Target Audience and why I want to do this:
I would love if I could grab the attention of Orthodox Jews to see the mistreatment of Reform Jews and how it affects Judaism as a whole. I want them to see that we are all necessary for Judaism to survive within the society that we have created. I believe that Secular Judaism is a necessary part of Judaism as it bridges the gap that Jews have to the outside society while Orthodox Judaism is necessary as it solidifies the roots and supplies the main body of Judaic teachings. Even if I could start to change Orthodox Jews' minds it would be a step toward a more diverse and enriching Jewish culture.
Central Idea of the Piece:
A symbol that links most Jews is Shabbat. We practice it every week and it means a lot to every sect of Judaism. And image from the Sabbath that really has a profound effect on most Jews would have to be a Havdallah candle. It is a braided candle that represents the different parts of the week, all melting down into a central idea.There is also a ceremony that surrounds Havdallah that is practiced differently in different Jewish cultures and traditions but it's meaning is the same throughout. I would also like to invite the practice of story-telling as Jewish culture started as an oral tradition and there are many links to storytelling within the religion.
Project Ideas/Seeds:
I had a few concepts for how to bring this idea into a project and most of them have to do with enlarging the idea of the Havdallah candle. One concept was to create a gigantic Havdallah candle and have a community of Jews, both Reform and Orthodox braid the wax together. Within this idea they would write stories or memories of Havdallah or other holy moments for them and wrap their stories into the wax in some way. Wax is also very easy to write into, so I had the concept of them physically writing their stories into the candle.
After they braided the candle, the community would have a service and communal ceremony where they all gather round to watch the candle melt down, burning or melting their stories into a giant puddle of wax representing the Jewish people.
A couple of other things I haven't exactly figured out yet are whether or not the people would read the stories to each other, or whether I would read them aloud but I do want them to share the stories with each other in order to have some sense of empathy. I also would like to incorporate food into the process as food is a very important thing for a lot of Jews.
Inspiration and Research:
For as long as Reform Judaism has existed there have been clashes of idealism within the Jewish world. Ultra-Orthodox Jews, Hasidim, and Haredi have differentiating opinions on how to view the Reform Jewish community. In fact it was only Thursday that multiple different Jewish sects clashed at the Western Wall, a communal symbol of the Jewish people, over a dispute of whether or not a group of Reform Jews would be allowed to hold a Torah reading at the Wall.
Orthodox Judaism holds that both Conservative and Reform Judaism have made major and unjustifiable breaks with historic Judaism, both by their skepticism of the verbal revelation of Written and Oral Torah, and by their rejection of halakhic (Jewish legal) precedent as binding
Rabbi Moshe Feinstein is famously quoted as characterizing all current-day non-Orthodox Jews as Tinokot Shenishbu, literally "captured children," in a category analogous to Jewish children captured by non-Jews who were never taught Judaism, meaning that they do not act out of wrong intent or motives, but out of ignorance and poor upbringing.
Women rabbis are not even accepted as rabbis within the Orthodox Jewish community nor are rabbis that grant marriage to homosexual couples.
Bill Viola is an artist that I would like to find inspiration from due to his connection to religious ideas which is something I would like to invite into my piece in order for it to feel more inviting to Orthodox Jews.
https://www.torahmusings.com/2014/01/open-orthodoxy-rav-moshe-and-the-importance-of-being-earnest/
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.823122
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