Is Twitter Good For The Jews?

I just read an interesting story in the Forward that speaks both to the wordiness of Jews and how trends toward microblogging, particularly Twitter, may undermine the Jewish mind.

The basic premise of the argument goes something like this: Jews have always been people of the book, all scholarly discussions in the Midrash come back to this source, and to some degree, all 'Jewish genius' comes from this source as well, and the 'pilpul' of pulling every iota of meaning from a source. Without the Torah as the core source though, and without the careful, well-reasoned, and wordy output, the Jewish mind will deteriorate.

Um... not sure if I totally buy it. I see an entirely new generation of Yids who are connected..both in terms of Jewish identity, and in terms of the network. People who are building connections and making things happen.

Two examples taking place this evening are Michael Oren's talk, tonight at 560 Trinity in University City, which is being promoted through social media, and Kosha Dillz, the Jewish Rapper who performs tonight at Atomic Cowboy in Tower Grove. Kosha Dillz has basically been planning his entire tour using Twitter to connect with people, particularly Jews, around the country to help him book shows.

Are we losing the core content or are we finding new ways to engage and express?

Read the Forward's story here.