The cover story for the summer issue of Reform Judaism is called CyberSanctuary. It is about how Internet technology is being used within congregations and within reform institutions, i.e., Union for Reform Judaism.

It was interesting that the magazine gave this topic the cover. I say this because much of what was discussed in the piece didn’t seem particularly new. Rabbis mentioned that they had been using podcasts for three years and blogging for two–that doesn’t constitute “new news.” Other uses of the Internet included posting monthly bulletins and using emails for death notices. Congregations are also providing their services online so that people who can’t make it to the synagogue can participate virtually–something Christians have obviously been doing for quite some time.

A couple of new ideas were mentioned: web sites that help track b’nai mitzvah students’ progress, video conferencing and social networking. This last was useful primarily for engaging younger congregants. One thing I thought was interesting is students practicing their Torah portion and uploading to a site so their tutor could review it before their next lesson. This is an effective use of the technology to further religious study and not one I had seen before.

The article is worth a look for a few pieces of interesting information like the last one mentioned above. In addition, it contains several links so you can see what various institutions are up to.

And a new tween mag Relate focuses on fashion, entertainment and faith. Below is the video that introduces the publication.

More interesting for our purposes is the video that appears under the tab for faith. While talking about girls and faith, notice the sponsor logos behind the speaker. Most interesting is Claire’s–a store that sells jewelry and makeup and all sorts of faddish things that get girls to focus on what they look like. This video is of an awards ceremony for girls who wrote essays about how they can be “true to themselves” in this day and age–particularly as it relates to purity. The best essays are rewarded with, you guessed it, gift cards. So much for separation of God and Mannon.

Here’s the Scientology commercial I wrote about last week.

Last night I was watching “How do you solve a problem like Maria?” which I had Tivo’d a few nights ago. The show is a reality series that is trying to find the lead for a revival of Sound of Music being produced by Andrew Lloyd Weber.

That’s not the interesting part (though the show is enjoyable and not all as mean-spirited as other reality series). What was interesting was the new commercial by Scientology. It is a montage of different people of all races and ethnicities, though mostly young people — early to mid-20s. The commercial ends with the tagline, “It’s life, and it’s yours” and directs viewers to go to their web site. (The commercial itself is not available online. You’ll have to find it on cable television and from what I can determine, mostly smaller cable networks like IFC and History Channel.)

When you go to scientology.org, you will find an array of videos (but not the commercial). There are two things I found particularly of interest here: 1) all the commercials were described as Public Service Announcements which would mean that the church would get free air time to play then, and 2) there was a section entitled “Way to Happiness.”

Way to Happiness contains some very highly produced and entertaining PSAs. (Again, I would share them with you, but the site only allows you to send them to a friend — and thus capture emails — but not to embed it on a blog.) Check out the first one called “Take Care of Yourself.” It’s one of the best produced ads I’ve seen. Note that the end of the spot takes you to another web site called The Way to Happiness. This site contains no information that would suggest that it is in any way tied to the Church of Scientology.

In sum, we have a new ad campaign targeting young people, a web site that does not signal its affiliation with the Church of Scientology, and a marketer that doesn’t want you to share videos except in a way in which they can capture your name and email. While the technology has changed, the game remains the same.