Cynthia Cheng
To many people, religious services are hideously boring, so Rabbi Oren Hayon decided to start Tweet the Exodus. Yes, that’s right. The adventure started on Tuesday, March 16, and will continue until Passover. Several ”characters” are involved, including the evil Egyptians (tweeting under handles like @PharaohofEgypt (not very creative, huh?) and @Slavedrivers). Moses is @Moshe_ben_Amram. even @The10Plagues has its own entry. Tweets include random whippings from @Slavedrivers to @God_of_Israel saying “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” to @Moshe_ben_Amram. The tweets are updated several times a day.
Though this is a very interesting twist, I am sure that traditionalists will frown on this. Why wouldn’t they? One shouldn’t really be joking about something as serious as Exodus. Religion isn’t supposed to be funny or changed. However, many purists also like Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments (1956 version), which did take some creative licence to the story as well. Talk about a double standard.
Purists or not, this is going to be an interesting two weeks. Though most people are familiar with the Exodus story, using Twitter to tell it is very creative, exciting and a great way to be more engaging. The language is simple and easy for social media savvy people to understand. It’s even interactive – readers can reply to tweets as well. In other words, you can reply to @Slavedrivers or @PharaohofEgypt telling them that they suck/are crazy/mean/whatever. I am definitelly looking forward to the rest of the story. I wonder how they will tweet the parting of the Red Sea!
Image © John Said/iStockphoto
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What a great idea. It’s been fun to follow Tweet the Exodus. Last year I tweeted the seder (@RabbiBaum) which was a lot of fun. This year we’ll be hosting an online seder and hope you’ll all join us – http://www.ourjewishcommunity.org/2010/03/19/online-passover-seder-unites-people-from-around-the-world/
“Though this is a very interesting twist, I am sure that traditionalists will frown on this. Why wouldn’t they? One shouldn’t really be joking about something as serious as Exodus. Religion isn’t supposed to be funny or changed.”
I must respectfully disagree. First of all, Tweet The Exodus isn’t joking and it isn’t a joke. This is a retelling of the story in a modern way. Jewish tradition says that in every generation, we must feel as though we ourselves went forth out of Egypt. That gives us the license to make the story relevant, modern, interesting, and accessible. Second, I do believe that religion isn’t all serious! Laughter is a great gift, celebrating religious traditions should be a source of great joy, why can’t it be funny? If people are laughing, that means that they’re paying attention – and if they’re paying attention, they’re most likely engaging – that’s what religion is all about.
Finally – religion is most definitely about change, and THANK @God_of_Israel! I’m very glad that we don’t stone people or require divorce for barren women or refuse to allow daughters to inherit. Religions that refuse to change have nowhere to go, and become obsolete.
Hi Phyllis,
Though religion is supposed to be about change, there are those who refuse to change – especially people who interpret Scripture literally, or are really set in their ways. Also, there are those who believe that Scripture is intended to be the way it was written and anything that might be remotely relevant to 2010 society just doesn’t work. Oh well…