For the purposes of the Jewish Studies, I examined Indiana Unversity’s major in Jewish Studies. According to the College of Arts and Sciences catalog, “The Jewish Studies Program has as its objective the study of Jewish civilization from antiquity to the present and its interaction with and impact on world civilization. There is broad agreement that the various facets of Jewish culture-literature, history, religion, philosophy, languages, and other constituent features of Judaism-comprise one of the richest complexes within the whole of recorded cultural history.”
The description also goes on to describe the various departments within the College of Arts and Sciences which identifies Jewish Studies as history, religion, literature, political science etc. According to the standards created by IU, a student wishing to major in Jewish Studies needs the following:
2 semesters of Hebrew
Intro to Judaism or Jewish History: Bible to Spanish Expansion
Jewish History: Spanish Expansion to Modern
A specialization in Literature, History or Religion
This means that the university divides ‘Jewish Studies’ into language, religion, history and literature. Additionally, the school offers classes with Jewish topics in the folklore, philosophy, political science, anthropology etc. Additionally, the language of the Jewish people extends into Germanic and Slavic language.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
'Queer Judaism'
For the purposes of this blog entry, I decided to review the Jewish Queer Youth's website. First, I notice the use of bright colors originating from the rainbow as the icon of homosexual culture. A nifty paragraph on the homepage announces their goal is to give young (18-30) homosexual Jews a comfortable place to anonymously discuss various issues facing their identity as both Jews and homosexuals.
Directly under the Home link is a link which leads to an article titled "Gay?" which addresses the issue of 'coming out'. "No matter how you look at it, according to Yahadut (Judaism), there is no aveirah (transgression) in having homosexual or transgendered feelings. What prohibitions are involved in terms of actually carrying out one's desires involves major halachic (Jewish legal) discussions. The GayJews' Homepage goes more into a halachic discussion of homosexuality. You may also want to check out the Open Halacha website." I tried to look at the links to see what they were referring to, but they were broken links.
An interesting thing about JQY is found in the FAQs page. After looking over the various questions and answers, I found that most, if not all the questions were about homosexuality and didn't reflect any concerns of judaism. For me, it seems that this organization focuses more on the homosexual identity than the jewish identity.
Another interesting tab was the 'experiences' tab where young Jews described their struggles with between their homosexuality and their Jewish ancestry. One woman tells a sad story of how her parents arranged her marriage (I believe she was Hasidic or Chabad. I don't remember which). She married the man and had children quickly but in a few years, she fell in love with a woman. Eventually, this led to a 'road to discovery' and she took the children and left her husband to pursue a new life, free to explore her new found identity. These messages were very touching and really captured the suffering some people go through, simply trying to be themselves.
Directly under the Home link is a link which leads to an article titled "Gay?" which addresses the issue of 'coming out'. "No matter how you look at it, according to Yahadut (Judaism), there is no aveirah (transgression) in having homosexual or transgendered feelings. What prohibitions are involved in terms of actually carrying out one's desires involves major halachic (Jewish legal) discussions. The GayJews' Homepage goes more into a halachic discussion of homosexuality. You may also want to check out the Open Halacha website." I tried to look at the links to see what they were referring to, but they were broken links.
An interesting thing about JQY is found in the FAQs page. After looking over the various questions and answers, I found that most, if not all the questions were about homosexuality and didn't reflect any concerns of judaism. For me, it seems that this organization focuses more on the homosexual identity than the jewish identity.
Another interesting tab was the 'experiences' tab where young Jews described their struggles with between their homosexuality and their Jewish ancestry. One woman tells a sad story of how her parents arranged her marriage (I believe she was Hasidic or Chabad. I don't remember which). She married the man and had children quickly but in a few years, she fell in love with a woman. Eventually, this led to a 'road to discovery' and she took the children and left her husband to pursue a new life, free to explore her new found identity. These messages were very touching and really captured the suffering some people go through, simply trying to be themselves.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Paskudnyak by Sonia Pilcer
First, I'd like to point out that I did a little research on Sonia Pilcer. (Thank you Wikipedia). According to Wikipedia, she has written stories that are loosely based on her own life.
In this story, Zosha is part of a Polish Jewish family. Her parents are Holocaust survivors Genia and Heniek (he escaped from Auschwitz so he has numbers). If Wikipedia is to believed, these people were real people. Anyway, this short story deals with the pressures on young people to assimilate into American culture while traditional households encourages tradition. This leaves our protagonist and narrator, Zosha torn between two worlds. There is an interesting progression in this story because in the beginning, little Zosha seems to enjoy the Jewish traditions, even to the point of wanting to ink numbers on her arm to be like her mother (though it's father who has the numbers). As usual, a young child doesn't really understand what it means to be Jewish and in this case, she thinks that numbers and as such, suffering is a part of her identity. As the girl grows into a teenager, she comes to abandon her Jewish identity in favor of being an American teenager. She dresses as her friends dress, wearing tight outfits, short skirts and boots (something her parents detest, thus conveying their traditional lifestyle). Desperate, her parents take her to a rabbi but she will have none her it. She refuses to speak hebrew and denies entry to a hebrew school. This is an emotional scene but she has effectively abandons her faith in favor of her American life.
