Hi everyone.
I wanted to share a new project I've been involved in getting off the ground. It's really just getting off the ground. Up until now has been a lot of building and drafting of literature, and some of that is still on-going. It's a Virtual Intentional Community in Second Life. We recently held an event to allow a victim of persecution in Poland both for being Jewish and for being gay a place to tell his story. That happened here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/malachi_rothschild/472942370/
That's not all up now because we needed the space for other things, but the posters still are. We're also holding 6-day-a-week 20 minute sits at 12pm noon pst (gmt -8) that are open to people of all traditions, and those have been happening here.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/malachi_rothschild/472957381/
We've only done two so far and the crowd for the second was larger than the first, some Jewish, some not, some veteran meditators, some first-timers. It's really exciting to see people taking something meaningful from it. Someone who came the first day wrote about their experience on their blog and then came back the second day, along with a couple other people who came both days.
Earlier in another space we held a four-day chol hamoed inner journey out of mitzrayim that went really well. We're going to be having a weekly parsha study starting soon with changing leadership meeting-to-meeting and also are in the process of planning an event for Lag B'Omer with a bonfire and some readings by different people and maybe something to remember R. Shimon bar Yochai. We're also finally shifting into a more democratic, participatory leadership with our first community meeting also on Lag B'Omer. At those meetings we're going to be going over community issues and also doing some personal-sharing and the study of a Jewish text on personal and spiritual development. Our first text is going to be a translation of Machshava Tova by Reb Kalonymus Kalman Shapira. There's been some interest from people closer to gmt, so very possibly we'll eventually create a separate community meeting for them and do more 2d web-based decision making.
We have a website at http://www.beitbinah.com
In SL I'm Malachi Rothschild. Cryptomorph Lake is an SL friend of mine from Australia that's been working closely with me to make this happen. We have a lot more content planned for the site like an events calendar and a number of other things. And hopefully soon we should have more of that up. We're also planning on doing more ecumenical and interfaith programs like the sit.
I suppose one of the questions this raises is the role of spirituality in a virtual world, and that's something I want to tackle head-on.
I just feel like whatever it is we do, we shouldn't leave God out of it. For a while I was the GM of a restaurant in Second Life but that didn't really speak to me as much. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't something that spoke so clearly to my interests and concerns. I remember when the idea for this first came about. I was speaking to someone about this type of thing and they suggested we make it happen, so now it's happening. You can learn more about the Jewish Community in Second Life from this site:
http://www.2lifemagazine.com./
They have a pdf version of the mag. For general info about spiritual life in SL there's also this blog:
http://slfountain.wordpress.com/
There's a really beautiful build of the Great Mosque in Cordoba. The real one is currently being used as a Church but the one in SL is home to a Muslim community. I'm going to find a picture. It's one of the most beautiful builds I've seen in Second Life.
Here's one:
http://www.bayyinat.org.uk/slmosque100107.JPG
But my most favorite thing there is the lighting effects with the windows:
http://www.bayyinat.org.uk/qnewsslpic002.JPG
There are also some beautiful churches and Buddhist Temples, as well as buildings that house people of other faiths. At one time I thought of SL more as a game, but now I really see it as more of a platform, like the web, where the greatest limits are one's imagination and determination, and the limitations of the software. I don't think it's in any way a replacement for real world experiences and a big thing with Beit Binah is being able to bring something meaningful back to the real world, but it's definitely a useful tool for me.
I just wanted to share my current project, but if you have any questions about or comments on judaism in SL, beit binah, spirituality in SL, SL in general, or anything else along those lines please do share them.
Dauer
I wanted to share a new project I've been involved in getting off the ground. It's really just getting off the ground. Up until now has been a lot of building and drafting of literature, and some of that is still on-going. It's a Virtual Intentional Community in Second Life. We recently held an event to allow a victim of persecution in Poland both for being Jewish and for being gay a place to tell his story. That happened here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/malachi_rothschild/472942370/
That's not all up now because we needed the space for other things, but the posters still are. We're also holding 6-day-a-week 20 minute sits at 12pm noon pst (gmt -8) that are open to people of all traditions, and those have been happening here.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/malachi_rothschild/472957381/
We've only done two so far and the crowd for the second was larger than the first, some Jewish, some not, some veteran meditators, some first-timers. It's really exciting to see people taking something meaningful from it. Someone who came the first day wrote about their experience on their blog and then came back the second day, along with a couple other people who came both days.
Earlier in another space we held a four-day chol hamoed inner journey out of mitzrayim that went really well. We're going to be having a weekly parsha study starting soon with changing leadership meeting-to-meeting and also are in the process of planning an event for Lag B'Omer with a bonfire and some readings by different people and maybe something to remember R. Shimon bar Yochai. We're also finally shifting into a more democratic, participatory leadership with our first community meeting also on Lag B'Omer. At those meetings we're going to be going over community issues and also doing some personal-sharing and the study of a Jewish text on personal and spiritual development. Our first text is going to be a translation of Machshava Tova by Reb Kalonymus Kalman Shapira. There's been some interest from people closer to gmt, so very possibly we'll eventually create a separate community meeting for them and do more 2d web-based decision making.
We have a website at http://www.beitbinah.com
In SL I'm Malachi Rothschild. Cryptomorph Lake is an SL friend of mine from Australia that's been working closely with me to make this happen. We have a lot more content planned for the site like an events calendar and a number of other things. And hopefully soon we should have more of that up. We're also planning on doing more ecumenical and interfaith programs like the sit.
I suppose one of the questions this raises is the role of spirituality in a virtual world, and that's something I want to tackle head-on.
http://www.2lifemagazine.com./
They have a pdf version of the mag. For general info about spiritual life in SL there's also this blog:
http://slfountain.wordpress.com/
There's a really beautiful build of the Great Mosque in Cordoba. The real one is currently being used as a Church but the one in SL is home to a Muslim community. I'm going to find a picture. It's one of the most beautiful builds I've seen in Second Life.
Here's one:
http://www.bayyinat.org.uk/slmosque100107.JPG
But my most favorite thing there is the lighting effects with the windows:
http://www.bayyinat.org.uk/qnewsslpic002.JPG
There are also some beautiful churches and Buddhist Temples, as well as buildings that house people of other faiths. At one time I thought of SL more as a game, but now I really see it as more of a platform, like the web, where the greatest limits are one's imagination and determination, and the limitations of the software. I don't think it's in any way a replacement for real world experiences and a big thing with Beit Binah is being able to bring something meaningful back to the real world, but it's definitely a useful tool for me.
I just wanted to share my current project, but if you have any questions about or comments on judaism in SL, beit binah, spirituality in SL, SL in general, or anything else along those lines please do share them.
Dauer