Jewish education, like the rest of life, takes place within a matrix of computer-mediated connections that enable and inform the interpenetration of the online and offline realms. No existing movement or organization can encompass this continuum of Jewish experiences. The Jewish student who is considering a Birthright trip emails for information, texts a few friends to see who else is interested, Googles the latest news from Israel, and organizes on Facebook an evening of hanging out with those friends. After the trip they join other Birthright alumni on Facebook, and meet at the local Hillel for Shabbat dinner. Online and offline are completely intertwined and interdependent, and not only for the young. The challenge of Jewish education is to find the places to intervene with elements of Jewish life and culture that are not immediately obvious in the "cloud" of online information, and orchestrate offline encounters with them. Why is it important that a Torah is written on parchment and not only available electronically? What does that say about a community that must generate the organization and resources to produce and protect a Torah? What would an online/offline community with those capabilities -- and that would appeal to them -- look like? To my mind, those are some of the foundational issues facing Jewish education.
Jewish education, like the rest of life, takes place within a matrix of computer-mediated connections that enable and inform the interpenetration of the online and offline realms. No existing movement or organization can encompass this continuum of Jewish experiences. The Jewish student who is considering a Birthright trip emails for information, texts a few friends to see who else is interested, Googles the latest news from Israel, and organizes on Facebook an evening of hanging out with those friends. After the trip they join other Birthright alumni on Facebook, and meet at the local Hillel for Shabbat dinner. Online and offline are completely intertwined and interdependent, and not only for the young. The challenge of Jewish education is to find the places to intervene with elements of Jewish life and culture that are not immediately obvious in the "cloud" of online information, and orchestrate offline encounters with them. Why is it important that a Torah is written on parchment and not only available electronically? What does that say about a community that must generate the organization and resources to produce and protect a Torah? What would an online/offline community with those capabilities -- and that would appeal to them -- look like? To my mind, those are some of the foundational issues facing Jewish education.