In this story, Zosha is part of a Polish Jewish family. Her parents are Holocaust survivors Genia and Heniek (he escaped from Auschwitz so he has numbers). If Wikipedia is to believed, these people were real people. Anyway, this short story deals with the pressures on young people to assimilate into American culture while traditional households encourages tradition. This leaves our protagonist and narrator, Zosha torn between two worlds. There is an interesting progression in this story because in the beginning, little Zosha seems to enjoy the Jewish traditions, even to the point of wanting to ink numbers on her arm to be like her mother (though it's father who has the numbers). As usual, a young child doesn't really understand what it means to be Jewish and in this case, she thinks that numbers and as such, suffering is a part of her identity. As the girl grows into a teenager, she comes to abandon her Jewish identity in favor of being an American teenager. She dresses as her friends dress, wearing tight outfits, short skirts and boots (something her parents detest, thus conveying their traditional lifestyle). Desperate, her parents take her to a rabbi but she will have none her it. She refuses to speak hebrew and denies entry to a hebrew school. This is an emotional scene but she has effectively abandons her faith in favor of her American life.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Jewish Music
For the purposes of this assignment, I looked at the compilation album, Bojac, The Best of Jewish A Cappella.
The first thing I notice about the CD is the album cover which has uses a Hebrew-like typography for the phrase "Bojac" and microphones that make up a star of David. You don't even have to listen to the CD and you are already faced with Jewish imagery. I'd like to quote the CD's booklet, if I may.
"Historically, a cappelle means 'in the style of the chapel.' How appropriate, since the roots of Jewish vocal music might be traced from our tradition of singing informally in the synagogue and around the Shabbat table, all the way back to the first gig on record, Miriam's Red Sea Crossing celebration (a.k.a. the original 'Matzoh Ball)"
This quote is very interesting because of its explanation as to why a cappella can be considered "Jewish", at least for the purposes of this album. The pamphlet goes on to describe Jewish a cappella as its own culture.
The songs in the CD range from English, Hebrew to Yiddish; so we have Jewish identity wrapped around the languages Hebrew and Yiddish. Next, some songs are religious prayers so we come to the notion that Jewish identity is about one's religion. Naturally, as one would expect, we have songs about Israel. Do I even need to explain this one?
Additionally, the CD takes a moment to thank its sponsers, all of which are Jewish organizations ranging from Hillel Foundation, the Sameach Music Staff (Company specializing in Jewish music), independant Jewish bookstores.
The first thing I notice about the CD is the album cover which has uses a Hebrew-like typography for the phrase "Bojac" and microphones that make up a star of David. You don't even have to listen to the CD and you are already faced with Jewish imagery. I'd like to quote the CD's booklet, if I may.
"Historically, a cappelle means 'in the style of the chapel.' How appropriate, since the roots of Jewish vocal music might be traced from our tradition of singing informally in the synagogue and around the Shabbat table, all the way back to the first gig on record, Miriam's Red Sea Crossing celebration (a.k.a. the original 'Matzoh Ball)"
This quote is very interesting because of its explanation as to why a cappella can be considered "Jewish", at least for the purposes of this album. The pamphlet goes on to describe Jewish a cappella as its own culture.
The songs in the CD range from English, Hebrew to Yiddish; so we have Jewish identity wrapped around the languages Hebrew and Yiddish. Next, some songs are religious prayers so we come to the notion that Jewish identity is about one's religion. Naturally, as one would expect, we have songs about Israel. Do I even need to explain this one?
Additionally, the CD takes a moment to thank its sponsers, all of which are Jewish organizations ranging from Hillel Foundation, the Sameach Music Staff (Company specializing in Jewish music), independant Jewish bookstores.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Chabad
Ugh, I'm sorry. I'm having a hell of a month. I promise to get back on keeping up with these blog entries from now on.
Anyway, Chabad. I researched www.chabad.org, to find that there is a huge emphasis which describes society and living, as described by the chabad tradition. Under the society and living link, the website describes intimacy. I'd like the quote the website if I may, "To be intimate means to go into a place that is private, that is sacred, that is set aside".
