Reflect. React. Renew.
It just might be the shortest High Holy Days sermon you’ve never heard.
It’s also the message behind 10Q, a national project from Reboot that asks people to add their written contributions to a digital time capsule by answering a question a day online for 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
To celebrate the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation’s centennial, the agency has partnered with Reboot, a New York–based nonprofit that encourages creative Jews to “reboot” Jewish traditions and make them relevant again in modern life, to create a localized version, JCF10Q.
“We want to start the New Year with something innovative, forward-looking and new to the Bay Area,” said Susan Mall, the federation’s centennial director. “This is a fresh approach to our standard traditions of Judaism.”
JCF10Q began Sept. 8 (though you can jump in at any time), prompting participants to answer 10 questions about life goals, the future, relationships, one’s place in the world and more. Mixed in are questions tailored to Jewish values and the federation’s vision for its next 100 years.
To get the word out in the Bay Area, a roving billboard on the flatbed of a truck is making stops throughout the region, specifically in places served by the federation. The billboard is flashing a JCF10Q question for each of the 10 days.
The vehicle is traveling from Silicon Valley to San Francisco to Sonoma. The hope is to stop people in their tracks and direct them to the website, www.jcf10q.org, where the questions are hosted.
The answers go into a secure digital vault after the 10 days and are returned via e-mail to participants one year later, when the process begins again. The idea is for participants to make an annual tradition out of answering the questions, building up an archive for future years to come.
If users want to keep them secret, that’s no problem. Or, they can choose to share any response — anonymously or with attribution — with the wider 10Q community.
“The whole purpose is to unlock the doors to your mind, memories and thoughts of last year, and get in the mindset of the High Holy Days,” said David Katznelson, the federation’s director of outreach and engagement and Reboot board member. “10Q can be added to your temple or family experience.”
JCF10Q users will ponder questions such as: What does being Jewish mean to you? How do you want the Jewish community to look in 100 years? If you had $100 of federation money to give away, where would you put it?
Mall noted that if a majority of JCF10Q participants reply similarly to one question, it could spark changes within the agency.
“We’re not personal pollsters,” Mall said. “And though this isn’t a totally accurate study of the community, this would give us a sampling of how people are thinking. That’s very important.”
Broader inquiries borrowed from the national 10Q ask: What is a fear you have and how has it limited you? How would you like to change your life in the next year? Have you had any particularly spiritual experiences this past year, and how did they affect you?
Before Jessica Tully’s answers to last year’s 10Q appeared in her e-mail inbox a few days ago, the West Oakland resident said she had no idea how much she would appreciate glimpsing into her “salient and immediate time capsule.”
Tully, a Reboot member since 2009, said her family “barely” observed the Jewish holidays while she grew up. She didn’t have a formal Jewish education or learn Hebrew, and couldn’t find her place at Hillel or connect with a Reform High Holy Days service.
But she always ethnically identified with Jewish culture.
“I really have been seeking a space where I can use the framework of my heritage as a way to enrich my intentions and spiritual practices,” Tully said. “10Q gave me a place to be deeply happy.”
In September 2009, Tully was named an artist-in-residence with B.A.R.G.E., the Bay Area Research Group in Enviro-Aesthetics, based in Oakland. She wrote about how important and gratifying the new position was to her art practice in last year’s 10Q.
A year later, “I did nine projects and made such a difference,” said Tully, reflecting on accomplishments she hoped for in her 2009 10Q. “Seeing and thinking about what [the job] has meant a year later is incredible.”
10Q is an online effort to reverse the trend of living only for the moment that often crowds the ritual of introspection during the Days of Awe. The national site garnered 30,000 unique visitors in 2009, a figure Reboot hopes to double this year, according to Tanya Schevitz, Reboot’s San Francisco program director.
It is also an experiment to see what happens when questions ranging from the personal to the communal, from family issues to global events, are brought to frenetic life in places such as New York, Las Vegas and San Francisco.
“The federation wants to establish a tradition of engagement,” Katznelson said. “10Q is a wonderful way to celebrate the centennial by looking inward toward ourselves before going into our community for similar dialogue.”
Last year, an oversize electronic billboard on the Reuters Building in Times Square displayed the questions, and this year a series of four signs at Fashion Show Mall in Las Vegas flashed questions from 10Q, which formally launched in 2008.
Reboot encourages users of all faiths to go online and reflect on their values, hopes and vision for the future. Answers can be serious, silly or salacious. The key is to make them personal, memorable and honest.
