The Globalization of Judaism:
How the Internet has Heightened Jewish Religion, Cultural Awareness, and Education on a Global Scale
By Rabbi Jason Miller
It was billed as the first major worldwide “Jewish Cyber event.” Jewish Web/Net Week (JW/NW), which took place in February 1998, had over 600 Jewish Web sites participate in its activities. JW/NW grew out of the “Shaping the 58th Century
[1]
with 21st Century Technology” conference organized by the Jewish Education Service of North America (JESNA) in June 1997 at Brandeis University Web sites (Kalish), has greatly strengthened Jewish cultural awareness, Jewish religiousness, and Jewish education on a global level.
[2]
The far reach of the Internet (the Net for short), and more specifically of the World Wide Web (WWW or simply the Web), is a clear-cut example of globalization.
[3]
Modern models of communication and technology, like the Web, transcend geographical borders and bring human beings closer together. The Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS) held a six-week lecture and class series where participants discussed whether new technology, specifically the Internet, is a blessing or a curse for religion. While many argue that globalization yields problems for cultural communities, the positive effects greatly outweigh the negative effects.
[4]
In fact, the interaction of millions of individuals in Cyberspace is actually creating new communities,
[5]
and bringing dispersed members of existing communities closer together, which is of utmost importance in a religion such as Judaism, with a large Diaspora community. This process of globalization is beneficial in the global Jewish community today where problems of assimilation, intermarriage, and a lack of observance, religiousness, and education are more evident than ever before in Jewish history.
Before exploring how the global expanse of the Internet has strengthened Judaism, it is first necessary to define “Judaism.” The term is used here both as a religion and a culture. Judaism can never be defined as a race. The Nazis incorrectly considered the Jews to be a race during the Holocaust, and many argue that the United Nations General Assembly, in passing a resolution that “Zionism is racism,” also incorrectly presumed Judaism to be a race.
[6]
Some Jews identify themselves as “Cultural Jews” and the Internet affects them as well in beneficial ways. Not all Jews are religious, albeit they are all united in a community with a shared history, memory, traditions, and values whether or not they choose to recognize these commonalties.
There are areas of the Internet that appeal strictly to the religion of Judaism, dealing with law, text, prayer, and ritual; however, other areas exist that attract a more secular Jewish audience, as well as those in the gentile world. Many sites on the Internet can be considered either religious or secular, and some incorporate both depending on the perspective of the individual. Perhaps the one issue most Jews around the globe can agree upon today is that the Internet is an attractive medium for supplying the global Jewish community with information, education, and important resources. Since 1992, tremendous strides have been made to take advantage of, and promote the potential of computer networking for the Jewish community (Ruedenberg-Wright), and most agree that its full potential has still not been achieved.
Over 40 million Americans use the Internet (Nielson Media Research, 1997) and more than 86 million people are online including over 500,000 Israelis (NUA Internet Survey, 1997). The international Jewish community is more than well represented on the Internet. Today more than 80% of the Jewish households with children in the
United States
have access to the Internet (Kalish) and the Israel Ministry of Tourism reports that 53% of Jewish Americans have access to the Internet (Sommer). This is not only an American phenomenon; in 1996 most countries in the world had Internet access available to them and much progress has occurred in the past two years.
The Internet and How it Evolved
TOP
The Internet is no single place or institution. It is a network of different networks, based on the TCP/IP protocol that makes it possible for many different machines to talk to each other (Ruedenberg-Wright). The U.S. Department of Defense created the Internet in 1969 to enhance research and communication between computer scientists. Today, most of these various forms of computer networking have found ways to speak to each other, based on a common language of file transmission called TCP/IP, which forms the basis of the Internet. The Net was essentially opened up to commercial interests in the mid-1990s and saw a sudden growth (
Sterling
). As soon as the Internet became an accepted form of communication in the mid-1990s, its global power was realized. The
U.S.
is the country with the most Internet hosts, followed by
Australia
,
Canada
and
Germany
. The entire Internet became more “user-friendly” with Web browsers, listservs, Usenet, Electronic Mail, and chat capabilities (these terms will be defined below). Individuals across the globe were communicating as never before and sharing thoughts, ideas, and culture.