The thing that confuses me about the website is that the section on the Rebbe is actually further down the website. You'd assume a movement where its leader still plays a HUGE role despite being dead would be on the top of their list of things to showcase on their website. It seems the movement wants their website to function as a social connection towards its members, focusing on living a jewish life before they start going into the religion. From the website, we arrive at well laid out explanation on the rebbe, including his insights, teachings and a biography.
From the insights link, we come to a very lengthy list of separate topics which the Rebbe discussed. These range from death, Holocaust, Israel, charity, etc. This website provides an excellent resource for anyone curious on the movement.
Anyway, Chabad. I researched www.chabad.org, to find that there is a huge emphasis which describes society and living, as described by the chabad tradition. Under the society and living link, the website describes intimacy. I'd like the quote the website if I may, "To be intimate means to go into a place that is private, that is sacred, that is set aside".
The thing that confuses me about the website is that the section on the Rebbe is actually further down the website. You'd assume a movement where its leader still plays a HUGE role despite being dead would be on the top of their list of things to showcase on their website. It seems the movement wants their website to function as a social connection towards its members, focusing on living a jewish life before they start going into the religion. From the website, we arrive at well laid out explanation on the rebbe, including his insights, teachings and a biography.
From the insights link, we come to a very lengthy list of separate topics which the Rebbe discussed. These range from death, Holocaust, Israel, charity, etc. This website provides an excellent resource for anyone curious on the movement.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Cultural Judaism
Apologizes for the late entry again, I was busy with several projects for different classes. Today we have cultural judaism on the menu like reconstructionist jews who base their identity on being a jew without letting religion step in the way. For them, being jewish means to embrace the social and cultural part of judaism. To understand more about what Jewish Reconstructionism is, I explored www.jrf.org. here, I found the Kaplan Blog, including the writings from their religious leader, Aryeh Kaplan which shows their devotion to the man despite his death over 20 years ago.
Meanwhile, at the website www.culturaljudaism.org, which includes the large grant (i.e. bribary) to encourage students to study cultural Judaism which raises the question of how they define "cultural" Judaism. Does it include art, music, history or folklore but do they simply ignore religious studies or philosophy?
I understand why they choose to exclude religious rites because of the trend in non practicing Jews while some Jews don't believe in God that these movements could proivde an identity to Jews who feel disconnected from their religious because of their personal disbelief in religion.
Meanwhile, at the website www.culturaljudaism.org, which includes the large grant (i.e. bribary) to encourage students to study cultural Judaism which raises the question of how they define "cultural" Judaism. Does it include art, music, history or folklore but do they simply ignore religious studies or philosophy?
I understand why they choose to exclude religious rites because of the trend in non practicing Jews while some Jews don't believe in God that these movements could proivde an identity to Jews who feel disconnected from their religious because of their personal disbelief in religion.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Orthodox Judaism, TRADITION!!
Sorry, I couldn't hold that in anymore. My apologizes for writing this blog entry a little late but I found myself buried in work which included two tests, a paper and an art project that I simply forgot to write on here. Again, my apologizes.
Which leads me gracefully into my next topic, Orthodox Judaism. Now, admittingly, when I think of Orthodox Judaism I picture a bunch of snobby white men with beards and top hats who refuse to socialize with girls. Thankfully my perspective has changed and I find myself compelled by this movement. They have continued their way of thinking for years while adding bits on the side. Women can be educated and can study Judaism but with the comfort of other women (though we can't be rabbis).
I find it interesting that Orthodox Judaism, rather than crumbling under outside culture, they simply incorporate their own culture into wider society. Now, we have Jewish bakeries, Jewish music stores, Jewish book stores... all from the east coast I noticed. This movement, while keeping its own traditions in check is still able to coexist with the main culture around them whereas Reform and Conservative are determined to open its door to the rest of society.
Orthodox Judaism, while their right beliefs may annoy me, I do have to admire their devotion to their religion.
Which leads me gracefully into my next topic, Orthodox Judaism. Now, admittingly, when I think of Orthodox Judaism I picture a bunch of snobby white men with beards and top hats who refuse to socialize with girls. Thankfully my perspective has changed and I find myself compelled by this movement. They have continued their way of thinking for years while adding bits on the side. Women can be educated and can study Judaism but with the comfort of other women (though we can't be rabbis).
I find it interesting that Orthodox Judaism, rather than crumbling under outside culture, they simply incorporate their own culture into wider society. Now, we have Jewish bakeries, Jewish music stores, Jewish book stores... all from the east coast I noticed. This movement, while keeping its own traditions in check is still able to coexist with the main culture around them whereas Reform and Conservative are determined to open its door to the rest of society.
Orthodox Judaism, while their right beliefs may annoy me, I do have to admire their devotion to their religion.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)