Introducing The Wilderness Blog
by Dan Libenson
We’re starting a blog here on jewishLIVE, which will soon be cross-posted on two other web sites that the same team operates—Judaism Unbound and The Institute for the Next Jewish Future (INJF). Since we are in a Wilderness period, who knows who of these site will become the one that people look at, today and over time, and who knows what will be where in a year? Perhaps by posting it in three different places, the ideas will get to everyone who might benefit from them, now and in the future.
I tend to have writer’s block and to be a procrastinatory and overly perfectionistic writer. That’s part of why I do a podcast. So why start a blog? Well, first of all, my head is flooded with ideas right now, during this period of physical distancing caused by the COVID-19 coronavirus, and I want to get them out. I’m sure this is true of others with resonant thoughts and ideas who will be invited to publish here.
Obviously, I am getting my ideas out on a wide variety of audio and video platforms, including the Judaism Unbound podcast and the various video shows I am creating on jewishLIVE. But I think writing is still better for “random access”—that is, it’s easier for people to find key ideas when they are searching for written material, and it’s harder to find things buried in minute 38 of a 60-minute video conversation or podcast. As such, what I write in this blog may well be something I just said in a live-streaming discussion of some sort. Apologies to those who read an idea they’ve already heard.
This blog will also provide a forum for other members of the jewishLIVE/Judaism Unbound/INJF teams to put out their thoughts and ideas in writing, as well as for others who want to write on the topic that this blog is about, which is the things we should be thinking about, or that we are thinking about, during this chaotic period.
One might reasonably ask whether Judaism is the most important thing to be thinking about during this time, when people are getting sick and dying, when individuals and institutions are facing economic hardship, and when we have legitimate fears about the future of our democracy and our society.
I would say two things in response. First of all, I firmly believe that if Judaism has nothing to contribute to a time like this, then it isn’t worth very much; and if it does have something to contribute, then it’s important that at least some of us are focused on its present and its future so that it can remain—or once again become—a force for good in a world that needs forces for good. I recently read a comment somewhere, I think on Twitter, that pointed out the irony that people who have been spending all day watching Netflix over the past two weeks are also wondering aloud why we need emergency funding for the arts during this time. All the more so, and not only in this time, it’s important to invest in a thriving Judaism because a thriving Judaism could and should be an important force for making the world a better place.
It parallels the quote: “Give a man a fish, and he eats for a day; teach a man to fish, and he eats for a lifetime.” I’m all in on the idea that most of our resources ought to go to meeting the pressing needs of right now, and I profoundly believe that some resources should be invested in the engines of goodness, like the arts or like religious/wisdom traditions (at their best), which cultivate the human qualities that impel people to “be the helpers” in times of crisis like our time.
And that leads me to my second response. For some of us, thinking about Judaism is what we’re good at and what we know how to do. Part of me wishes that I had finished medical school (I did two-and-a-half years before taking a leave of absence that I am still on more than twenty years later) so that I could be helping heal the sick directly, and the other part of me knows I wouldn’t have been a good doctor or a happy one; if I’m good at thinking about Judaism, and Judaism is potentially a force for good in all this, then that’s probably the best use of me right now. And that’s my working hypothesis, and those who contribute to this blog probably think about it in a similar way.
A final word of introduction: I think it’s pretty common for a blog to be raw and unedited, and that will probably be true for the entries in this blog, at least the ones that I write. I’m doing live TV these days, so raw and unedited is par for the course. I’m not going to have much time to edit and massage my writing, and the truth is that if I take the time to do that, I will probably procrastinate and never post anything. So, I am just going to try and take some stolen moments here and there, and I’ll write off the top of my head and just post it. I hope you find it interesting and valuable, and if not, you have my “pre-pology.” Also, apologies in advance if I fail to cite sources; I will try, if I remember where I heard something, and I will try not to take credit for the ideas of others even if I can’t remember the specific source; but, again, this is fast and raw and unresearched, and I may not always remember the provenance of an idea.
Anyone who finds the ideas here resonant is invited to contribute your own thoughts. Please send them to me at dan@judaismunbound.com, and let me know if you want what you write to be published under your own name or anonymously. If the latter, please explain why you wish to be anonymous; we will not post anything if we do not know who the writer is, but we are willing to post good and important writing without the author’s name attached, as we understand that people may well have legitimate professional and other fears related to publishing certain edgy ideas that are nevertheless important for the public to hear. This is not a promise that we will publish everything we receive, and we also don’t have the time to go through an editorial process; we will let you know whether we will publish your piece on the blog or not, but we won’t be able to go through a back-and-forth about why we chose not to, at least not until we have a bigger team.