MY URBAN KVETCH

"Have You Met Ted?"--Josh Radnor Owns Up to Jewish Roots

If you're one of the likely thousands of Jewish viewers who tunes in weekly to "How I Met Your Mother," hoping that the answer to the titular situation is "through JDate," here's a word of encouragement--if not about the character's religious roots, then about the actor who portrays him.

Although I'm not sure how he escaped detection by Jewish media outlets eager to embrace the nice, funny Jewish boys of prime time and cinema (see also "Braff, Zach" and "Rogen, Seth"--plus, I'm predicting, Jason Segel, pictured second from left) until now, here's HIMYM's lead actor Josh Radnor (Ted Mosby) profiled in the Forward (in photo, sitting in the chair), and revealing his Jewish communal connections (Columbus Torah Academy, Livnot, Reboot) in a way that pretty much guarantees he'll soon be receiving fundraising phone calls from alumni associations.

Writes writer Rebecca Spence, who apparently got to go visit Radnor in his home in the Hollywood Hills:

He is among the mafia of Hollywood writers and actors who, like Sacha Baron Cohen before him, spent their childhoods at Jewish camps and Jewish day schools. A Midwest native, Radnor grew up in Bexley, Ohio, which he describes as a “30% Jewish suburb.” He attended Columbus Torah Academy through the eighth grade, and in 1997, he studied in Israel on the Livnot program. In one sense, his religious education may have informed his passion for the theater. “I’ve always loved sitting around, reading text and talking about it,” he said, noting that it’s something he first learned how to do while parsing Jewish texts. “I’ve thought, ‘You know, I would have been a good yeshiva bokher.’”

This winter, Radnor spent three days in Paradise, Texas, with some 60 others, including Amichai Lau-Lavie, founder and director of the Jewish theater company Storahtelling. “The thing I love about Reboot,” Radnor said, “is that it’s a genuinely conflicted place. If there’s one thing I love about Judaism, it’s that ‘wrestling with angels’ aspect.”

Well, first of all, shame on Amichai for not introducing me. But secondly, if Radnor ever wants some chevruta time or to read a great new Jewish magazine for our generation, he knows who to call. I've also got a local gal/HIMYM fan who'd love to meet him. And if he'd like a place to crash in Israel this summer, he should give me a call and he can drop by the ROI Summit (applications due this Friday!). Believe me, it would be legen--wait for it...wait for it...--dary.

Shabbat Across America Gets a 2.0 Facelift

If you've traveled public transportation in any major city (but especially in NYC), you may have seen advertising for the annual Shabbat Across America initiative, which encourages Jews everywhere to take a 24-hour period of R&R from Friday night through Saturday night. As you likely know, this is called "Shabbat." As the subway ads have previously trumpeted, "Turn Friday Night Into Shabbat!" And many people do, to great and restorative effect. (Hundreds of Jews will turn next Friday night into Shabbat at the Jewlicious Festival; we're all over that hot Shabbat action here at Jewlicious.)

This year, Shabbat Across America goes 2.0, with the rebirth of the initiative as a social-network-savvy connector of Jews everywhere. It's got a new slogan ("Sit Down and Shabbat Up!") and a new, more inclusive attitude toward Shabbat, in its stricter and more liberal definitions:

On SAA 2.0, users gather around virtual Shabbat tables they create, and invite their friends--"chosen people," as the site calls them--to share in the experience. Once invited, guests can choose to 'bring' virtual food items (chicken soup, challah, wine), political positions (liberal, right-wing), and social inclinations (green, grumpy) to the table. Unlike most social networking sites however, SAA 2.0 also encourages virtual Shabbat tables to 'get real' by taking their table offline and into reality. Sleek design paired with kitschy cultural references keep SAA 2.0 informal and inviting, doing away with seriousness that might turn off a young crowd.

Curious to learn more, maybe from someone you already know? OK...

