Thursday, September 02, 2010

The Chinese Bamboo Parable Video

Short but sweet, this rant.  I'm just curious to know what your readers think since everyone I know LOVES this video to death... am I the only slightly nauseated one?

J

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The Chinese Bamboo Parable Video



Let’s start by saying I like this video.  I think it’s worth watching.

The Big Idea is that sometimes progress is small; incremental.  Sometimes big changes happen over the course of years, not weeks, so we can’t get frustrated with ourselves for seemingly being in the same place this Rosh Hashanah as we were last year.  It’s all true.

But to my cynical mind, it seems like this video is a pat on the back for complacency.  “Yay, you!  You haven’t made great strides Jewishly, but at least you feel kinda bad about it.  And maybe this coming year will be the year you grow 60 feet in five weeks.”

I know you’re not supposed to wallow, and feeling good is a great thing.  But I guess I expected more from a kiruv organization.  Not hellfire, maybe.  Not brimstone (whatever that is).  But doesn’t this kind of fly in the face of “if you’re not constantly moving up, you’re sliding down?”

I guess I expected more than I’d get from the feel-good sermon of just about every Conservative shul I’ve ever been to.

It occurs to me now – is it because it’s Chinese bamboo?  Not that I’m racist, but is it pandering to the new-age, Eastern-centric mindset with its faux-zen meditativeness and still shots of giant looming bamboo groves?  Bamboo is very zen.  Is Aish.com???

Now go watch the video & tell me what you think...


Search for more information about bamboo at 4torah.com.

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