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Sep. 28th, 2014 10:20 amI guess Rosh Hashanah weekend is as good a time as any to post about Unscrolled: 54 Writers and Artists Wrestle With the Torah.
This was a mention from![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
obopolsk after we went to go see The Mysteries, as an alternate take on 'a bunch of different people TACKLE THE BIBLE.' The general idea is that the five books of the Torah are parceled out among young Jewish literati, who each get a chapter to do with as they will, whether that be parody, personal essay, or pretentious literary short story.
I would estimate an unsurprising forty to fifty percent of these chapters end up somewhere in the vicinity of trite, pompous, irritating, or all three; another twenty or thirty percent can be categorized as well-meaning or mildly amusing but not exactly revelatory. 'Random side character squints at Biblical protagonists and declares that they are ALL A BUNCH OF WEIRDOS' only has the potential to entertain so many times. And, I mean, I don't know about anyone else, but by this point in my life as a Jewish person I have lived through enough Rosh Hashanahs and have had the "yes we know the Binding of Isaac chapter is difficult to ethically justify in a modern context" conversation SO MANY TIMES that it takes a heck of a lot for me to feel like I'm actually getting something new out of it.
That said -- there were a couple of segments that were absolutely worth the price of admission. My favorite was a group of archival photos/telegrams/business cards etc. collected by an archivist at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research; I don't remember what Bible section it corresponded to or why, and I don't care, either, it was AWESOME. Little pieces of floating Jewish history. For example:
"And also that you are having a good time." Yeah, I BET she was!
This was a mention from
obopolsk after we went to go see The Mysteries, as an alternate take on 'a bunch of different people TACKLE THE BIBLE.' The general idea is that the five books of the Torah are parceled out among young Jewish literati, who each get a chapter to do with as they will, whether that be parody, personal essay, or pretentious literary short story. I would estimate an unsurprising forty to fifty percent of these chapters end up somewhere in the vicinity of trite, pompous, irritating, or all three; another twenty or thirty percent can be categorized as well-meaning or mildly amusing but not exactly revelatory. 'Random side character squints at Biblical protagonists and declares that they are ALL A BUNCH OF WEIRDOS' only has the potential to entertain so many times. And, I mean, I don't know about anyone else, but by this point in my life as a Jewish person I have lived through enough Rosh Hashanahs and have had the "yes we know the Binding of Isaac chapter is difficult to ethically justify in a modern context" conversation SO MANY TIMES that it takes a heck of a lot for me to feel like I'm actually getting something new out of it.
That said -- there were a couple of segments that were absolutely worth the price of admission. My favorite was a group of archival photos/telegrams/business cards etc. collected by an archivist at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research; I don't remember what Bible section it corresponded to or why, and I don't care, either, it was AWESOME. Little pieces of floating Jewish history. For example:
"And also that you are having a good time." Yeah, I BET she was!
