Uncategorized
On one foot: Digital innovator and ‘Tech Shabbat’ pioneer Tiffany Shlain’s lessons from 3 years living online
(JTA) – Next month will mark three years since the Covid outbreak was officially declared a pandemic, which is 30 in Zoom years. For those lucky enough to be spared the worst of the pandemic, it nevertheless changed how they worked, played and socialized. Very few businesses — especially in the nonprofit sector that includes synagogues and other Jewish institutions — didn’t move at least part of their operations online.
“We were living in a world that changed overnight,” Tiffany Shlain, the artist, activist and Emmy-nominated filmmaker told me recently. “On the more technical side, we were forced to live on our screens in a way that made us realize how much better the real thing is. However, this move to online spaces did expand what Jewish learning and organizations we can tap into.”
I spoke to Shlain ahead of the Jewish Digital Summit, which begins next Tuesday. It’s a three-day, fully virtual conference run by 70 Faces Media, the parent company of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, the New York Jewish Week and other sites. (Go here to register and for more information.) Shlain will be among the industry leaders helping individuals and organizations working in Jewish spaces to boost their digital expertise.
A pioneer in both realms, Shlain is the founder of The Webby Awards for excellence on the internet. She is also the author of the 2019 bestseller, “24/6: Giving up Screens One Day a Week to Get More Time, Creativity, and Connection,” which calls for a 24-hour “Tech Shabbat” for people glued to their screens
“During Covid, it was a lifesaver,” she said, referring to her family’s experience taking breaks from technology at their home in Northern California. “At a time when it felt like all the days were the same, blurring together, we got a hard stop every week, and a chance to spend time with each other, off screens, in nature, doing things we loved. When we got back online afterward, the internet felt fresh (and we did too). This is still what keeps me balanced in today’s 24/7 world.”
For the times people are plugged in, and want to be better creators and consumers of digital content, I asked Shlain to share her recommendations for various sites, projects and organizations that are getting it right. Who’s succeeded in keeping people connected, or reimagining what ritual and community look like now?
“Now that we are in this new phase of the pandemic, we need to reconsider what works best online and what’s better in person,” she said.
Here are her recommendations for the hybrid future:
The culture site and online community calls itself “Jewish, feminist, and full of chutzpah” and is part of 70 Faces Media.
“If you want to see how to ‘do’ Instagram, check out HeyAlma. It’s always witty, insightful, funny, and ironic — it’s my favorite Jewish Instagram handle. My daughter Odessa, who’s in college, and I are constantly sending each other their posts. I love their spot-on tone. It feels like we’re all in on the same joke, which is exactly what it feels like when you meet another Jew.”
Comedy writer David Adam Javerbaum ran the satiric Twitter account, which had 6.2 million followers before shutting down last November.
“Twitter used to be my preferred social media, although now I am on Instagram much more. One of my favorite Twitter handles of all time was TheTweetOfGod. Once Elon Musk started destroying Twitter, TheTweetOfGod sadly left, but there’s still a record there of all his posts. I highly recommend checking it out for his pure brilliance at taking a concept and using the medium in all its holy glory. The creator (ha!) ran with this concept of God tweeting in so many brilliant directions, even down to the one person he follows. It’s a great example of taking a new format and using all its different constraints for maximum entertainment and engagement.”
“No one gets between me and my community in my newsletter,” says Tiffany Shlain, an artist and activist based in Northern California. (Courtesy)
An arts and culture non-profit that helps foster experiential Jewish projects and programs, including podcasts, film, multimedia, art projects and holiday events.
“I am a firm believer that arts move society in a way that creates important changes, which is what Reboot is all about. Reboot is a thriving, provocative hotbed of creativity. I love Reboot’s ambitious rethinking of Jewish rituals, their podcasts and newsletter, and now their Reboot Studios, which funds new Jewish media content. I was part of the first cohort when it was very much an experiment and I have collaborated on many projects with people in their network. It’s also been great to see it grow into this amazing community of artists and culture leaders. Covid activated this network both internally and for great public experiences in a whole new way that continues today.”
A national nonprofit that empowers people 21-39 to host Shabbat meals and build community.
“I love the way OneTable brings young Jews together to organize and facilitate Shabbat experiences.They have a great Mad Lib-like questionnaire to help users figure out how they want to experience Shabbat. They also offer DIY tools for hosting and attending Shabbat dinners. I highly recommend exploring their site. We’ve worked together on a couple of films about the value of Shabbat you can see while you’re there. Rethinking Shabbat for the 21st century has been a big focus of my Jewish work, and I love the way OneTable scales this online. We are working on a cool four-week online program for people to try screen-free Shabbats in 2023. Stay tuned.”
Shlain’s own newsletter offers a highly curated combination of her own projects, arts events and “things I think you’ll find interesting.”
“I’ve been writing a monthly newsletter called ‘Breakfast @ Tiffany’s’ for over 25 years. Each month, I share both the project that I’m working on and a selection of books, films, podcasts, art exhibits, events and articles to inform and inspire, make you laugh and think. It always features a lot of Jewish work. I love sharing my perspective on what’s going on in the world through my lens as a Jew, mother, wife and human on this planet. It’s also my laboratory as I am both sharing what I think is best online and in the real world. So many organizations focus primarily on social media posts but as we repeatedly see, the social media company can change the algorithm and what we see with a switch of a business plan or CEO. No one gets between me and my community in my newsletter. It’s a straight connection, and I love the call-and-response feedback I get from readers who have been with me a long time and new ones. It’s a way to ensure you can communicate with your audience with no one else in control of who sees what.”
The conversational chatbot uses artificial intelligence to create everything from poems and cover letters to film scripts and term papers.