British playwright Nicola Behrman came up with the idea for 10Q with Reboot program director Amelia Klein and New Yorker editor Ben Greenman. The trio met at a Reboot conference two years ago and decided to collaborate in creating an ethical will based on reflection and hopes for the future.
“It’s inspired by these Jewish concepts, but we wanted 10Q to be universal,” said Behrman, a Los Angeles resident who has been a “Rebooter” for three years. “All of the questions can be answered by anyone, whether they’re religious, atheist or angry at religion. 10Q allows us to take the essence and beauty of Judaism and make it a universal experience.”
The creators also wanted to take advantage of the fact that potential 10Q participants are more likely to follow through with the project if it can be completed in between e-mailing, updating Facebook statuses and tweeting.
“We do live in an online world,” Behrman acknowledged. “Creating something online and simple was a surefire way to get people to do it. We wanted it to be clean and not too daunting.”
The idea of ritual, she added, is important in any environment, and 10Q invites participants to stop and assess.
“As we achieve things in life, we don’t stop to congratulate ourselves or sit in the pride,” Behrman said. “A year later, when they completely forgot, 10Q is giving us a sense of meaning that is quite difficult to find in modern-day life.”
Last year’s 10Q testimonials included answers from Jews, Christians, Muslims and Buddhists; those who observe the High Holy Days traditionally and those who have never set foot inside a synagogue. Participants spanned the globe, from the United States to Italy to Australia.
So far, a few prominent figures have publicly shared their 10Q answers.
In response to last year’s question No. 6, “Describe one thing you’d like to achieve by this time next year,” U.C. President Mark Yudof wrote: “In the broadest sense, my goal is to achieve sustainability, to find ways to ensure that the University of California can serve the coming generations.”
New York Gov. David Paterson on what he would have changed from the previous year: “I would have embarked on a campaign to educate the public about how stimulus money affects the state budget.”
Orthodox Rabbi Benjamin Blech, an internationally recognized educator, religious leader, author and lecturer, tweaked the 10Q questions to reflect his values. His answers appeared on Aish.com, a Jewish content provider with articles on family, dating, holidays and Israel events.
To the question, “Am I optimistic about the coming year?” Blech replied, “Our hope is the greatest indicator of our belief. Our optimism is the sign of our confidence in divine help.”
Greenman, who is also a novelist, said he is surprised by participants’ willingness to answer so honestly. People have opened up about body issues, illness, work problems, marriage troubles and family turmoil — and don’t seem to be guarded or interested in hiding.
The first question from 2009, “Describe a significant experience that has happened in the past year,” generated myriad responses: “I found out my daughter has Down syndrome. It made me love her even more.” “I began rewriting a novel that sat on my shelf for nearly seven years.” “My parents went bankrupt and lost their home and retirement savings.”
Greenman attributed the candid and raw responses in part to the online environment fostered by 10Q. The site, he added, gives users space to think about their lives that they don’t get through social media tools or e-mail.
“The effect of that really lets people stretch out and fall deeper into themselves,” Greenman said. “They really do go on, but not in a self-indulgent way. They work through their issues.”
QUESTION 1: Describe a significant experience that has happened in the past year. How did it affect you? Are you grateful? Relieved? Resentful? Inspired?
QUESTION 2: Think about a major milestone that happened with your family this past year. How has this affected you?
QUESTION 3: Describe an event in the world that has impacted you this year. How? Why?
QUESTION 4: What does being Jewish mean to you?
QUESTION 5: Have you had any particularly spiritual experiences this past year and how did the experience affect you? (“Spiritual” can be broadly defined to include secular spiritual experiences: uplifting, inspiring, artistic, cultural, and so forth.)
QUESTION 6: What is a fear that you have and how has it limited you? How do you plan on letting it go or overcoming it in the coming year?
QUESTION 7: How would you like to change your life in the next year? Is there a role for the Jewish community to play in assisting you?
QUESTION 8: The JCF is celebrating its 100th year in 2010 and is and looking forward to the next 100 years. How do you want the Jewish community to look in 100 years?
QUESTION 9: Describe one thing you’d like to achieve by this time next year. Why is this important to you?
QUESTION 10: The San Francisco Jewish Community Federation supports youth programs, education, social services, help for the elderly, the arts, Jews in need around the world and civil society and poverty in Israel. If you had $100 of Federation money to give away, where would you put it?
BONUS QUESTION: What are your 2011 predictions?
cover design | cathleen maclearie