Jewish Futurists
Linear vs Non-Linear Jewish Time
Linear is a line which is history, cyclical time is non-linear. Seasonal cycles and life cycles are non-linear. Judaism calls our attention to the need to observe these cycles and their impact on our physical and emotions beings. In celebrates these cycles, Jews have created rituals and ritual items with which to observe these cycles. These cycles do occur in linear or historic time, and the rituals and ritual items tend to reflect that along with the cultural surroundings experienced by Jews in particular cultures and time frames. Thus the significant attention given to ritual items in any discussion of Jewish Art.
There is another set of considerations that begin with a genre that is about the biblical subject matter rather than technique. With a series of web searches one can find dozens or more art works that pertain to specific personalities or events depicted in the Hebrew Scriptures, for example the scene best know for its verse โYour God is My God.โ That dramatic moment during which Ruth refuses the urging of Naomi to leave her and return to her moabite origins. The facial and body language depicted by the artists sheds understanding about Ruth and Naomi that the text does not. There is much we can learn about the historical moment of the artist as well.
Jewish Time
Linear Vs Non-Linear Judaism
Entering Moments of Our History as a Problem-Solving People
ย There is much to be learned from Jewish history: Despite great odds and powerful forces, the Jewish people has survived for thousands of years. During its historical experience it has mastered the art of change and continuity as its members have lived in both times of tranquility and times of crisis. It has survived among its many variations:
- The transition from being a rural agricultural people to an urban merchant class, and expanding its horizons in the medical, scientific and intellectual field.
- The transition from being a land rooted people to a people in exile from its homeland.
- The transition from being โat homeโ and prosperous in countries from which it was then forced to leave under great duress.
- Migrations to the new frontier of the American shores
- The transition from being victims of mass destruction to being cultivators of the desert, being rebuilt as a people even as it converted the barren land to the biblical land flowing with โmilk and honeyโ
- The transition from being the โpeople of the bookโ to being masters of scientific and technological innovation
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The ability of the Jewish people to survive and make these transitions is based on its being a problem-solving people with a flexible set of creative strategies that support both change and continuity.
These same creative strategies are available to organizations as they cope with their futures and their need to adapt to change.
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Among the creative strategies that have supported the Jewish people in their response to changing circumstances, and the need for problem-solving have been:
- The need to adapt to forced moves from the familiar to unfamiliar and even hostile surroundings.
- The need to choose unconventional paths and livelihoods
- A willingness to consider innovative approaches to problem solving
- Attention to life cycles and seasonal cycles and their impact on lives
- Teaching techniques for considering and analyzing multiple approaches
- Learning from surrounding cultures and absorbing elements while maintaining Jewish continuity
- Mastering new thinking and new technologies as they evolve
- A willingness at times to break with tradition for the sake of continuity
All these challenges and creative strategies can be applied to an organizationโs strategic planning process.