Please note: Video link follows at the end of this written message.
Dear fellow students of Torah,
new book "And Then There's This: How Stories Live and Die in Viral Culture" (New York: Viking, 2009) with thoughts inspired by this week's Torah portion, Shelach-Lecha. The story told in this week's Torah portion comments intriguingly on the viral culture of our time. The way in which the spies are able to spread a "viral story" through a mass population in certain ways resembles the way in which Internet-driven phenomena can take hold of the public in our day with astonishing speed and effectiveness, which is the subject of Wasik's book. Is this where the similarity ends (or perhaps is there more)? Given that we live in (and are the products of) a culture in which the latest "nanostory" (Wasik's neologism) is positioned to occupy the center of our attention, what can we do to create and hold onto narratives of more lasting meaning and value, stories that are not ephemeral but enduring?
I'd like to propose our ongoing study of Torah itself as one such source of an enduring narrative, a bulwark against the frenzy of nanostories bombarding us every day.
With shalom and wishes for meaningful study and reflection - Rabbi Jonathan Blake
I have posted the video here.
It's a pleasure to join in the discussion, Rabbi. I have longed to join the Saturday Torah study sessions, but because of my commitments to my family I am always pulled in other directions. Which is precisely why your blog--reaching out to all of us as it does--fulfills such a need. And it's that fact that is motivating me to post a comment, the first time I have ever had enough gumption to do so in a public forum. How appropriate then that I choose to comment for your discussion of Shelach-lecha and Bill Wasik's very provocative book.
ReplyDeleteSo true that back in the times of our earliest history and today with our viral internet capabilities, exaggeration is exaggeration, malice is malice and gossip is gossip. And then as now the responsibility rests with each of us to decide what is real and honest and true and what is not.
Then as now, do we allow ourselves to be carried over the crest with the crowd or can we give ourselves leave to be more measured and think about our responses? Just as each Jew has a responsibility to create their own personal relationship to God, each Jew has a similar responsibility to think for him or her self regarding right and wrong. And to my mind, gossip or in the case of Susan Boyle, unpleasant voyeurism, does bring up the very basic question of right and wrong.
Granted with the onslaught of media today it can be hard to avoid, hard to turn away from a situation such as the Susan Boyle "phenomena". I never did see it. But I'd heard enough about this to know that I'd be watching someone else in pain and I couldn't bear it. And then it is gone and the rabid public is ready to chew someone else up.
So, Rabbi, you ask what is lasting in this ephemeral and speedily changing world?
I am, like you, like so many in the congregation, a true book person Rabbi. All book people know the answer to that one: what's lasting are the stories, the books, the tales that show us who we really are. These are the stories that show us the worst and the best of us. The stories that show us the way to be better people. The stories that we read and become part of the fabric of our lives.
The best books always last. They last inspite of whatever odds they face in terms of timing or lack of initial readership. They may not spread as fast as a Susan Boyle phenomena, but make take a bit longer to gain a toehold. The ease and beauty of technology (see Scribd) can be extraordinary. But word of the good stuff does really spread. The difference: the good stuff lasts.
It's just as you said, the greatest book is the one all great books seem to link to in one way or another: Torah, having lasted for thousands of years by each Jew deciding for him or herself that was the path.
Warm regards to all. Thanks for letting me join in. Cindy Frank
Cindy:
ReplyDeleteWelcome aboard! What a thoughtful, deep, and considerate post. Thank you! Until you can be with us in person we will be very gratified to interact with you here.
L'Shalom - with warmest good wishes,
Jonathan
There's a great interview with Wasik posted from June 17 on NPR.org. Here's the link: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105528026
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