Judaism on the Net: A Brief History
TOP
Before uncovering how the Net is becoming more and more instrumental in uniting Jews from around the world, it is necessary to recount the history of Judaism’s presence on the Net. Before the advent of the Net, especially the Web, a Jew living in a distant place could not find a way to identify with his people or even study some of the basic religious texts. By 1990, efforts to promote the potential of Jewish communities through networking prompted discussion via e-mail lists, and a number of electronic “landing sites” were established to maintain databases and help find things Jewish on the Net (Ruedenberg-Wright). An electronic discussion list (listserv) is a group of individuals who exchange e-mail, usually dealing with a specific topic or theme. When an individual posts a message to the list, all subscribers receive a copy and can reply to that message (creating a thread) or post on a new topic. Lists are handled by a server, a piece of software, at a particular computer monitored by an individual. In 1988, Dov Wilner created the JewishNet at
Ben
Gurion
University
, and Avram Goodblatt formed the NY-Israel Project at Nysernet in
New York
. Before long, Jerusalem One was created in
Jerusalem
and efforts were made to go out into the field to teach networking skills, demonstrate applications, and promote the possibilities for increased communication between Jewish communities (Ruedenberg-Wright).
The number of listservs grew rapidly in the early 1990s covering a plethora of Jewish or Israel-related interests. In 1996, there were over 35,000 lists worldwide and more than 700 Jewish lists (Ruedenberg-Wright).
[7]
Many of the discussion lists have made their archived discussions available on the Web and serve as an important source of information for research. The leaders of the “virtual
[8]
Jewish community” were, and for the most part still are, the Jewish Communication Network, Shamash, and Virtual Jerusalem.
[9]
Shamash evolved out of the
Israel
-New York Project and Virtual Jerusalem from Jerusalem One, while many other premier sites of Jewish interest continued to burst onto the virtual scene including both organizational, as well as personal, sites. Other resources became available “online” including distance learning options, mail order books and other goods, improved chat capabilities, and more powerful search tools. It soon began to appear to most people that it no longer mattered where a Jew lived, rather whether that Jew was connected to the globalized Jewish network. In the privacy of an individual’s own home or community, she could now seek out new friends with similar interests and even progress in her personal Jewish development, culturally, socially, religiously, and educationally.
The Jewish Web
TOP
The Jewish Communication Network, run by Israeli Max Levitte, is currently one of the hottest Jewish Web sites and even won a cool site rating from the Yahoo Web directory back in May 1996. The JCN site is interactive, lively and offers not only thousands of links to other Jewish sites, but also a searchable database of more than 3,000 sites. It is no wonder that in the average month, the JCN site will have well over 500,000 “hits.”
[10]
The Israeli-based Virtual Jerusalem (VJ) site, owned by Avi Moscowitz, provides Jews worldwide with access to news from the Jewish State. Not only does the VJ site link to the Jerusalem Report, Arutz 7 Settlers News Service, the Jewish Telegraphic Society, and Israeli radio, but it also allows visitors to subscribe to weekly or daily news updates providing Diaspora Jews with the ability to “stay connected” to the happenings of Israel. Before the Internet or the Web, individuals had to wait weeks to receive their delayed news from magazines, newspapers and journals from
Israel
as the television news cannot simply cover each country in the world as accurately as the print media.
With so many sites of Jewish interest now available on the Web, the concern arises of how to locate the specific information one needs. For this reason search engines have made an important contribution as a new tool for the members of the new virtual communication communities in Cyberspace. Search engines such as Yahoo, Lycos, Alta Vista, Hotbot, and the Mining Co. now have specific topic headings for various areas of Judaism appealing to all “Jewish Cybersurfers.” Most of these search engines will locate the desired material or resource on not only Web pages, but also FTP sites, gopher space, and newsgroups.
[11]
There are also printed books that help navigate the Jewish Internet, such as Irv Green’s “Judaism on the Web.” Green spent many hours in Cyberspace reviewing thousands of Web sites of Jewish interest and lists 500 of the best in his book and corresponding Web site. Public and private libraries have also made their catalogs available online with various searching tools to locate information and resources, as have most university libraries. There are also various Jewish sites that provide search capabilities for within their own site. For example, the Jewish Theological Seminary site allows individuals to search specific information available on their site without having to filter out the enormous amount of related material on the Web as a whole. This device is becoming more common for many of the larger sites on the Web.
