Virtual Jewish Intentional Community/Co-op Seeking Members

Hi all.

The Beit Binah Jewish Intentional Community is being formed in Second Life in the Cuscus region under the wing of the Jewish Historical Museum and Synagogue of Second Life. When complete, it will in its final form take approximately 1/4th of the region and will feature both private spaces for individual members as well as, to a much larger extent spaces that may include shared gardens, living room/den/s, study/library, prayer/meditation area, and possibly more. The upkeep costs of the space will be shared evenly by all members of the community, which will also be predominantly democratic. Total cost for 1/4th of the sim will be 50USD a month. At 10 people we will each be paying 5USD a month to support it, and at 20 we would be paying 2.50USD. There will be a cap on the number of members, and that cap has yet to be determined. Long-term there are also plans for potential rentals within the community for those who like the co-op Jewish housing but are less interested in commiting to involvement in community building and spiritual/personal growth opportunities, and those rentals will help to reduce costs for full members.

We will incorporate practices for the heart as well as the mind. Heart practices may include modalities such as co-counseling, reflective listening, setting kavvanot for activities or days or weeks, etc. Mind practices will run the whole gamut of Torah study, from Tanach to kabbalah and hasidut, to traditional, modern, and radical theology, to all forms of Jewish practice, and whatever else the community expresses a desire to spend time with.

If you are interested you can contact me in-world as Malachi Rothschild, and if you have questions please feel free to also ask them in this thread or contact me inside Second Life.

You can create a free second life account at:

http://www.secondlife.com

In order to convert money into L$, the in-world currency, you will have to submit credit/debit or paypal info.

As a person, I am very interested in the possibilities of virtual worlds to be used as tools for promoting real change and growth. Take care.

thedauer

 

Hey drumminmama.

I really see experience as a continuum. Whether we interact with people over cyberspace or we interact with people face-to-face, we're still interacting. We're still forming connections and patterns in our mind, our deconstructing old ones. We're still feeling. That's not to compare physical human contact with something that is not. They are both very different. But the lack of physical human contact doesn't make the interaction and the feelings that arise any less real or significant.

So what I'm really interested in is using the virtual world of Second Life as an opportunity to connect with folks deeply commited to the work of spiritual and personal development, network, and meet with them regularly to engage in talmud torah, in something along the lines of co-counseling, reflective listening, or active listening, to investigate the possiblities of using a virtual world for spiritual practice which might include things like guided meditation (voice is possible over skype and soon will be possible and spatialized to reflect proximity and direction via the Second Life Client,) singing, chanting, we could even daven shacharit one day a week in the morning if people were interested. If there is some discomfort because we don't have a minyan, or because we're not sharing hte same physical space, we could also simply synchronize our own private davening. I have a little more info available outside of SL now as we've begun putting together a website:

http://www.beitbinah.com/

Our first text study is going to be Conscious Community by Reb Kalonymus Kalman Shapira, a very insightful hasidic rebbe who lived and died under the Nazi regime, which deals with exactly the types of issues we'll be confronting as we co-create the community.

There is currently a Jewish Historical Museum and Synagogue that's going to be starting up some teaching events, another synagogue that holds occasional events and Shabbat Across the World which is candle-lighting according to five of the world's time zones, a model of the Kotel that has streaming lectures from Chabad, and coming soon will be a monthly magazine about the goings on of the Jewish community in SL, but for the Jewish spiritual seeker looking for more intense practice, to carry their rl spirituality into the virtual and use each to feed and nurture the other, up until now the choice hasn't really been there. Nobody's digging to get at the kishkes, and now I'm looking to really get my hands dirty with the heart and soul of my spirituality.

We've also created a store, which features collaborative projects as well as solo projects of community members (located on a more commercial island separate from the community) whose proceeds support the community's upkeep. We have ideas for tzedakah projects for RL charities in the works, and will hopefully soon be undertaking the task of searching for an organization to sponsor us to reduce costs and allow us to expand.

I suppose I've said a little more than to just answer your question.

Anyway, if anyone does decide to sign up and see what's going on, please do not use the link on the webpage to connect to our location. We've run into some complications as renters and are looking to purchase community-owned land sometime next month. You can, however, contact me, via the e-mail provided on the website or inworld as Malachi Rothschild and I will be more than happy to help.

Dauer