More of the Tron. And a thought about this blog.
The photo is from the Tron (rhymes with drone) at Kutz.
On Twitter, @thewanderingjew (Jewschool‘s feygele) wondered to me today if this blog doesn’t totally violate the Shabat pracitices of those I daven with. A few thoughts.
The thought had occurred to me, though I haven’t resolved it yet because it hasn’t been an issue yet. It hasn’t been an issue yet because so far I’ve featured a photo from Kutz (where, despite a very wide range of Shabat practices, everyone uses electricity), Purim (which isn’t Shabat), an empty sanctuary being remodelled, and a wildly Reform synagogue in Nashville (where they served quiche alongside Nathan’s mini corndog nuggets).
To be honest, one of things that made me put off start this blog for several months after I had the idea was this very issue. I got tired of the idea bouncing around in my head, so I went ahead and took the plunge. I figured I’d cross this bridge when I came to it. Feygele brought me to it. So I’ll cross it.
I assume that in many communitites I’ll be taking pictures in, this won’t be an issue. In some, it may. I’ll never do it in an out-and-out Orthodox or Conservative community. I’ll be willing to do it in any Reform community. Independent communitites will require some more thinking.
Lets say I was going to daven at Hadar on Shabat. This is a community that has defines itself in terms of halachah so I wouldn’t feel comfortable taking pictures there on Shabat. But now lets say I was going to daven at Kol Zimrah on a Friday night. That would be a different story. Here’s a community with a very wide range of practices, but many of whom took the subway to services, I would feel totally comfortable taking a picture. I wouldn’t use flash and it wouldn’t make any noise.
Why? Aren’t I being totally and knowingly offensive to the whole idea of pluralism? I don’t think so. The picture-taking is non-disruptive and the communit is expressly a community of wide-ranging observance.
So that’s my answer. Of course, you could always just take pictures not on Shabat. People daven during the week too, I hear.
And for those who want to send me pictures to include in this blog, please do. And you can worry about these issues all on your own, no questions asked.
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