(updated 20081109 to better fit new layout i've chosen.)

it's difficult to describe Second Life ("SL") in a phrase or a couple of words. it would take a poet. i'm not a poet. it's like a Coney Island of the mind, quite profane at times with its commerce and sex. but because there's so little in the way of physical needs, if people devote some energy, they can create beautiful things. as in Real Life ("RL"), tucked away among the condos, the shopping malls, on improbable islands, you'll find magic in SL, places known by word of friend and not Google search. one all began with a sukkah built in 27 minutes.

meet Beth Odets, artist, musician, long time SL Resident, close friend to many in world and out, and in RL, dedicated and devoted mom. a sukkah, Sefer Torah, or synagogue get built in whatever spare intervals Beth has to devote. it's her "turn it off rule".

"I don't do SL when they are around. It's my 'turn it off' rule that I have for myself. It's too easy ... to not turn it off."

the secret of her art? complete dedication, focus on something for moments; keeping values and priorities sorted.

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Beth built the place to hang with friends. they preceded the sukkah, the synagogue. the latter were consequences of conversation. other artists contributed, a bit here, a lulav there. but the Second Life Synagogue ("SLS") is dominated by Beth's art, from the tile artwork in its sanctuary, to Shabbat candles kept in the sukkah, to the meditation circle outside, to rumpus cushions for the youthfully energetic, complete with scripts and poses for bouncing. little is wanting. the visitor will find a siddur and kippot in a dispenser. and there's no tzedakkah box. Beth Odets built this sanctuary to recreate one she's had in her mind, a place of warmth, comfort, grace, and beauty, a place where Beth feels warm and safe and knows she's loved. i've felt that. the sanctuary is a place where i want to remain quiet, contemplative. when i withdraw, people are bigger, important, even if they be strangers, folks i should care about. then, turning, the sukkah begins tickling, with its brights and sense of homecoming.

SLS is a home, one of my homes. it's a place to come to when the winds outside are a little too cold and wild, when i shiver hearing their howling. but it's not a place to remain: it reminds me of who i am, and all the things i still want to do.

"You see, i didn't know it was going to turn out like this."

if anything, SL is art. Beth Odets is one of SL's best artists, a poet of shape and color, crafting spaces and lives with delicate touches, incisive images, heartfelt words.

if Residents want to check out SLS, it's at 40, 142, 104  (click for slurl), and is searchable as "TMA", "Congregation Beth-Israel", "Jewish", or "synagogue".

i'll be writing more about SLS and the "tragically misunderstood artists" community soon.

	for contrast, these are the state offices and library in Second Life, and they typify SL's mood if not its architecture. incidently, King James is the only version of the Bible the library has. project anyone?
"It's not functional as a synagogue ... per se. But it's functional as a house of worship. I would say that. People come and sit there. And think. And sometimes pray."

update 200811091630 EST: since this post was first written, Beth Odets activities in and out of Second Life have received a great deal of coverage. i'm including a set of links below, just for sampling. i'm no longer an SL "resident", having been both disenchanted with it and gone on to other things, primarily computational.

• "Introducing the Great Beth Odets"
• Beth Odets -- Violin in SL
• Beth Odets' videos via Google Video
• Beth Odets on YouTube
• Catching up with Beth Odets
• SLS made it in a story on NBC Nightly News
• a guided tour of spirituality in Second Life
• Beth Odets' band, Fish Fry Bingo