Chat GPT is basically a digital golem. People may have read about it but everyone should try it to get an experience of its capabilities. Could this be the ultimate Jewish online experience — where it’s all about knowing how to ask questions and decipher and wrestle with the truth?
—
The post On one foot: Digital innovator and ‘Tech Shabbat’ pioneer Tiffany Shlain’s lessons from 3 years living online appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Uncategorized
Mistrial Declared in Case of Students Charged After Stanford Anti-Israel Protests
FILE PHOTO: A student attends an event at a protest encampment in support of Palestinians at Stanford University during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Stanford, California U.S., April 26, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
A judge declared a mistrial on Friday in a case of five current and former Stanford University students related to the 2024 pro-Palestinian protests when demonstrators barricaded themselves inside the school president’s office.
Twelve protesters were initially charged last year with felony vandalism, according to prosecutors who said at least one suspect entered the building by breaking a window. Police arrested 13 people on June 5, 2024, in relation to the incident and the university said the building underwent “extensive” damage.
The case was tried in Santa Clara County Superior Court against five defendants charged with felony vandalism and felony conspiracy to trespass. The rest previously accepted plea deals or diversion programs.
The jury was deadlocked. It voted nine to three to convict on the felony charge of vandalism and eight to four to convict on the felony charge to trespass. Jurors failed to reach a verdict after deliberations.
The charges were among the most serious against participants in the 2024 pro-Palestinian protest movement on US colleges in which demonstrators demanded an end to Israel’s war in Gaza and Washington’s support for its ally along with a divestment of funds by their universities from companies supporting Israel.
Prosecutors in the case said the defendants engaged in unlawful property destruction.
“This case is about a group of people who destroyed someone else’s property and caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage. That is against the law,” Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement, adding he sought a new trial.
Anthony Brass, a lawyer for one of the protesters, told the New York Times his side was not defending lawlessness but “the concept of transparency and ethical investment.”
“This is a win for these young people of conscience and a win for free speech,” Brass said, adding “humanitarian activism has no place in a criminal courtroom.”
Protesters had renamed the building “Dr. Adnan’s Office” after Adnan Al-Bursh, a Palestinian doctor who died in an Israeli prison after months of detention.
Over 3,000 were arrested during the 2024 US pro-Palestinian protest movement, according to media tallies. Some students faced suspension, expulsion and degree revocation.
Uncategorized
Exclusive: FM Gideon Sa’ar to Represent Israel at 1st Board of Peace Meeting in Washington on Thursday
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar speaks next to High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas, and EU commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Suica as they hold a press conference on the day of an EU-Israel Association Council with European Union foreign ministers in Brussels, Belgium, Feb. 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Yves Herman
i24 News – Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar will represent the country at the inaugural meeting of the Gaza Board of Peace in Washington on Thursday, i24NEWS learned on Saturday.
The arrangement was agreed upon following a request from Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will not be able to attend.
Netanyahu pushed his Washington visit forward by a week, meeting with US President Donald Trump this week to discuss the Iran situation.
A U.N. Security Council resolution, adopted in mid-November, authorized the Board of Peace and countries working with it to establish an international stabilization force in Gaza and build on the ceasefire agreed in October under a Trump plan.
Under Trump’s Gaza plan, the board was meant to supervise Gaza’s temporary governance. Trump thereafter said the board, with him as chair, would be expanded to tackle global conflicts.
Uncategorized
Two Men Jailed in UK for Islamic State-Inspired Plot to Kill Hundreds of Jews
Weapons seized from the home of Walid Saadaoui, 38, who along with Amar Hussein, 52, has been found guilty at Preston Crown Court of plotting to kill hundreds in an Islamic State-inspired gun rampage against the Jewish community, in Britain, in this handout picture obtained by Reuters on December 23, 2025. They are due to be sentenced on Friday. Photo: Greater Manchester Police/Handout via REUTERS
Two men were jailed on Friday for plotting to kill hundreds in an Islamic State-inspired attack on the Jewish community in England, a plan prosecutors said could have been deadlier than December’s mass shooting at Sydney’s Bondi Beach.
Walid Saadaoui, 38, and Amar Hussein, 52, were both convicted after a trial at Preston Crown Court, which began a week after an unrelated deadly attack on a synagogue in the city of Manchester, in northwest England.
Prosecutors said the pair were Islamist extremists who wanted to use automatic firearms to kill as many Jews as they could in an attack in Manchester.
They were found guilty little more than a week after a mass shooting at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach in which 15 people were killed.
Prosecutor Harpreet Sandhu said on Friday that, had Saadaoui and Hussein carried out their plan, it “could have been very much more serious” than the attacks in Australia and Manchester.
Judge Mark Wall sentenced Saadaoui to a minimum term of 37 years and Hussein to a minimum term of 26 years, saying: “You were very close to being ready to carry out this plan.”
Hussein refused to attend his sentencing, having refused to attend most of his trial, which Wall said reflected Hussein’s cowardice, describing him as “brave enough to plan to threaten an unarmed group with an AK-47 but not sufficiently courageous to face up to what he did.”
POTENTIALLY ONE OF DEADLIEST ATTACKS ON UK SOIL
Saadaoui had arranged for two assault rifles, an automatic pistol and almost 200 rounds of ammunition to be smuggled into Britain through the port of Dover when he was arrested in May 2024, Sandhu told jurors at the trial.
He added that Saadaoui planned to obtain two more rifles and another pistol, and to collect at least 900 rounds of ammunition.
“This would likely have been one of the deadliest terrorist attacks ever carried out on British soil,” Wall said.
Unbeknown to Saadaoui, however, a man known as “Farouk,” from whom he was trying to get the weapons, was an undercover operative who helped foil the plot.
Walid Saadaoui’s brother Bilel Saadaoui, 37, was found guilty of failing to disclose information about acts of terrorism. He was sentenced to six years in jail.