http://israelplug.com/social/unusual-prize-to-reignite-jewishness-involves-boston-teaching-and-money/ Israelplug. Israel innovation. Made in Israel. Fri, 05 Jun 2009 22:49:49 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 http://israelplug.com/social/unusual-prize-to-reignite-jewishness-involves-boston-teaching-and-money/comment-page-1/#comment-495 Ian Pear Thu, 11 Oct 2007 09:06:20 +0000 http://israelplug.com/?p=367#comment-495 My feelings exactly. If one could pursue this competition and remain in Israel, then it would be far more attractive. But it's more than just a matter of convenience - or even ideology. The competition notes that this is based on a similar competition decades ago. The result was Mordecai Kaplan's Reconstructionism, which as we all know, has not transformed the Jewish people. And thus there are two problems with this very well-intentioned idea: 1) By repeating a decades old framework, including even the same place, does not indicate a genuine willingness to try new ideas. 2) The new ideas that such a competition might produce may be flashy but probably won't produce the transformative effect hoped for. That comes from 'old' ideas -- Torah Values, Israel, Jewish Unity -- packaged in a modern way. That's why Birthright is such a great program; it takes the power of an old idea - Israel - and repackages it for the modern world. And that's why Reconstructionism was a bad idea; it took a new way of thinking about Judaism, a clear break with 1000's of years of our heritage, and packaged it in the garb of an old tradition. My feelings exactly. If one could pursue this competition and remain in Israel, then it would be far more attractive. But it’s more than just a matter of convenience – or even ideology. The competition notes that this is based on a similar competition decades ago. The result was Mordecai Kaplan’s Reconstructionism, which as we all know, has not transformed the Jewish people. And thus there are two problems with this very well-intentioned idea: 1) By repeating a decades old framework, including even the same place, does not indicate a genuine willingness to try new ideas. 2) The new ideas that such a competition might produce may be flashy but probably won’t produce the transformative effect hoped for. That comes from ‘old’ ideas — Torah Values, Israel, Jewish Unity — packaged in a modern way. That’s why Birthright is such a great program; it takes the power of an old idea – Israel – and repackages it for the modern world. And that’s why Reconstructionism was a bad idea; it took a new way of thinking about Judaism, a clear break with 1000’s of years of our heritage, and packaged it in the garb of an old tradition.

]]> http://israelplug.com/social/unusual-prize-to-reignite-jewishness-involves-boston-teaching-and-money/comment-page-1/#comment-494 Polite Israelis: a possibility in our lifetime, thanks to new contest Wed, 10 Oct 2007 08:14:50 +0000 http://israelplug.com/?p=367#comment-494 [...] an idea to civilize Israelis and you win $60,000 cash. Unlike another recent, somewhat similar contest, there is no teaching commitment for the winner, nor do you have to leave their house to write [...] [...] an idea to civilize Israelis and you win $60,000 cash. Unlike another recent, somewhat similar contest, there is no teaching commitment for the winner, nor do you have to leave their house to write [...]

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