A Klee for Filling
In my latest endeavor to do something useful, I am pleased to announce the launch of Radical Torah.
Radical Torah is a weblog which features multiple takes on parshat hashavua (the weekly Torah portion), as seen through the lens of progressive religious and political viewpoints. The project seeks to create a resource of authentically Jewish responses to pertinent social justice issues, timed in accordance with their relevancy to the Jewish calendar.
Browsable by parsha, topic, holiday, and Hebrew calendar month, the goal is to put “radical Torah” at the fingertips of the Jewish social action community for which there are limited resources accessible on- and offline.
Many secular Jews who identify strongly with the Jewish social action tradition often feel alienated and repressed by our religious tradition. One of the primary aims of Radical Torah is to provide this group with Torah that is empowering and which confirms their deepest convictions towards issues of social justice. Thus, for the secular Jewish activist, Radical Torah can be a catalyst for Jewish engagement.
For the observant Jewish activist, the website can be a useful research tool and educational forum, as well as a community hub for “social action scholars” that transcends the confines of institutions and locales.
At this stage we are seeking qualified* contributors who are able to provide commentaries on the weekly Torah portion in relation to these topic areas, on a weekly, bi-weekly, or even monthly basis. If you or somone you know may be interested in contributing, please contact us at editor at radicaltorah dot org.
*”Qualified” in this context suggests one who holds legitimate smicha, Rabbinical ordination, a degree in Jewish education, or has had three–five years of experience teaching in a Jewish setting.
Sounds great… but what about us professional troublemakers who would love to pitch…?
for this particular project, i think it’s necessary to have voices with more recognition contributing. i want the sources to be relatively unimpeachable. but do feel free to add comments. think of it like being the gemara to their mishnah.
perhaps it is worth having a second category of commentary which is clearly labeled that is less scholarly and more activisty in style.
Mo-
Are you saying my credentials are impeachable because I have a link to ninja kittens on my blog?
in so many words ruby, yes.
zach — there’ll be an open call for readers to submit material. that which is worthwhile will be published.
Sounds like a great idea. Can’t wait to see what people write.
This is interesting. As someone who sees Torah as generally inimical to Leftist or “Progressive” beliefs, this project, IF DONE RIGHT, might present a challenge (or at least teach me something new). I would hope that the articles would be written as honestly as possible, so that instead of just introducing items favorable to Leftist views, possible counter-arguments would be presented (and refuted, but at least readers would be aware that a counter-argument exists).
I have a question: which texts will be considered “Torah”?
I’m happy to see that some qualifications will be required from contributors. However, my assumption is that a minimum qualification would be the ability to understand the texts, to research commentaries on those texts, and to research other texts that bear on the issues addressed. Unfortunately, even some people with smicha can’t do this too well, let alone educators. You might want to get an expert to help you make sure your contributors can meet this standard.
I am seriously excited about this!!
Yakov, does this mean anything to you?
Eatin’ kosher chicken, eatin kosher chicken,
Eatin’ kosher chicken that’s what I do,
Cuz I am a kosher chicken eatin’ Jew.
?
Great idea! Three kvetches, though:
1. “Radical Torah” is a misnomer. If these concepts of social justice are embedded in very fabric of Torah (and we know they are), posters will be talking Torah. Normative Torah. Not “radical” Torah. Torah is Torah. As BZ says, Chinese food isn’t “Chinese food” in China. It’s “food.” Same concept applies here.
2. What’s up with your use of “secular” and “observant” to describe Jews who might use the site? You use “secular ” as the equivalent of uneducated or unscholarly (or unengaged). Simply untrue. (And if you don’t believe me, remind me to tell you about the fierce argument I got in over a piece of Gemara during Chanukah with a secular Jew who knew more Gemara than I might ever learn…) Similarly, you use “observant” (whatever that means) as shorthand for scholarly, which- alas- is also not necessarily true.
3. Finally, bah on the criteria to post! And I’m someone who *is* “qualified.” Judaism will remain in the mess it’s created for itself as long as we continue to insist that only professional Jews know what’s what.
But whatever– I’m excited to see the site. Yashar koach!
The name serves to accentuate the fact that Torah in-and-of-itself is something radical.
I wasn’t trying to make a generalization. I said “for some.” I realize in retrospect the language wasn’t perfect. But I’ll tell you what–I’ll keep brainstorming and creating the projects, you write the marketing copy.
this particular project, i believe, in order to be considered a legitimate and verifiable source of information, is going to have to be more exclusive for the time being. if you’ve ever spent time on indymedia, you know it can get unruly. and if you’ve ever spent time on sites like digg or plastic, where user votes determine the placement of content, you’d quickly realize that if we democratize the content on the site, the militant right-wingers who are the most vociferous and adamant members of the online community will quickly hijack the site and use it to spew kahanist anti-arab filth. and i say this from my experience running jewschool and knowing who the most vocal commentors are.
The response to #3 seems like a red herring. There is a difference between restricting posting to a defined set of contributors (like any group blog) and requiring specific credentials. If the goal is to keep out militant right-wingers, it’s not clear how this requirement will achieve that. There are non-extremists who don’t have a Jewish degree, and there are Kahanists (like, um, Kahane) who have semicha.
Hey Shammai, just FYI
You can eat it on a table,
Or walking down the street,
Just look for that kosher label,
When you buy that meat!
(You clearly know who I am. Who are you?)