Most Web sites of Jewish interest have links
[12]
to other related sites on the Web. There are now many sites that serve as resources for Jewish sites. Andy Tannenbaum created the “A-Z of Jewish and Israel Sites” which is an alphabetical listing of thousands of Jewish sites by various categories. It is now housed under the Virtual Jerusalem site and most Jewish organization and synagogue sites link their home pages to it. Today, many local Jewish organizations choose to create what is called a “front page” in place of maintaining a comprehensive site. A front page is simply a home page that contains information about a local arm of a broader parent organization or movement and links to its larger agency (usually national or international). In turn the national organization will set up links on its Web site to all of its local constituent groups. This allows for an organization to publish a great deal of information without it being superfluous.
A new way that many are making their organizational or personal sites available is through advertising and Web rings. While advertising a site on the Web can be quite costly, most Jewish Web rings are usually free. Web rings, which are just another example of how communities are being shaped in cyberspace, are collections of Web sites devoted to a common interest that are linked together. They are also connected to Webring.com, the California-based organization that started the Web ring concept. As of April 1998, there are more than 18,000 Web rings linking over 250,000 sites (Kalish). The “Jewish Ring” is currently the biggest ring devoted to Jewish sites and adds approximately four sites a week to its close to 300 current sites. The owner and ringmaster is Andrew Rajcher of
Melbourne
,
Australia
who began the ring a year ago and notes that it is like a “sort of Cyber Mishpacha (Hebrew for family)” (Kalish). With the Web ring, a novice on the Internet does not even need to utilize the often-confusing search engines. A Web site can join more than just one Web ring, thereby increasing its number of visitors, as well as the diversity of its visitors. The Web ring is the most recent example of how the Internet creates new communities.
[13]
A major problem that the owners of these Web Rings are experiencing is who to admit as members. Many owners have had dilemmas with regard to “Jews for Jesus” groups who want to be part of these Rings. While some have disallowed their membership, others maintain that because they consider themselves to be a Jewish group they too are entitled to participate in the Web Ring.
[14]
Like other new concepts and technologies, policies will need to gradually be introduced for Web Rings, especially for Jewish Web Rings.
Distance Learning in Cyberspace
TOP
Perhaps the most effective way the Internet is fashioning new Jewish communities and bringing current communities closer together is by creating the “virtual classroom.” The use of the Internet is democratizing the process of Jewish learning. No longer are there age, sex, or religious barriers to the world of Jewish study (Birnbaum). Distance learning is by no means a new concept. It has also been made available in the past on television or through snail mail (non-electronic); however, with the technology and communication age upon us distance learning has become more interactive and convenient on the Net in recent years. It allows individuals located extremely far from any direct source of Jewish education the opportunity to study with some of the best teachers in the academic world. Once again, new relationships are formed in the virtual classroom, between both professor and student, as well as between students. The Internet has been acclaimed as the learning tool of the century (WZO) and that applies to formal as well as to informal education because the amount of information is so vast and wide. Rabbis and professors all over the world are leading cyber-courses, making Jewish education available to adults, providing resources, and answering questions for millions of people worldwide. The Internet may be an unconventional means for getting information to students, but it is an important part of the global learning process. On the Web there are many resources for Jewish formal and informal learning, covering everything from holidays and prayer to text, history, and philosophy. There are some universities that have already begun to offer degrees (usually at the Master’s level) from the distant classroom. JTS offers an introduction to the Talmud course online that is taught by the institution’s most revered professors. Boston’s Hebrew College and the Virtual Beit Midrash of Yeshivat Har Etzion have offered successful distance learning projects for a couple of years now that attract Jews all over the world. With its Jewish University in CyberspacE (JUICE), the Students and Academics Department is more than just a pioneer in and the largest of all Jewish distance learning programs. It also serves as a research facility assisting other institutions to design projects of their own (WZO). JUICE is a university-level study program offered over the Internet by way of E-mail. Each semester offers five to six courses on various subjects relating to Jewish topics (e.g., philosophy, Bible, Holocaust, Israeli politics, etc.).
The ideas behind JUICE are to reach those who have not had the opportunity to take courses with Jewish content on an adult level; to reach those who do not live within a defined Jewish geographical area and thus have little contact with a Jewish environment; and, to provide a forum for exchange of ideas for people from different backgrounds to encourage a culture of intellectual tolerance. To date, JUICE has offered close to thirty courses for both men and women from the widest range of age groups, educational levels, occupations, and regions around the globe. In fact, 8% of all JUICE participants have reported that they have no Jewish involvement other than their participation in the courses (WZO).