"As young Jews in their 20s and 30s become more involved in social media sites, they seek modes of expressing their Jewish identity---and solidarity with other Jews---in the online space," said Esther Kustanowitz, a writer and online media consultant, citing the proliferation of Jewish-related Facebook groups and widgets that encourage members to customize their online identities. "SAA 2.0 was designed to integrate with Generation Facebook, and represents a groundbreaking way to leverage the power of online social networking to inspire a reconnection with Jewish tradition."

Yup, that's me. I'm working with them as a consultant. (Complete press release is here.) I have to say, connecting with other Jews over Shabbat is an excellent way to expand your social and spiritual circles. And the kickoff for SAA2.0--March 7th--is only the beginning. With a social network, the site becomes a tool that's useful far beyond any one Shabbat; use it to connect with Jews of all stripes and denominations, and even locations--use the Wandering Jew function to tell everyone where you are and what you're looking for Shabbatwise.

So check out www.ShabbatAcrossAmerica20.org: sign up to be one of the Chosen People, start your own virtual or real Shabbat tables, and start connecting to your weekend (and your community) Jewishly.

Want to see a sample "chosen person" and "virtual table"? Check out my profile.

Boteach, Diamant and Beery Among Top 5 for Brandeis Professorship

I kind of still don't believe it, but my friend and PresenTense Magazine editor/publisher Ariel Beery was named a finalist in the Charles R. Bronfman Visiting Chair in Jewish Communal Innovation competition run by Brandeis University, alongside Anita Diamant (author of "The Red Tent") and Shmuley Boteach (author of everything else). This certainly goes under "Friends Doing Cool Stuff," in addition to a host of other categories. You can read Ariel's proposal, "Translating Judaism for the Post-Digital Age: Creative Zionism and a Renewed Jewish People," here. These additional details are from the JTA.

Applicants were asked to come up with an innovation in Judaism and develop it with proposals for changing the way Jews think about themselves and their community. The winner will receive a visiting professorship at Brandeis and two years to develop the idea into a book that Brandeis will publish. The finalists are Jerusalem Post editorial page editor and columnist Saul Singer; Harvard doctoral candidate Yehuda Kurtzer; author Anita Diamant; Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, the founder of the Jewish Values Network; and Ariel Beery, the publisher of PresenTense magazine. They were selected from 231 applicants, including 49 rabbis and from such countries as Israel, Italy, India, Australia and Sweden. The five will present their proposals Feb. 24 at a symposium for members of the Brandeis community and Boston-area Jewish leaders.

Ariel, together with Aharon Horwitz, also created the PresenTense Institute, which is now also seeking applicants for this upcoming summer. Applications available--in Hebrew and English--here. Kol Hakavod, Ariel! And best of luck with the symposium...

NY Jewish Film Festival: "A Hebrew Lesson"

One of the great things about living in New York and writing about Jewish life is that there's never any shortage of events, venues and festivals to attend. For instance, last week, I was invited to the opening night of the NY Jewish Film Festival, which is held annually at Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Cinema. "Praying With Lior" --a film by my friend Ilana Trachtman--opened to great reviews, and was being featured at the Festival (and it's going to run starting February 1 at Cinema Village, so don't miss it!). But I wasn't invited because of Ilana's film...this was a film about a Hebrew lesson.

In 19-ninety-something, I was in an ulpan class at Hebrew University with two Japanese men, one German theology student, and two Americans with Israeli parents. (And then there was me. Not sure how that happened.) Our common language was Hebrew and we all came with remarkably different stories. The ulpan environment draws eclectic backgrounds into a single room with a single aim: to learn Hebrew.

                

Hava Nagila, the Way Bubbe Never Intended

And now, it's becoming a regular feature over at Jewlicious, to bring you crazy YouTube variations on the classics, especially the hackneyed, overplayed and oft-mispronounced by non-Jewish singers at weddings and bar mitzvahs "Hava Nagila."

No, not that one. This one.

Next thing you know, the rumor will circulate: the Jews run Bollyvood, too. And in case you found this version less-than-all-that-and-a-box-o'-matzohs, you can check out any of the other 511 versions on the song on YouTube. Mix 'em, match 'em, trade 'em with your friends.

"Knocked Up" and the Jews (JTA)

This is another piece of mine that originally appeared on the JTA blog, "Good for the Jews." (May it rest in peace.)

'Knocked Up' and the Jews
By Esther D. Kustanowitz

So you're sitting there in the darkened theater, excited to see "Knocked Up," which has been hailed by pretty much everyone as one of the most hilarious, edgy, envelope-pushing comedies of the year. And you're enjoying it quite a bit when all of a sudden, there it is like a thunderbolt – an overt conversation about Jewish identity in a completely secular context.

Those of you who are concerned that this might constitute a spoiler, turn off for the next paragraph. Or just watch the clip on YouTube. [clip has been removed, unfortunately]

So what I've learned from watching this film is that when a group of Jewish guys goes to a bar to drink and pick up women, it's bound to become a discussion of how Jews are depicted on film. For those of you who can't view YouTube video on your computers, get a new computer. But for your benefit, here's a summary, with expletives deleted.

Ben (Seth Rogen) is sitting around a bar with his friends, played by Jason Segel, Jay Baruchel and Jonah Hill (and named Jason, Jay and Jonah, respectively), talking about how awesome the movie "Munich" was. In other movies, he notes animatedly, Jews are always getting killed, but in "Munich," Eric Bana plays a Mossad agent who kicks major ass. Ben says that if any of them get lucky that night it's because of Eric Bana. Then they start making fun of the only non-Jew in the bunch, who says "I'm glad I'm not Jewish." Ben counters, "So are we," adding later, "You weren't chosen for a reason."

Throughout the film there are additional such shout-outs to being Jewish, including one random, facial hair-provoked reference to Matisyahu. But on the whole, such references are cultural, and the main obstacle to the union between the two characters is not religion but lifestyle – he's a slacker, she's a career girl. One might be tempted to read several things into the premise for the movie: that schlubby guys who are really good-hearted people deserve tall, gorgeous blondes, or that Jewish stoner guys can attain a previously unattainable ideal. Or we could use the onscreen moments of Jewish identity discussion to provoke a larger discussion.

Of course, there's yet another way to derive something from "Knocked Up": Just sit back and enjoy one of the funniest films of the year.

Jews, Commercially Speaking

[One of my old posts from the JTA blog, Good for the Jews, may it rest in peace.]

There's one commercial that always gets to me. The Folgers' commercial where the grownup kid hitchhikes back into his parents' house before Christmas, surprising them and awakening them with the brisk smell of coffee. My eyes tear up every time. Especially to someone like me who has no family connection to Christmas, that the ad provokes such an emotional reaction is slightly absurd. But somehow the commercial works. It evokes family, homecoming, and surprising the people you love with something you know they will really love. And it's from 1986.

These days, advertising isn't about sentiment, it's about buzz. People talk about ad campaigns--at work at the water cooler, after work with friends. From actors Justin Long and John Hodgeman playing the instant icons of Mac and PC to a talking gecko, from a car that goes "zoom zoom" to celebrity pitchpersons, memorable is the new meaningful. So perhaps it's time for Judaism to take a lesson from Mac, Geico, Priceline, Travelocity and others--by sinking money and creativity into a "corporate rebrand" and hiring today's most innovative thinkers to create a Judaism that really pops.

With many Jews falling prey to health and diet messages in the mainstream media, the vitamin-deprived may want to open a new can of Coke and try new Diet Judaism Plus: no calories, tastes like regular Diet Judaism, but with a supplementary ten percent of the religious equivalent of whatever zinc and potassium represent in this metaphor. Perhaps we need a talking animal to help us out--perhaps a goat, recalling ancient temple sacrifice, or as rendered by a cartoonist friend of mine, a blowfish, quietly co-existing until threatened by hostile neighbors. And if there ever was a spokesperson designed to be the mascot of the Wandering Jews, it is certainly Travelocity's roaming gnome.

Maybe a scantily clad woman washes her car (in preparation for Passover), will inspire the unaffiliated or fence-sitting Jews to jump one way or another? If Mr. Spock and Captain Kirk will shill for Priceline, why not for Judaism?

The challenge remains, for American advertising and American Jewry, to maintain the level of entertainment and buzz, creating an experience that is memorable, while also ensuring the survival of substance and meaning.

Apparent Synagogue-a-Thon Continues

Maybe it was because I'd attended that presentation on emergent prayer communities on Friday, but it's been a synagogue-a-thon ever since. My friend Lindsay and I visited three synagogues over the course of Shabbat (Bnai Jeshurun, Manhattan Jewish Experience and Kehilat Rayim Ahuvim) -- all in under 24 hours -- and now I'm posting a video from IntotheBox (a site about real estate in NYC) about the new building of Lincoln Square Synagogue, a modern Orthodox congregation near Lincoln Center and all those new Trump buildings on Riverside. I haven't logged this much shul time since the High Holidays.

For the record, the fact that I'm not a member at any of these synagogues points to the fact that the rumors must be true: I'm really Jewish.

The outside of the new building is supposed to recall a tallit (prayer shawl) being folded, which is nice, but I found myself wondering about the interior; Lincoln Square (known back in the day as "Wink and Stare") had this great, unique theater-in-the-round type layout, where every seat had the same view of everything. I'm curious to see what happens with the new building.

Community, Re-Emerged

Several years ago, there was a meeting among friends at the Abbey Pub, a bar on the Upper West Side, not far from Columbia University. The group were discussing the fact that they had spiritual needs that weren't being met by the (myriad) communities within the synagogue-dense neighborhood. In fulfillment of those needs, they decided to form an independent spiritual community that became Kehilat Hadar. Hadar subsequently joined the Bikkurim incubator and also birthed Mechon Hadar, which founded the first egalitarian yeshiva.

At the same or similar moments (perhaps even in bars) in other cities, other Jews--mostly in their twenties and early thirties, and a majority of whom had a Jewish day school education or the equivalent--were forming communities of their own; sometimes they identified as a community, other times as a synagogue; some circles hired rabbis to lead them, others were peer-led. Still others were houses where Jewish activists and emerging leaders ran programs of Jewish content for a larger community. But whatever the particulars of their situations, one thing was clear--these entities were emerging outside the traditional structures of Jewish organizational life, and represented an evolution of the idea of community.

On Friday, a select group of Jewish writers, members of the press and representatives of various Jewish organizations met at the JCCA for a presentation of the preliminary findings of the 2007 National Spiritual Communities Survey, sponsored by the S3K Synagogue Studies Institute and Mechon Hadar. 1898 people completed the survey, representing 58 qualifying communities: 813 "independent minyanim" (like Hadar in NYC); 423 "rabbi-led emergent communities" (like IKAR in Los Angeles) and 118 "alternative emergent communities" (like Moishe House).

Emergent Jewish Communities Study Released

You know all those little minyanim that have popped up everywhere? Hadar, KOE, Darkhei Noam, Mission Minyan, IKAR, DC Minyan and all the others? Well, it's not just them. Today, at a special briefing by study authors Steven M. Cohen, J. Shawn Landres and Rabbi Elie Kaunfer, select professionals from various aspects of Jewish life learned about this trend of emergent spirituality as the three presented their report, "Emergen Jewish Communities and their Participants: Preliminary finding from the 2007 National Spiritual Communities Study."

Independent minyanim, or as the study's authors prefer to phrase it, "emergent communities," have now popped up all over the country, in Israel and even internationally (London, Sydney, Toronto and Zurich, for example). Today's "everything is possible" electronic marketplace of ideas provides a fertile ground for the more than 80 communities now operating in the US and Canada. The communities vary in structure and mission; some have rabbis and others don't. But all were founded to fill a need in the extant community in their specific geographic areas.

Several interesting findings emerged (as one would hope with "emergent communities") but with Shabbat due within the hour and preparations for my guest not yet concluded, such insights will have to wait until after the Sabbath Queen has departed. (And believe me, the Q&A after the presentation provoked lots of ideas, so there will be posts forthcoming...)

But if this bit of text has you insatiable, you can find the report and additional data at www.jewishemergent.org/survey.