Case Study Overview

In my case study, I'm focusing on how Jewish people create and use memes about their religious practices, and what this says about Judaism as a lived religion vs Judaism as an official religion. I decided to focus on this specifically because of a few memes I found, one of which showing condescending Wonka accusing a person of skipping shul due to a hangover. While official Judaism would presumably condemn such a practice, it is obviously common and humorous enough to show up in religious memes.

I wanted to focus on an inside approach to Judaism, so I took each of my memes from a facebook group called @JewishMemes. Each of these memes were created for Jews by Jews, and I figured this was the surest way to make sure my sample was coming from the correct perspective. It just so happened that most of these memes were related to religious practices, which is what inspired me to pursue this topic.

I guess the only real assumption about Judaism that my study

focuses on (other than the assumption that Jews are funny and good-natured) is the assumption that lived religion reflects official religion. These memes show that this is not necessarily true, as each of them almost make fun of the discrepancy between what is expected vs. what Jews actually do in their practices.

I think this relates to Jewish understanding of practices because it shows that while Jews are obligated to their religion and its practices, they see this as a part of their life, not necessarily the driving force in it. While they are religious, they have adapted their practices to fit the lifestyle they choose to lead.

Part 2

Offline religious culture sets the basis and creates what should be considered orthodox by creating a base, official religion with set rules. Lived religion is this official religion but with the addition of humanness and imperfection. As said in Aguilar's piece, lived religion "promotes a form of religion that is flexible and personal, versus simply echoing or coming from official religious structures and systems of orthodoxy" (Aguilar). There would be no basis to follow or adhere to without offline, traditional religion. While lived religion and official religion are both present offline, lived religion is becoming increasingly online, and relies heavily on the offline aspects of religion. According to "Reading Religion in Internet Memes", Bellar claims that, "digital culture creates a space for lived

religious practice, so religion can function as an exegetical frame that can engage secular, popular culture and religious Jewish people within a shared contemporary discourse" (Bellar 17).

In my case study, it seems that digital culture supports the stereotype that Jews are humorous and good natured, while refuting the idea that Jews are these super ultra-religious, conservative people that take religion extremely seriously. A few branches of Judaism are certainly very traditional, but through my study of Jewish memes, it has become clear that this is not always the case. Each of my memes jokingly makes fun of Jewish obligation to certain practices and ideas, and while the jokes are good-natured, they're hardly reverent.

Based on my research, I'd say the relationship between offline and online meanings and messages communicated through memes would be "bridged". I think online and offline religion are bridged by lived religion's dependence on official religion, but I think they are inherently separate.

Works Cited

Aguilar, G. K., Campbell, H. A., Stanley, M., & Taylor, E. (2016). Communicating mixed messages about religion through internet memes. Information, Communication & Society, 20(10), 1498-1520. doi:10.1080/1369118x.2016.1229004

Bellar, W., Campbell, H. A. (2013). Reading Religion in Internet Memes. Journal of Religion, Media & Digital Culture, 2(2).