups and other research modalities, as well as continuous fundraising efforts.
One feature that makes OurJewishCommunity.org unique is that members will have access to the congregation’s Rabbis. While the Rabbis may not be present at each lifecycle event, they will provide liturgy, support, and planning via our toll free number (866-918-2326) and the internet.
For Jews holding life cycle services like funerals and baby namings without the benefit of clergy, online resources make sense. At a time when many who wish to continue to identify as Jews and to keep Jewish meaning in their lives are intermarrying, the rabbis of OurJewishCommunity.org want to support those who choose to include Jewish rituals in their ceremonies. In the future, OurJewishCommunity.org will also provide live webcast services, educational programs, and lifecycle events. Because this is a congregation and not just a resource, all of these experiences will fit into the congregation’s philosophic framework.
OurJewishCommunity.org will combine what Judaism, Humanism, and technology have to offer. We seek to make our website easy to use and to find. We want to create a strong liberal Jewish presence online. OurJewishCommunity.org intends to provide a spiritual home for those who feel they have lost a connection to Judaism. Many Jews want to expose themselves to diverse experiences as they build their relationship to Judaism; we provide a framework in which people can explore Judaism from a humanistic perspective. We celebrate intellectual inquiry and help congregants blend Judaism with a contemporary lifestyle.
OurJewishCommunity.org is far from complete; this is an evolving process that will be influenced by our congregants’ feedback. Healthy congregations are built over time by meeting the needs of an involved membership. The website currently provides an infrastructure, and those who join will have a voice participating in its ongoing creation.
The online Jewish community is no less diverse than its physical counterpart, with opportunities for different niches to be filled. Second Life (www.secondlife.com) is a 3-D virtual community created by its Residents (actually, their avatars). Since its founding in 2003, religion has boomed there, including the creation of several synagogues, a JCC, a Jewish magazine, and more. Yet, SL’s appeal remains for people seeking a full-scale virtual world and online gaming experience; in contrast, OurJewishCommunity.org reaches out to those who may use the internet more casually.
We have survived as Jews largely because of our willingness to evolve. Our world is changing constantly, and innovative ways must be imagined to make Judaism compelling to modern Jews. We are eager to build such a congregation and to empower Jews throughout the world to join together in creating a new Jewish experience online.
Access resources at www.OurJewishCommunity.org and via the toll free number 866-918-2326, or read more at www.presentense.org/magazine.
Raeefa Shams is a recent graduate of Wellesley College. Currently doing an ulpan at Hebrew University, she will sadly be returning to the US to find gainful employment and fill out graduate school applications.
Laura A. Baum was ordained by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 2008. She is the Director of Online Congregation at Congregation Beth Adam in Loveland, Ohio, working along with Rabbi Robert B. Barr, the congregation’s founding rabbi.
Sign up for our newsletter:
