Shabbat Surfing: A Hard Day’s Shabbat*

After the chaggim, we’re all getting back to the normal swing of things – like working all the way through Friday for the first time in weeks.

Of course Shabbat is its own reward, but a little pop culture goes a long way to soothe…

• Paul McCartney is apparently becoming a member of the tribe, Heeb tells us. So now you can listen to your old albums and swoon over our new nice Jewish boy.
• Tablet gives us video games where we can kill Hitler, and ease some revenge fantasies.
• Tweak your image like Barbie by getting some new ink. Kosher Salt has the details.
• If you’re interested in something other than baseball right now, check out Gather the Jews and the storied Jewish history with boxing.

*Alternate titles of this post-
Shabbat Surfing: Eleanor Rabinowitz
Shabbat Surfing: Hey Jew
Shabbat Surfing: I Wanna Be Your Manischewitz

Hey CNN! I’m a “New Jew” too!

While doing my usual CNN check at work – to be completely caught up on important news, not celebrity gossip, no way – I was caught by surprise at the homepage. Right there on the front is a picture of the back of somebody’s neck with a tattoo reading “Kosher” and a picture of a pig. The title reads ” ‘New Jews’ stake claim to faith, culture.”

Wonderful, I thought. Another article that will (only) talk about hipster Jews and how cool they are with their tattoos and alternative culture.

But reading through the article, I was actually kind of impressed. A nice spectrum of individuals were mentioned and interviewed, including Ramah California’s own brag-worthy Aaron Bisman of J-Dub records. Yes, we all laughed at his Jew-boy, red-head dreadlocks back in the summer of 2000, but he’s turned his company (and himself) into something really worth talking about (and I can say truthfully, some of their bands are awesome!). We  get a little of Heeb magazine, a bit of Jewish punk – but there is Elie Kaunfer, golden boy of traditional, egalitarian communities like Hadar and DC Minyan.

And Rabbi Joel Roth of JTS finally puts to bed (for a greater public) the claim that if you have a tattoo, you can’t be buried in a Jewish cemetery. Where the hell did people come up with that idea, anyway? If you eat pork, can you also not be buried in a Jewish cemetery? What if you observe zero commandments and don’t even believe in God? Why do people think that having a tattoo is so much more sinful than anything else?

But  back to the point – this is a decent story. A nice representation of where some young Jews are headed – to a place where they feel they can express themselves and also care about their culture and religion. It’s not about having a tattoo or playing punk Jewish music, it’s just about finding what works for you, what connects you.  If  that’s praying 3 times a day and observing all the commandments, great! If it’s not, great! If it’s having a huge Jewish star tattooed on your back, painful, but great! It’s not our job to tell other Jews how to celebrate their Judaism. Don’t tell me to get a tattoo, and I won’t tell you to keep Shabbat! I might suggest having Shabbat dinner – I mean, who doesn’t like a nice dinner party with friends and wine on a Friday night?

And as I scrolled further down the page, I started seeing the comments. Oh man. I think the ability to comment on articles should seriously be taken off news pages. People are crazy!!! Why are you getting in fights with people via-comment box on CNN.com? The comments range from praising the article to heckling CNN for having no news to report, from being embarrassed of how Jews are represented to expressing anger those who choose to express their Judaism outside of the traditional structure.

One comment reads “how is this news?” Ok, so for CNN, this probably doesn’t so much qualify as news – not in the sense of “breaking news” anyway. But this movement – “Judaism 2.0” as Ari Wallach calls it – is news in the sense that this is a new culture that is coming about. In a time of widespread assimilation, it’s news-worthy that young Jews are finding ways to be modern, Western and Jewish at the same time.

And not all of this “Judaism 2.0” is only cultural or counter-culture. G-dcasts are completely based on Torah, on the weekly readings. The words are interpreted into music, sound and images. It’s actually kind of cool. So who says that the new Jews are secular and devoid of religion? It’s all about how YOU choose to connect, that’s the whole point. It’s not about denominations, it’s about feeling a part of something bigger than yourself. It’s about being able to have a Jewish wedding and a Jewish home, despite your sexual orientation.

This isn’t replacing the older traditions, it’s building on them. So chill out, crazy CNN commenters. As one suggested, how about talking about “New Muslims.” You’re right! How about it? Because there is a whole, younger generation of Islam that wants to be modern while still connecting. So even though you’re comment was intended to be cynical and sarcastic, it was actually a pretty good idea.

I feel really appreciative that I can live in a time where I can express myself any way I want. I can go to Saturday morning services and read a Heeb magazine during the  boring parts. I can sit around a holiday table with all my pierced, tattooed and crazy-colored hair friends. I can rock all my own earrings and my nose ring at work – at a Jewish organization – and not be worried about being criticized or reprimanded.

My only point of contention with this article – “hipsters tos[sing] back bottles of HE’BREW.” Come on, now that’s just bad beer! Highly alcoholic, but bad. We don’t roll that way.

The times – they are a-changing. So just sit back, and enjoy the ride…you might actually enjoy it. Or you might not. But at least it will give you something to talk about.

Tattoo Jew

Coming Soon to your JCC

According to one of the few, remaining, universally respected sources of information on contemporary Jewish life, The New York Times, it turns out that it is okay for Jews to have tattoos. Since it is in the New York Times, it must be okay. I trust their movie reviews, why not their promulgation of religious rulings?

Well, maybe not okay. In any case, there’s nothing about having a tattoo that prevents you from being buried in a Jewish cemetery–the reason cited by many a parent and grandparent, the more dramatic of whom would go on to describe how they would wail at the side of your non-Jewish grave, and “how could you do this to them?” As if the location of the grave and not your premature presence in said grave would be the true tragedy.

In any case, it turns out that getting a tattoo is prohibited in Leviticus 19:28, “Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor imprint any marks upon you: I am the LORD.” But that commandment, coming as it does on the heels of a similar law that charges, “Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard,” might fall under the category of mitzvot commonly ignored by the great mass of non-orthodox Jews and those who do not take their personal grooming tips from the Torah. But, like we mentioned earlier, until they start refusing to bury those whose last meal included a bacon-cheeseburger, you will be able to rest in peace in the Jewish cemetery of your choice.

But what does this really mean for you? More importantly, what does it mean for the 16th Street J? Well, for starters I think a Jewish Body Art Cluster is in due-order at EntryPointDC/Gesher City (have you signed up for a Shabbat cluster?). Also, we may be making some “cosmetic” changes to the Gift Shop. Stay tuned.