ABSTRACT

In this volume, contributors consider the ways that Jewish communities and users of new media negotiate their uses of digital technologies in light of issues related to religious identity, community and authority. Digital Judaism presents a broad analysis of how and why various Jewish groups negotiate with digital culture in particular ways, situating such observations within a wider discourse of how Jewish groups throughout history have utilized communication technologies to maintain their Jewish identities across time and space. Chapters address issues related to the negotiation of authority between online users and offline religious leaders and institutions not only within ultra-Orthodox communities, but also within the broader Jewish religious culture, taking into account how Jewish engagement with media in Israel and the diaspora raises a number of important issues related to Jewish community and identity. Featuring recent scholarship by leading and emerging scholars of Judaism and media, Digital Judaism is an invaluable resource for researchers in new media, religion and digital culture.

chapter 1|15 pages

Introduction

Studying Jewish Engagement with Digital Media and Culture

chapter 3|17 pages

Appropriation and Innovation

Facebook, Grassroots Jews and Offline Post-Denominational Judaism

chapter 4|17 pages

Yoatzot Halacha

Ruling the Internet, One Question at a Time

chapter 5|17 pages

Sanctifying the Internet

Aish HaTorah's Use of the Internet for Digital Outreach

chapter 6|19 pages

Jewish Games for Learning

Renewing Heritage Traditions in the Digital Age

chapter 9|16 pages

On Pomegranates and Etrogs

Internet Filters as Practices of Media Ambivalence among National Religious Jews in Israel 1

chapter 10|22 pages

Pashkevilim in Campaigns against New Media

What Can Pashkevilim Accomplish That Newspapers Cannot?

chapter 11|22 pages

The Israeli Rabbi and the Internet