When Eli Birnbaum conducted a survey of all JUICE participants, he found that the students ranged in background from a nun to an Orthodox Jew. The success of the program is shown in how many individuals they have reached who previously had no opportunity to take courses with Jewish content on the adult level, thus strengthening their Jewish identity. There is also the advantage that the Internet is essentially an anonymous vehicle. One woman
[15]
wrote in her survey that “this was my first University course in more than 30 years…being called upon to be vocal in class was always traumatic, so I greatly appreciate the ability of asking questions without being embarrassed by my lack of knowledge” (Birnbaum).
The problems that have arisen regarding distance learning on the Internet are few in contrast to other new teaching techniques introduced over the years. These obstacles are being resolved more and more every day to properly position distance learning into mainstream education. Internet distance learning is still extremely new; and, curriculums that incorporate distance learning are still very much the exception rather than the rule. The majority of teachers have been utilizing the same curriculum for many years and it will take a special incentive for teachers to revise their lesson plans and course syllabi. Perhaps the most serious obstacle is that many teachers are part of the older generation that has not yet adapted to the Technological Age. Many educators are still considered “technophobes” when it comes to computers and high-tech communication media.
Distance learning educators need to consider that not all of their students have the same computer equipment (e.g., different speed modems, hard drive memory, graphic and sound capability, etc.). This is clearly a further impediment to the full application of telecommunications techniques for distance learning (Birnbaum), as is the varying degree of computer literacy among students. Also, with respect to the JTS project that encourages students to learn online with a partner, geographical location comes back into consideration, as not all students are available at the same times because of differing time zones. Additionally, some consider distance learning to be adverse and in tension with modern theories of learning. Educators during the past couple of decades have insisted on the need for small group interaction. This form of learning (over the Internet) is very private and passive; therefore, not all students (young or old) will be accepting of it. In Creating the Virtual Classroom: distance learning with the Internet, Lynnette R. Porter addresses some of the international educational issues and concerns regarding distance learning, such as copyrights and fair use, patent, intellectual property, and course design considerations for a global audience.
[16]
While to a certain degree, there are concerns about Jewish distance learning on the Internet; it will in time become a necessary technique for educating a vast array of Jews all over the globe. Distance learning is certainly one successful method for creating new communities, but it is not the only successful effort in Cyberspace.
New Jewish Communities
TOP
Jewish communities are using the Internet to serve the interests of the local residents and to reach out to the world by creating community Web pages and listservs. However, entirely new Jewish communities are also being formed on America Online (a commercial e-mail subscription company). Marc Klein, who runs the JEWISH.COMmunity on AOL (keyword Jewish), said traffic has more than doubled since flat rate pricing began over a year ago. “There are areas on Jewish education, youth, Israel, spirituality, singles, family matters, a newsstand, a Jewish job bank, food, a book store and much, much, more,” boasts their advertisement. They strive to be all things to all people, hoping to embrace Jews everywhere, no matter how they pray, or whether they pray.
To those who are not Jewish, JEWISH.COM says they hope to answer your questions, entice your curiosity, and “make you feel welcome in our community.” What JEWISH.COM is most commonly used for however is meeting other Jews--chatting and interacting within the virtual community. Larry (Marc’s brother) and Sherrie Klein met in January 1996 in the Jewish Community section of AOL and were married the following August. Chatting or instant messaging means that many Cyber Jews can dialogue together in a “room” though they are in actuality thousands of miles apart. On today’s Internet, some individuals may chat with a rabbi across the globe to answer a question, while others may use it to meet their future spouse. Nevertheless, it is clear that Jews are making geographical location a thing of the past, and interacting with fellow Jews all over the world. They are creating a vast community and thus strengthening their Jewish religion, cultural identity and education.
The Jews of
Australia
: A Case Study
TOP
The Internet is making resources more accessible to Jews in even the most remote locations in the world and it could not come at a more crucial time. Judaism currently faces many challenges, including assimilation, a lack of observance, and high rates of intermarriage. Now Jews living on the other side of the world in
Australia
can order a Jewish book on the Internet from a bookstore located in
New York
or
California
. Australian Jews can chat online with a rabbi in
Toronto
or view the Western Wall live on the Web.
