Worship in the Cloud 75
participants don't meet face-.to-.face doesn't make that community any less real.” They are not only interested in changing how we think about prayer; but explicitly in changing how we think about community. Aleph says that, “If you log on to our site or send us an e-.mail, youre part of our community.” Some find this an exhilarating approach; as we all talk about lowering the bar to entry into our communities,“Punk Torah” has taken it to the extreme, and opens up its virtual doors to anyone and everyone. Others, however, may wonder if this is an open community, or simply a community only in name. When only a click on a link is the only requirement to be part of the community, then what value does this community have? Can this kind of community create the bonds which have sustained our people for centuries?
The questions are obvious; the answers are more difficult. Itis easy to dismiss sucha community as shallow, and ultimately irrelevant. In all likelihood, it is exactly that to the majority of those already involved in the Jewish community. But, what is true now, perhaps, will not always be true.
Some recent research implies there may be a qualitative shift in how younger generations see online interaction.’ Those of us over a certain age tend to see the Internet, and similar technologies, as useful ways to facilitate communication. Communication can be used to further enhance our communities. But, the technology is a tool; the paradigm remains, essentially, the same.