Paradigm Shift outline and TED pitch

Paradigm shift essay

– My main shift is the conflict and shift behind the idea of tattooed Jews. Many older, more religious Jews believe that it is absolutely forbidden and outragious for a Jewish person to get a tattoo, when on the other hand, the younger, more modern Jews are getting more and more tattoos. Some jews find that it makes them feel closer to “God”, creates a connection between them and Judaism or do it for someone.  The intro will focus on talking about the divide between the two generations.

– This will go into discussion of the Torah, and how Judaism is taught when it comes to tattoos. From the commandments to the (possible) myth that if you get a tattoo as a Jew, you will not be allowed to be buried in a Jewish cemetery.

-Then I will talk about my personal experience with this situation.

(MY grandpa, or Saba in Hebrew, which is what we call him, Is a pretty religious Jew. He has a huge involvement in Israel and the Jewish community all of the US and Israel. He is extremely religious and observant when it comes to specific customs and rituals, especially the debate of getting a tattoo. In Jewish tradition, Jews are not supposed to get tattoos. There are myths that if you get one, you are not allowed to be buried in a Jewish cemetery with the rest of your family. In some peoples mind, they also bring up the ideas of the Holocaust, where we were forced to be inked against our will. His wife, my Safta, died 4 years ago. It was the most devastating thing that had ever happened to my family, and especially him. She had battled Progressive Supernuclear Palsy for 10 years and this took an extreme toll on him. Every friday night at dinner, he would read her the prayer, Aishet Chayil, or “A Woman of Valor” he would always end it with the last line, “many women have done valiantly, but you excel them all. And as I always say, those words are never good enough for my Debbie.” When she died, he had this prayer written on her headstone in Hebrew. About a year and a half ago, my sister and I started discussing getting tattoos. We both wanted to get a Hamsa, a middle eastern sign of protection, and a quote from Aishet Chayil, in honor of my safta. My sister went first. She got the line “She’s clothed in strength and dignety, and faces the future cheerfully”, or in Hebrew, עֹז וְהָדָר לְבוּשָׁהּ, וַתִּשְׂחַק לְיוֹם אַחֲרוֹן. When my Saba first saw the Hamsa, he called my sister damaged goods. Once he saw the second one, the quote from his poem, he got pale and asked what it was. My sister explained the whole thing to him, and How it was for our Safta, his wife, and he burst into tears, hugged her and said thank you. Now my Saba has a different outlook on tattoos  because of her, and I now have permission from him to get mine )

-The story will lead into the shift–> embodying a larger shift away from rigid religious doctrines and toward a different relationship to those doctrines. It will discuss how the younger generations of Jews are actually helping to persuade the older generations that tattoos are not all that bad. (NY times article). There are so many Jews that use tattoos as a form of spiritual connection to their family, their past, the Holocaust, and many other Jewish connections that they may not be able to represent through prayer or other traditional, observant methods.

– Talk about how people see it as good and bad because of the Holocaust, because the Jews were tattooed against their will. However, a lot of Jews see tattoos today as a sign of pride. A sign showing I am free and I chose to do this, I chose to tattoo myself as a sign of remembrance and a sing that I am strong and I am connecting myself to my ancestors or to a spiritual something that makes me stronger. Choosing to be marked vs. being forced to be marked by someone else.

– Bring the two ideas together by discussion how it is a never ending debate whether or not tattoos are still considered taboo, but more and more people are shifting over to the idea that they are not all that bad.

– “Jewish people don’t get tattoos” -Tattoo Jew documentary

-Old testament- you shall not mark yourself

 

Sources:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/17/fashion/17SKIN.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/short-takes/tattoo-stil-taboo

http://www.tattoojewmovie.com/

 

TED talk:

Spiritual vs. Religion

Talk will focus on the pressure put on by family, school and world to be religious. I want to talk about what does it mean to be Jewish? What does it mean to be Christian or Buddhist? How do people define religion. I want to talk about the connection between religion and self-transcendence. As someone who was raised in religion and went to religious private school for 13 years, how did that shape me to become more of a “Jew” or less of one? I want to discuss the connection of religion as an idea, rather than a defining factor. How it can act as a guideline for each individual to follow, but input their own spiritual meaning to each aspect.

sources:

http://religions.pewforum.org/reports

 

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