Once Again, My Shtick in a Nutshell

Jordan Buller writes,

My name is Jordan Buller and I am a student at the University of Virginia. I am currently working on a project analyzing the effect of the new internet Judaic community on Jewish Feminists. I am creating a sample website that will incorporate Torah, published commentary by both Rabbis and feminists, as well as the ability for users to comment themselves on the text selections.

I was wondering if I could interview you concerning your opinion with regards to opening up web capabilities for all Jews to begin commenting on the community, as well as what is important when creating a website for the community to use.

The interview follows.

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Why do you call yourself the Orthodox Anarchist?

Well, I believe in having an extreme, radical commitment to the service of G-d. But, I also believe in personal autonomy and radical subjectivity. I reject all authority other than G-d’s, whereas it says in tefillah, “umbladecha ain lanu melech/apart from You we have no king.” Ie., I do not accept what other people have to say about G-d as authoritative, but rather as true in relation only to their perspective.

We learn in Midrash that during the revelation at Sinai, G-d spoke simultaneously to everyone individually. A voice within told each of us precisely what we needed to hear. Rav Kook says, “All our endeavors in Torahitic and scientific studies are only to clarify whatever comprehensible words it is possible to distill from this divine voice that always reverberates in our inner ear.”

As a sort-of neo-Hasidic pantheist, I believe that we are all independent manifestations of The One, that we have each been imbued with divine revelation, and that we must each strive to fulfill our potential as finite iterations of The Infinite. Yet we can only do this truly when we are not being coerced or copping to dogmas and social controls.

I tend to view Judaism as both a folk tradition and a magickal system, and draw on elements of folk anarchy and chaos magick to formulate my relationship to Jewish scholarship and ritual. Judaism can be a very powerful toolkit or symbol set for tinkering with your consciousness. But we don’t all see things quite the same way — we each have that unique voice calling from within. In that, my expression of Judaism is unique and directly meaningful and empowering to myself, much as I would expect anyone else’s expression of Judaism to be unique and directly applicable to themselves as well.

Beyond that, I also subscribe to post-Left anarchy, a school of thought which expresses these notions in a socio-political context. I oppose statehood, nationalism, ethnocentrism, racism, sexism, homophobia, corporatism, capitalism, consumerism, etc., for as many political reasons as spiritual ones. Whereas the traditional anarchist slogan is “no gods, no masters,” I say, “all gods, all masters.” The primary principle of Torah is that we are each created in the image of G-d. And it is taught that, because G-d is everywhere, we should always act as if we are in the presence of a king. Well, I say, since every human being is a living subjective experience of The King, we should treat each and every person as a King or a Queen and a nation unto his or herself. That means fighting oppression and defending the rights of everyone — upholding their sovereignty and nobility, as we would were we the royal subject of any King.

What are you trying to accomplish with these menagerie of sites? Why do you have more than one site?

I mean, honestly? What I want is geulah (redemption, in all of its Biblical inference). Practically? I’m trying to advance, or at the very least sustain Judaism’s countercultural tradition. I’m looking to encourage personal autonomy — to get people to think and act for themselves — to take Judaism out of the “cantor on a pulpit, Jews in the pews”/”Judaism as spectator sport” paradigm, and move it into one which says “Jew it yourself.” This is yours, not the rebbes’, the denominations’, AIPAC’s or the federations’. I want to pry Judaism from its fossilized shell and say, “This is living, breathing, and relevant. And it belongs to you.”

Think Larry Lessig, Nick Denton, Douglas Rushkoff, Emma Goldman and the Yid HaKodesh all rolled into one.

The reason for the multiple sites is that I’m experimenting with different ways of engaging radical Jews, both religious and secular. Radical Torah is Torah for social activists. Jewschool is news, commentary and entertainment. Orthodox Anarchist is personal ruminations from a “New Jew.” Corner Prophets is culture for Jewish hip-hop heads. The idea is to explore different venues for appealing to distinct personality types, and to chart the successes and failures of each approach. It seems to be a more successful approach than trying to achieve universal messages that appeal to everyone. Again, at Sinai, G-d spoke to each of us in a distinct voice suited to each individual. So, I’m attempting to reach a certain type of Jew with a few different voices.

And just wait, because over the next year I plan to begin rolling out 13 new sites that are all part of one network.

Do you think it is the ideals of your website or the design and the interface that attracts people?

I think it’s the ideals. Design means nothing if the content is shit. There are plenty of beautiful websites that say nothing. They don’t have repeat readership like mine.

What sets you apart from other “New Jew” type sites such as Jewcy, or even Heeb Magazine?

Well, I have yet to see what Jewcy does with their magazine. I’m looking forward to it, as I expect it to be quite good, though I’m sort of disappointed that yet another magazine covering the same territory as a dozen others is getting funded while I can’t secure a drop of funding for my innovations (which, all ego aside, will make the success of any magazine seem like small potatoes). From all my years of research and experimentation, I’ve developed a pretty good sense of what works and what doesn’t, and for all the hobnobbing at release parties and fundraisers, magazines are no substitute for real communities. I’m working to develop tools and strategies for helping spur on real-life independent Jewish communities, while these magazines are delivering half-naked pictures of Jewish celebrities to achieve the philanthropists’ end-goal of young Jews saying, “Jews are hot and cool. I want to shtup one.” Which isn’t to say they don’t have their place, because, as I said, I’m looking forward to Jewcy and I work with Heeb. But, they’re bathroom reading, not a cultural revolution.