Australia
has had a vibrant and growing Jewish community for many years and most knowledgeable about the Australian Jewish community would not make the argument that Australian Jews were Jewishly uneducated before the arrival of the Internet.
[17]
However, with the sudden connectivity to the Internet in recent years, the Australian Jewish community has witnessed an immense rise in Jewish cultural awareness and education.
It is estimated that there are close to 105,000 Jews living in
Australia
, and close to 80% of all Jewish children are educated in private Jewish day schools. Pro-Israel related issues have always been on the forefront of the Australian Jewish community’s list of concerns and activities. Since the mid-1990s when the Internet became popular worldwide, Australians were among the most active nations to take advantage of its possibilities. Therefore, it is no surprise that the Australian Jewish community is an extremely active group on the Jewish Internet. In fact,
Massada
College
in
South Australia
was the first Jewish school in
Australia
and one of the first in the world to host a Web site. For geographical reasons, the Australian Jewish community has long felt removed from the rest of the global Jewish community, both in
Israel
and the Diaspora. With the new types of communication technology; however, most Australian Jews are now part of the same virtual community as all other Jews around the globe. It is now more than five years since the founding of JOIN, the Australian Jewish Cyber Community Network. JOIN is the first ethnic, Internet-based, community network in
Australia
and has grown steadily over the years. It started with a simple mailing list, and now with help from Shamash, runs three lists known as JOIN, JOIN-TALK and JOIN-HELP. List members use the first two lists for the dissemination of cultural and religious issues. For many of those list members who live in remote areas in the country, JOIN provides possibly their only link to something Jewish and gives them an opportunity to exchange ideas. In addition to the listservs, JOIN also has a highly active Web site that is considered to be one of the top two Australian Jewish sites (WEJ being the other). JOIN is the brainchild of Quentin (Gad) Jones who has since moved to
Israel
and is currently writing a doctoral paper which he has published on the Net titled “Virtual Communities, Virtual Settlements & Cyber-Archeology: A Theoretical Outline” (JOIN Web site).
Jewish schools in
Australia
have used the Internet for the study of Judaic studies since late 1995. Topics such as Jewish history, Holocaust studies, and Israeli issues are only some of the many subjects students research online, but information about Judaism is not the most important resource available to Australians online. Specific ritual items, Jewish texts, and Kosher food not widely available to the Australian Jewish community only a few years ago is now conveniently accessible on the Web for purchase. Jewish genealogy is also a popular subject for Aussie Jews on the Internet and many Jews living in the “Outback” have located distant relatives in other parts of the world. In addition, Australian Jews utilize the Internet to find new friends and mates. They also use the Net to announce events, lectures and milestones in community members lives (births, weddings, deaths, etc.), as well as to share ideas with one another.
[18]
While retaining their own specific culture and religious customs, Australian Jews now access synagogues all over the globe to see how other sub-communities observe Judaism. It is evident that the Internet has been most beneficial to Australian Jews, bolstering their own Jewish self-image and increasing their connection to the global Jewish community. While the Australian Jewish community has always been strong and progressive, it is even more so today as a direct result of the new global communication possibilities.
The Internet and Judaism: Good or Bad?
TOP
The Jewish communities outside of
Australia
have also advanced their Judaism as a result of their heightened interaction with new or distanced Jewish communities. This is an example of the Internet, globalized communication, working both ways. A North American Jew chatting online with a Jew in
Australia
, may for the first time have to identify as a North American Jew. This new identity will force her to reevaluate her own Judaism and culture of globalization. Jews are expressing their own Jewish identity everyday on the Internet, whether by means of publishing a Jewish-related personal Web site or looking for a companion in a Jewish chat room. This expression translates into a heightened global Jewish community.
There are also critics who argue the Internet does not cause the world community to become more global, but rather it is a root cause of fragmentation. This is simply not true. Humanity is becoming more connected and global communications, by way of new technology, are having a substantial effect. Virtual ethnic communities will not challenge or replace existing ethnic communities (the local), whether concentrated or dispersed. Instead, the technologies (e.g., the Internet) which make these new virtual communities feasible will allow existing dispersed ethnic communities to find new means of support, persistence, and governance (Elkins). Others argue that in modern day Judaism, it is the local community that should be the chief concern, not the global. However, these virtual communities will take form and become more visible to their members or to observers, offering opportunities for existing communities to consolidate their Diaspora and thereby strengthening the original community—the local (Elkins). This should be a comforting realization for the North American Jewish community, as well as to Israeli Jews.
