The New World of Social Media, and What It Means for Orthodox Jews, with Dina Rabhan (132)

10/24/22 • 86 min

“The medium is the message” said philosopher Marshall McLuhan, and the idea that the way we receive information is likely more important and influential than the information itself, is now truer than ever. Because of social media, our world has changed far more than we realize. For Orthodox Jews, who have lived behind literal and symbolic walls for the past 2000 years, the change is one that may completely upend the way we understand the world at large and even the Torah itself.

Some communities have responded by rejecting everything associated with the new media landscape; or at least they’re trying. Others welcome it with open arms and perhaps throw all caution to the wind.

On this episode, Dina Rabhan offers a broad overview of the social media landscape, and its potential dangers and genuine opportunities for people in general, and for religious Jews in particular. In a fun, informative, and important conversation that cites philosophers from Henri Nouwen ("What is most personal is most universal") to Michael Scott ("Wikipedia is the best thing ever!"), Dina provides information about what social media can offer us, and what it can and does take away.

Please listen to and share this podcast, and let us know what you think on the Orthodox Conundrum Discussion Group on Facebook.

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Music: "Happy Rock" by bensound.com

Please listen to and share this podcast, and let us know what you think on the Orthodox Conundrum Discussion Group on Facebook.

Music: "Happy Rock" by bensound.com

Previous Episode

Jewish-Catholic Dialogue: Potential Rewards and Possible Dangers, with Dr. Malka Z. Simkovich (131)

On October 28th, 1965, as part of the Second Vatican Council, Pope Paul VI promulgated Nostra Aetate, the Declaration on the Relation of the Church with Non-Christian Religions. That event cleared the way for a potentially better relationship between Roman Catholics and Jews. Crucially, the Catholic Church also has officially rejected attempts at converting Jews to Christianity.

Despite this positive start, the relationship between Jews and Catholics remains a complicated one. Many people argue that Catholics have made huge steps in the right direction that should be celebrated... though others suggest that things aren’t quite so simple. Some question how much these positive steps have trickled down to Catholics in the pews. Others emphasize that Nostra Aetate was supposed to be the first of several positive moves toward dealing with the Church’s history of anti-Judaism, but instead has been treated by many Catholics as the final word on the subject - thereby ignoring Catholic complicity in anti-Jewish persecution for millenia, and pretending that the process of repentance is finished. Even more troubling is the suggestion that Nostra Aetate implicitly provides absolution for the Church, saying that anti-Jewish attitudes were never part of Church doctrine, and that the Church accordingly bears no responsibility for horrible events like the Holocaust. Rav Soloveitchik famously expressed concern that Catholic overtures toward Jews could lead to attempts at converting them. And some wonder whether there is an intentional double entendre when Pope John Paul II called Jews the elder brothers of Christians... when Jews who study Sefer Bereshit know that the older brother is the brother who is rejected.

To discuss the state of Jewish-Catholic dialogue in 2022, and its potentially positive ramifications as well as its potential dangers, Scott had a fascinating conversation with Dr. Malka Z. Simkovich, the Crown-Ryan Chair of Jewish Studies and the director of the Catholic-Jewish Studies program at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.

Please listen to and share this podcast, and let us know what you think on the Orthodox Conundrum Discussion Group on Facebook.

Music: "Happy Rock" by bensound.com

Next Episode

Building a Non-Orthodox Orthodoxy: Discovering Rav Shagar zt'l with Rabbis Zachary Truboff and Yehoshua Engelman (133)

Increasingly, members of the Religious Zionist community in Israel have discovered the thinking and writings of Rabbi Shimon Gershon Rosenberg, better known by his initials, Rav Shagar. The more they read the many books that have been released after his early passing in 2007 at the age of 57, the more they are challenged, excited, and inspired by his depth, creativity, and authentic religiosity and spiritual longing. Nevertheless, the larger English-speaking Orthodox world remains largely unfamiliar with Rav Shagar’s life-changing ideas. This is a shame, as Rav Shagar, perhaps as much as any other Orthodox thinker over the past fifty years, deals directly with issues that confront Religious Zionism and Modern Orthodoxy. Whether we're looking for guidance in defining truth, challenges to faith, religious pluralism, the impact of fundamentalism, the mystical experience and so much more, Rav Shagar’s voice is one that needs to carry great weight as Orthodoxy moves deeper into the 21st century.

To that end, Scott coordinated a discussion about Rav Shagar with Rabbis Zachary Truboff and Yehoshua Engelman - two individuals who have intimate familiarity with Rav Shagar and his unique path in Torah. We hope that this episode inspires listeners to learn more about Rav Shagar, and to make his thinking a more central part of Orthodox discourse throughout the world.

Please listen to and share this podcast, and let us know what you think on the Orthodox Conundrum Discussion Group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/432020081498108).

Music: "Happy Rock" by bensound.com