It is now six months since I began this journey in the Jblogosphere. Many issues have been discussed and even some comments from serious peers have been generated.
One topic that has reappeared often is the effect the internet in general and hebrewbooks.org in particular has had on the future of learning.
There was an effort to bring back some serious Hashkafic literature, i.e. the Jewish Observer, which unfortunately has not yet borne fruit.
There has been discussion about the Jewish music and literature of yesteryear. I suppose every generation yearns for the entertainment of their youth.
Additionally, an idea was offered that schools operate a blog to facilitate snow days and the like, but again, the Yeshiva World is not ready for certain ideas yet.
However, the main objective of this blog has been realized. We endeavored to show that blogging can be Loshon Hora free and in that regard, 6 months, 60 posts, and 6000 hits, later, we have succeeded.
May all readers be inspired to create their own Chiddushim!
Keep up the great work. Chazak V'ematz!
ReplyDeleteThanks to Rafi of Lifeinisrael blog for linking here. I appreciate the very mixed and interesting content.
ReplyDeleteContinued Hatzlacha!
ReplyDeleteI received one of those bulk email notifications this morning from the Agudah, concerning their dinner upcoming in a week. This was my response:
Wouldn't the dinner be a wonderful occasion on which to announce the resurrection of the JO?
Below is an email exchange with Rabbi Zweibel shlita on the topic. Since I never received a follow-up response, I don't know if it was considered. Perhaps now, with the economy beginning to recover, is the time to implement some of its ideas!
> Comment #4 was my wife's comment. She is invariable constructive!
>
> Let me preface my thoughts with a declaration of conflict of interest. For over fifteen years I have had the dream of someday becoming the Editor of the JO. Not that I thought it was necessarily realistic, but it was a dream nonetheless.
>
> Having gotten that possible negi'ah out in the open, I would first like to address the need for the JO. To me, the Agudah is nothing if it is not a movement. That is, an organization with a mission to move Am Yisroel further along the path in its destiny as the Mamleches Kohanim v'Goy Kadosh. At the same time, it is also a "big tent" - providing the venue for multiple "movers" to move the nation on multiple pathways, so long as they were all motivated by genuine Yiras Shomayim and were oleh b'derech Beis E-l. Such a movement, and its several or many movers, need to have a vehicle to convey their idealism, grounded in their respective intellectual histories and thought processes, linked to their resulting approaches to the great issues of the day - and at the same time, to the minutiae and details of their respective Darchei HaChaim and Avodas Hashem. Such a venue need possess gravitas, yet also be accessible. Intellectual, yet inspirational; polemical, yet respectful; popular, yet not bland.
>
> Without that venue, the Agudah remains little more than a PAC - a fine, effective one - but not a movement.
>
> Often my JO essays were focused on personalities that exemplified the idealism that to my mind is the Agudah's raison d'etre: R' Avrohom Elya Kaplan, Dr. Nathan Birnbaum, Dr. Isaac Breuer, etc. The unique politico-socio-Torah-growth-focused way that is Agudism.
>
> Now, as to practicalities. Clearly an issue of the JO should be a commodity that is cherished and preserved for years. One that can be taken out Shabbos afternoon months or years later, and still engage the mind and the heart. As such, it is uniquely different from the weeklies that now pervade our scene. As such, moreover, it cannot be primarily web or email based. However, it can be also web and email based. Indeed, its web presence can be the portal to the AIA, acting as the website that the AIA as the Agudah does not (and probably, for the foreseeable future, cannot) have. That website can have constantly new content in between monthly issues - generating traffic and revenue. The updatable material could be any combination of Agudah information, world news, letters to the editor, op-eds, monitored forums, etc. Models that exist include various sites such as Aish.com, "The Yeshiva World," Vosizneias, Matzav.com, and Crosscurrents. But the JO "brand" would lend a special and singular prestige and aura to the site. Although the site would have to be very well done esthetically and professionally, the content editor(s) would be the same one(s) as the monthly issue.
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> These are some of my thoughts. I am happy to continue the dialog if you find it meaningful.
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> KT,
> YGB
>
> David Zwiebel, Esq. wrote:
>
> Thanks. Interesting. As you might have guessed, I find comment 4 the most constructive. If I may, what are your thoughts?
Thank you Rabbi Bechhofer for your warm words. Has anyone contacted the Agudah recently to see what is holding up the rebirth of the JO?
ReplyDeletehave you had this blog reviewed by an Shmiras haLashon expert? Or are you one? Don't rush so quickly to self-congratulation. If nothing else, meeney U'vey this comment proves that your blog is not onoas devorim free (unless of course you decide to delete it!)
ReplyDeleteI do , however, congratulate on interesting posts, keeping things comparatively squeaky clean (though perhaps not rising to the rarefied level of LH free...remember v'kulan b'avak). Most of all I appreciate your frequent comments and your driving traffic to mt ol red tent blog.
Thank you Bray. Don't think that I will ever forget that you were my first commenter. Zacharti Lach Chesed Neurayich...
ReplyDeleteNo, I'm not an expert at all, considering that I don't see the Onoas Devorim you speak about.
As for all that traffic, it's not my readers, it's me.