Like all good things, there exist negative consequences, trade-offs, as well. The Jewish Internet poses some concerns for the global community in Cyberspace. The Internet has been plagued with hate material since it gained global acceptance in the early to mid-1990s. Neo-Nazi groups, White Supremacists, religious militants, Klan groups, and the like continue to disseminate their hateful propaganda on the Internet. Hate groups and individual haters find the Internet to be a quick, easy, and cheap way to get their virulent message to the largest audience ever. The Holocaust Denial movement, more commonly known on the Internet as “Holocaust Revisionism,” is also a prevalent concern in Cyberspace. Some may argue that it is impossible to “just stumble” onto one of these hate sites, but that is a misnomer. Using search engines, a student
[19]
searching for the term “Jewish” or “Holocaust” for school research may be shocked to find that a plethora of Neo-Nazi, Jews for Jesus, and Holocaust Denial sites appear on the computer screen.
With so many individuals publishing information-based Web pages, there is no doubt that a problem of misinformation exists. There is no possible way to determine fact from opinion on the Internet, and many individuals who would not be taken seriously under most circumstances can portray themselves as mavens on the Internet. Another concern on the Internet is due to the anonymity of the medium. It is not always clear who exactly is publishing what on the Net, because with today’s technology, individuals have the capability of “masking” their actual identity. One needs to be very careful in what is trustworthy information on the Net.
There are also large groups of individuals who have not been reached by the Internet, mainly out of choice. This is true with globalization as a whole, for it does not affect all people, nor does it affect all individuals equally or in the same way. With most new technology and inventions, it is primarily the younger generations that adapt more rapidly than the older generations, and this is proving to be the case with the Internet as well. Many in the older generation are becoming more comfortable with modern communication and technology; although, this is truer in
North America
than in the rest of the world. Among the Jewish community, many of the Ultra-Orthodox refuse to partake in the benefits of the Internet citing problems with pornography and other offensive material on the Web. In a phone interview, Jon Kalish reported that he often responds to these individuals by urging them not to “condemn the whole newsstand.”
[20]
Like most novel inventions and technology, a good deal of success is exaggerated. The Jewish Web Week in February was promoted as the “most Jews together in one place since Sinai,” even though participation fell short of the organizers’ expectations.
[21]
It is essential to realize the difference between these virtual communities and real, traditional communities. Irv Green points out the main contrast in noting how loneliness is a major problem in the virtual communities.
[22]
Although individuals are communicating with others in this “community,” they are not leaving their house to do so. These relationships differ greatly from actual face-to-face human contact
[23]
and many hope that they do not replace “live” human social interaction. Lastly, it must be mentioned that the Internet has a distinct ideology (Schechter)
[24]
and it does not necessarily mesh with all individuals in all places of the world. Many critics of the Internet are quick to point out how it has a Western bias. Much of this critique about the Internet reflecting American hegemony stems from the bulk of communication on the Net being in English, although these critics make the same argument for the majority of what falls into the “globalization category.” While these concerns and problems are present, it is evident that there are far more beneficial and promising resulting factors generating from the globalization of the Internet, especially in Judaism.
The Jews have long been known as the “people of the book.” If the Internet can be considered to be printed matter and information flying through the ether, or connected via phone lines, then a virtual global Jewish community seems possible and probable in the near future (Kalish). More and more synagogues and Jewish organizations are linking up to the Internet with Web sites everyday. Many of these institutions have hired full-time Cyber consultants and site managers to maintain their site and keep it current with organizational information, calendars, announcements and the like. Jewish individuals continue to publish personal sites on the Web and learn from the myriad of resources, holy texts, rabbis, bookstores, virtual ritual sites,
[25]
and more that are currently available online. Although there exist a small number of trade-offs, the Jewish global community will continue to come closer together and be positively influenced because of Cyberspace—it is an inevitable reality like other products of globalization. The impact of the Internet on Judaism has brought dispersed cultural communities closer together by transcending geographical borders, and it also has enhanced Jewish religion, cultural identity, and education worldwide, both on a global and a local level.
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