By Rabbi DL Sheets
As many of you know, Yom Kippur is upon us—the Jewish Day of Atonement. This day exists in Jewish religion for us to contemplate the sins we committed this past year against God as well as against our fellow man. More importantly, however, on this day we are to focus on turning a new leaf and becoming a better person. In the ten days between Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur we are to contemplate our actions, and on this tenth day, we are to make a decision?much like the secular New Year’s Resolution most of us make on the first of January.
Tonight, the question that plagues me is this: should I retire from LJDrama.org? Is LJ drama really an inherently evil concept, or does it serve a noble purpose? Does LJDrama.org spread lashon ha’ra (harmful speech) or does it actually fulfill the mitzvah of tikkun olam (making the world a better place)?
This question is tougher than it seems. After all, we are indeed gossiping. There’s no way to sugarcoat it. We take livejournal’s ugliest facets and publicly expose them. Even though most of our statements are true, they are still harmful to others. Not physically, of course, but mentally? Absolutely. How can one possibly justify the existence of such an “evil” site?
There is a second, subtler side to LJDrama. This is a side that is not always shown here, but is very apparent in the long-term. If you read the comments in recent posts, you’ve probably seen people complain about the drama we’ve been posting. People have been calling the drama weak and impotent; essentially, they are wondering: “Where is the good drama"?
The answer is simple. There is less LJ Drama because of LJDrama.org (and the smaller LJ communities that subscribe to a similar mission statement). LJDrama.org in its domain-name form will celebrate its first anniversary next month. During the year, we’ve exposed much drama, and as the LJ community saw this as a deterrent. The LJ community has learned, for the most part, not to start shit on-line. LJ mommies started warning their LJ kiddies: “Don’t go starting shit, sonny, or LJDrama will get you!” And the results are clear—there really is less public drama now than there was last November. A lot of the drama now either occurs behind the friends-only lock or face to face.
So, in fact, while we appear to be some sort of warmongering egomaniacs, we are truly providing an important service to the LJ community. And with that, fellow Jews and gentiles, Rabbi DL Sheets gives you permission to read and contribute to LJDrama.org for another year.