Josh and I are fascinated by Jewish culture. We love the traditional Jewish music and dances. Last night we watched a show on the Oprah channel where Oprah went and interviewed a Hasidic Jewish family in their home in Brooklyn. It was totally interesting.
Hasidic Jews shun all media: movies, TV, internet, radio... even magazines. Oprah just could not get over the fact that these people (Mom, Dad, plus 9 kids) didn't know anything about TV. At one point she was like, "You don't watch Dancing with the Stars???" and the dad answered:
"We dance with our kids! They're the stars!"
So precious. I loved these ultra-orthodox Jews! On the surface, their lives seemed filled with rigid rules and rituals, many of them totally pointless. (Like, do you really need 2 separate sink areas and 2 sets of dishes just so that your meat and dairy products won't touch?) But their lives also seemed pretty wonderful. Without bazillions of outside distractions, they were able to see God in everything.
I don't necessarily believe in shutting things out. I think the internet is pretty sweet. And so is some TV. And so are some movies. But I think everyone senses how overwhelming all that media can be. Sometimes it feels great to renounce it all, and focus on the ritual of tending to the little chores that make life run beautifully.
{ Shalom y'all! }
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