Comments on Rabbi Jason Miller - Blog: Rogue Media Minyan

I did see Hayim's piece and thought it would benef...

2009-10-13T11:42:35.428-04:00

I did see Hayim's piece and thought it would benefit from an engagement with my teshuvah, so we think alike in that regard. I regret, though, that you didn't give the teshuvah's thinking a more thorough airing.

As is, the teshuvah appears to be regressive, banning all use of new technologies, but as one of your reader comments points out, the issue is whether a minyan can be formed virtually, not whether one may say kaddish or participate as a "shut in" in broadcast services.

On the matter of broadcasting for shut-ins there was a CJLS teshuvah before mine ("The Use of a Remote Audio/Video Monitor on Shabbat and Yom Tov" by Rabbi Gordon Tucker) and in general I discuss how to join a minyan electronically; I just do not permit forming a minyan electronically. That allows latitude for many of the applications that you envision.

It's a real issue to wrestle with. I'm saying Kadd...

2009-09-29T12:19:46.631-04:00

It's a real issue to wrestle with. I'm saying Kaddish for my mother, who died Aug. 6. I attend a Conservative shul mornings and evenings. However, I know there will be times this year when I will be away and not able to attend a minyan. I will have my laptop, however, and a virtual minyan, seems one advantage the Internet Age has given the Tradition.

I worry, though, that there will be not a few folk...

2009-09-23T16:57:52.247-04:00

I worry, though, that there will be not a few folks who will opt out of synagogue involvement altogether. The web can be an amazing place and can truly enhance our Judaism. However, I would hate to see virtual connections replace IRL relationships.

In the case of the daily minyan, for example, I wonder if the ease of participating virtually would elimanate any chance the local shul has of getting people in the building.

Utilizing today's technology is exactly what we do...

2009-09-23T15:39:25.078-04:00

Utilizing today's technology is exactly what we do in our program - Melitz's Israel Connect.
See this article published today about our activities - http://tinyurl.com/ntp4qk

All the best and shana tova,

Amihai

Thanks for this insightful post. I've been hearing...

2009-09-23T15:05:48.408-04:00

Thanks for this insightful post. I've been hearing parents of young children (who don't want to hire a babysitter on a holiday) using online services as a way to participate in the same local service as their spouse. One parent goes to Kol Nidre and one stays home with sleeping babies, but both are able to participate in the same service, and hear the same sermon, as friends and family. This is not about being anti-social or pulling away from the community, in fact just the opposite.

So do you consider the virtual minyan to be accept...

2009-09-22T20:36:24.389-04:00

So do you consider the virtual minyan to be acceptable by conservative standards? I wonder if it could be the only hope we have at the downtown shul!

Of course, we could set up a webcam... But how to verify who is watching/participating, and verify that they are in fact Jewish and eligible to count in a minyan?

There was a recent string on iWorship, the Reform ...

2009-09-22T20:36:05.572-04:00

There was a recent string on iWorship, the Reform Movement's listserve dealing with worship issues about the availability of Rosh Hashanah Services broadcast through various media so that people who are confined to home might at least listen to services. turns out that some places stream services on the internet, some broadcast... Read More on radio and I know there is at least one local congregation that uses some technological means to broadcast services to their homebound congregants weekly. I think it is through the telephone. It works, at least in the Reform Movement.

I think that you must start with a real physical m...

2009-09-22T20:35:01.825-04:00

I think that you must start with a real physical minyan in a gathering place. From there a minyan could be shared in cyber space with any that would like to join in.

Just today one of my colleagues posted the followi...

2009-09-22T20:06:58.864-04:00

Just today one of my colleagues posted the following question on the Conservative rabbi e-mail listserv. Since it's a private forum, I will maintain the rabbi's anonymity.

"The groom wants one of his best friends, who is serving in the army in Israel to recite one of the sheva berachot. Can someone recite one of the sheva berachot by phone/Skype in realtime?"

Shared ideas, collaboration, best practices and tr...

2009-09-22T17:42:39.995-04:00

Shared ideas, collaboration, best practices and true Jewish community will endure. For me, technology has facilitated a highly enriching, year-long chavruta relationship over the telephone. My study partner is in Pittsburgh and I see her twice a year, but our hearts are together -- with each other across space and with our ancestors back through time. We adapt while retaining our place at Sinai.