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In the fall of 1913, the Rav led a delegation of distinguished rabbis on a visit to the new settlements of the Shomron and the Galilee. The purpose of the trip was to strengthen the religious foundations of the New Yishuv, to promote good relations between the different segments of the nation, to make sure that the young generation receives a proper Jewish education and to guide the settlers in the observance of the Land related precepts….In the course of close to a month -19 Chesvan to 16 Kislev, the delegation visited over twenty settlements.
“An Angel Among men”..p. 31

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By Rabbi Dr. Moshe Dror

In order to add some more spice and options to this exploration we need to deal with other sets of themes as we develop.
We are all familiar with communities, and I imagine that anyone who reads this on the Internet is also a member of some kind of virtual community as well. Howard Rheingold reminds us that “virtual communities form when enough people carry on public discussions long enough with sufficient human feeling to form webs of personal relationships.”
This is certainly happening in these religious and spiritual communities that are springing up all over.
Enriching these relationships are also such systems –we call them by names we make up, invent and reapply to entirely new phenomena-such as:
Augmented Reality;
Augmented Virtuality;
Immersive Reality;
Mixed Reality;
Simulated Reality;
Virtual Reality;
Virtual Continuum;
Virtual Worlds;

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By Yoram Getzler

“SAUDIS REJECT AMERICAN APPROACH TO MIDEAST PEACE Prince Faisal calls for immediate final status talks. (no confidence building measures)
and “Depressing signs from Riyadh, Ramallah and Damascus.”

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BY Rabbi Dr. Moshe Dror

Over the past few years, an important new phenomenon has emerged in Jewish Life in the US and in Israel as well. That is the development, creation and fine-tuning of dozens of independent minyanim (worship services), spiritual communities, alternative worship services and all sorts of emergent religious and spiritual communities. So writes the people of Synagogue 3000 and Mechon Hadar in December, 2007. During the past years this has continued to grow and develop.
I like to use the metaphor of the Gemstone as the symbol of Jewish innovation and creativity. What I want to explore in these blogs are the different sorts of lights that shine forth from the many facets-faces of this polished brilliant, diamond gem.
The term SYN is often associated with the familiar SYNAGOGUE but there are many other possibilities. Indeed the very term SYN is a prefix from the ancient Greek that means: together, and with.
We know it from the familiar term from: SYNAGEIN- a gathering together, an assembly. This was the term used in the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible to indicate the Hebrew” Beth Keneseth”, House of Assembly, which has functioned well for over 2,000 years.
The “together” and the “with” now can incorporate the new world of cyberspace and the vast range of the communicopia of information technologies.
This interface of the religious faith communities and the internet has given birth to a whole host of fascinating religious and spiritual options with in the general world and Judaism as well.
Since I assume that some of this interests you–otherwise you would not be reading this… and. on line—I want to suggest some books that you may find of interest: either in reading the books, or reading their reviews in Amazon or in the vast amount of references in Google and other search engines.
1. “The Soul of Cyberspace: How New Technology is Changing Our Spiritual Lives”; Jeff Zaleski; Harper Edge; San Francisco; 1997.
2. “The Pearly Gates of Cyberspace: A History of Space from Dante to the Internet”; Margaret Wertheim; Norton; New York; 1999.
3. “Religion Online: Finding Faith on the Internet”; Edited by Lorne L. Dawson and Douglas E. Cowan; Routledge; New York; 2004.
4. “Religion and Cyberspace”, Edited by Morten Hojsgaard and Margit Warburg; Routledge; London; 2005.

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