Where do you receive your funding?

I don’t. I’ve been shot down for a half-dozen grants in the last year.

I can show you a fistful of very well-funded Christian organizations doing precisely the same stuff I’m doing. Christian funders seem to get it. Or at least they trust the people who do. Jewish funders don’t get it. And if they do, they’re frightened of the implications. It means accepting that the territory is no longer familiar. That the paradigms have shifted. That the present course is one leading towards self-collapse. Never admitting you’re wrong is never having to say you’re sorry.

Currently we receive a few hundred dollars in donations from individual site visitors when I beg and plead once per year. And we make enough to cover server costs from ad revenues on Jewschool.

What is your opinion of the new hip Jewish culture, specifically in Jerusalem, New York and other abroad cities?

In Jerusalem it exists mostly among the visiting student Anglos, so you can’t really brand it an Israeli phenomenon. There are a few interesting things happening in the Israeli scene, but nothing trend setting or paradigm shifting. It’s starting to happen more in Europe, and we’re seeing expressions of new Jewish culture in London, Berlin and Budapest. New York is definitely the center of things, but you can’t rule out San Francisco or various other stops in between.

These projects are mostly autonomous, which is a good thing. It reflects the efficacy of the overall values I’m trying to communicate. But in that, everyone has their own motivations. For many it’s profit, or intra-Jewish-celebrity status. For fewer, realer folks, it’s a true commitment to the Jewish community, and to Jewish values. Superficial expressions of Jewish identity like hip magazines, humorous t-shirts, viral videos, Jewish pop musicians and cable television networks will not and cannot sustain the Jewish people. Only rich community experiences, meaningful observance and ritual life, and empowering learning can do that. Thus, while I support new Jewish culture — project likes JDub Records, Heeb, and the Jewish Fashion Conspiracy — none of us expect them to bear the weight of reinvigorating Judaism in-and-of themselves. They’re Jewish cultural affects, not Jewish culture itself. Thus I also put my stock in projects like Storahtelling, Jews In The Woods, The National Havurah Committee and Synagogue 3000, which are working to reinvigorate Judaism in its deepest places, rather than on the surface alone.

What are the different purposes of your sites: (Ie Jewschool Vs Radical Torah Vs the Orthodox Anarchist blog)? Which one are you pushing the most right now?

I think I addressed this one earlier. The one I’m pushing most right now, in terms of funding, is JewItYourself.com, which I’m not going to reveal the details of just yet.

What is special about being able to connect online? Why did you choose the internet as your way to express your beliefs?

What’s great about the web is that for very little money you can connect with very many people. It’s the new pirate radio. And it’s got a low barrier for entry. No one wants to set foot in a synagogue or a JCC. No one wants to break the ice at a singles party. On the web you don’t have to be squeamish. You can lurk about without indicating your presence. You can take what you want a slip out unnoticed. Or you can get involved with a community and offer yourself piece by piece on your own terms, at your own pace. There’s no pressure. There’s no awkwardness.

I chose the web because I’m a geek, I was born with a mouse in my mouth, I grew up on a computer, and I’m expressing my Judaism in a way that’s relevant to me, which is the only way I know how.

Does the lack of true contact – vocal, tactile, visual – hinder online communities from having the same impact as a youth group or synagogue?

Online communities are not meant to be a substitute for real-life communication or contact. They’re meant to be a supplementary aid. I see the web’s potential in empowering people in the real world to do real world activities, not in replacing the real world with a virtual one. I want my projects to bring people together offline, and to keep them in touch and in collaboration when they aren’t together.

What do you see as the problem with hip or trendy Judaism? Where is the balancing point between losing Jews to secularism and losing the traditions and history of Judaism?

I don’t exactly see how these two questions correlate because I don’t see hip or trendy Jewish culture as secular. Secular means not-Jewish. “Secular Jewish culture” isn’t even really secular because it’s defining itself in relation to religious Judaism. And I think you can’t have one without the other. They’re like two ends of a tension bridge pushing against each other with people walking back and forth in between. If one side collapses, the whole bridge collapses. It’s like the interdependency of an ecosystem. If you eradicate an essential component of the ecosystem, the system collapses, and a marshland ends up a desert. We need each other. Twelve tribes, seventy faces of Torah, and whole lot of infighting and disagreement, but a vast spectrum, a diverse and extended family — that’s what comprises klal yisrael. And that’s what makes Judaism interesting and keeps it relevant: It’s got something to appeal to everyone, wherever they’re at.

What are the key features for creating a website that can sustain a community around it? Again, where is the balance between style and content?

A lot of it is user interface — again, lowering the entry barrier so the greatest number of people can feel comfortable and at ease. Yet that’s only in terms of design and technology. In terms of content, you have to have a consistent message, a set of values. You have to stand for something that people can identify with and relate to. And they have to be able to determine in less than 30 seconds, what those values are so they can quickly say “Yes! Exactly! That’s what I’m talkin’ about!” You have to be able to express the individual desires of a collective of individuals, that they can say, “I’ve been trying to put my finger on it, to find the words to express that which you’ve expressed. And you’ve done it. You’ve articulated my inner voice. You’ve revealed the deepest Me to my waking mind. Thank you. How can I be involved in sharing this feeling with others?” Motivation is momentum.