A thought experiment

[unixronin]

Monty Python's Flying Circus was renowned for its irreverence and its willingness to parody and satirize anything.  Suppose, for a moment, that Monty Python had done a sketch satirizing Judaism.

...Well, actually, they sort of already did.  Except it wasn't just a sketch, it was an entire movie, The Life of Brian, and it satirized Judaism, Christianity and the Roman Empire with pretty much equal enthusiasm.  And then there was the treatment of Catholicism vs. Protestantism in The Meaning of Life.  And ...

But that's neither here nor there.  Back to our original scenario.

In our hypothetical sketch, the Pythons illustrate how Judaism has adapted to the modern world by showing how the orthodox Jewish establishment responds to a threatened epidemic.  The sketch depicts a large group of very traditionally dressed rabbis boarding a modern jet airliner, which then flies around their nation's borders as they chant incantations and prayers and blow ram's-horn shofars to ward off the disease.

What do you suppose the reaction would be?  A lot of people would laugh, sure.  A lot of people would dismiss it as ridiculous satire, but laugh anyway.  The Pythons would probably get the usual mailbag of complaints that it was ridiculing the Jewish faith, that it was disrespectful, that it was offensive to Jews, that it was mocking Jews and making them out to be ignorant and superstitious.

Right?  Remember, after all, the hate mail the Pythons got over Every Sperm is Sacred?

There's just one thing about this thought experiment.  It's not entirely a thought experiment.  You see, it really happened, last year.

No, not the Python sketch.  The fifty rabbis circling Israel in an airplane, blowing shofars to ward off swine flu.

Once again, we are reminded that truth can be at least as strange as any fiction.

Comments

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

Have you ever heard a mass blowing of shofars? They aren't tuned. If *I* was a virus, I'd stay away . . .

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking, fifty shofars inside an airplane fuselage ....

"We're preparing to land now, please return to your seats and fasten your seatbelts."
"WHAT?"
"I SAID, WE'RE PREPARING TO LAND NOW, PLEASE RETURN TO YOUR SEAT AND FASTEN YOUR SEATBELTS."
"WHAT?"
"LANDING!!! SEAT!!! [point] SEAT BELT!!!"
"SORRY, I CAN'T HEAR YOU, MY EARS ARE RINGING."
"SO ARE MINE!!!"

[jordan179.livejournal.com]

That is hilarious. Did the shofar-blowing work?

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

I don't think anyone's actually managed to get funding for an epidemiological study to find out.

[beckyzoole.livejournal.com]

Worked? Of course it worked! There were less than 600 cases of swine flu in Israel (http://www.disabled-world.com/health/influenza/swine-flu/cases-statistics.php), and no confirmed deaths. Shofars in planes FTW. :-)

<--- I'm Orthodox, BTW :-)

[hannahsarah.livejournal.com]

There's a big portion of Orthodox Jews who will never even know who Monte Python is (which is a pity), and there is another big portion who will find the skit hilarious. One or two cranky-pants OJ's might object, maybe.

Conservative Jews will hold discussions about how to react to the skit, and Reform Jews will get all butthurt about it and write articles to the Jewish Tribune. No one will care except other Reform Jews, and no one will actually do anything about it.

Reconstructionist Jews will invite you to their "GLBT & Friends" pork chop BBQ next Shabbos, if you give a $18 donation.