If i were a rich man....

Greetings all,

 I switched on the radio and if classic song was being played! So I thought I'd share it here.

PS-

I've been absent from here for a while, in part because it is our holiday season& therefore my eye has been on other matters and partly because I'm reflecting on the direction this blog should be. I haven't gone away. I am just contemplating the future.

New Blogs

David here.

I am pleased to announce that both Hannah and Esther now have blogs they are writing . Please join them for their journey into the blog sphere :

Hannah 

Esther

Note - much to my delight they are still going to contribute here as well.

DK

On blogging

Way back in March, I mused the following : 

"To me there seems to be 3 types of blogger :

1. Those who enjoy posting on other people's sites but don't have a blog themselves.

2. Those who enjoy writing on their own site and no-one else's

3. Those who try and combine 1 &2

I'll be honest and say that I set up this blog for various reasons, not least because I've got things to say about the world etc. Therefore I'm going to endevour to be more like number 2 on my list .It is not that I don't enjoy posting on other sites or discussing comments on them, but I simply cannot afford the time to really give each site I enjoy reading my full attention and do this blog (even with fellow contributors) any justice. So whilst I will continue to read various other blogs, my comments & time spent on them will reduce drastically. I will say what I have to say here. And I think it is fair to say that both Esther and Hannah feel the same way. "

Rather stupidly, Esther aside, I and Hannah continued to 'fight the good fight' on other sites, although not as frequently as before. I think it is a moth to a flame matter with both of us.. We both enjoy an argument & like to win. But so often, unlike in real life arguments, you can get sucked into this &  these can degenerate into pages and pages of discussion, which achieves very little, debates which are like this : 

I and Hannah were discussing this at yesterday's Shabbat lunch.. I think we both agree that we are at a stage where we want to be more like 2 on the list I penned back in March, so that would mean we are  going to refrain from comments on websites, unless the topic is 'very interesting'. Why is this the case? Too much time has been spent by both of us getting involved in arguing with people who have extreme views, who will never change and to whom, frankly it is not worth bothering with exhausting dialogue; life is far too short for that. We also both feel that we want to focus our efforts here. 

One thing we feel that gets missed in some blogs is that lack of participation by the author of a piece and the commentators. We try on the whole to respond to people's comments (unless they are obvious trolling  to piss us off ) as we both enjoy the interaction. But by commenting at other blogs and getting involved in depth discussions, it leaves less time to interact here or write good quality pieces; one can read other blogs without necessarily commenting on every single thread or blog post. So this time ,we are both going to refrain from diving into conversations and write occasionally on other places. That way we get to spend more time here, building this one up .Who gives a toss if we only get between 70 to 100 readers a day, rather than 5,000? It is quality and not quantity that counts.

Cross Currents -Open comments

Further to Hannah's post below, we would like to draw readers attention to an alternative blog (not in any way connect to any of us here), which is a forum for people to leave comments on Cross Current blog posts.Cross Currents itself heavily moderates comments and in some instances does not permit comment or a dissenting view, as in the case of the post Hannah has commented on. The explanation for this site is given on the first post  .

We are bringing this to people's attention, not because we are hostile to everything that comes out of the Haredi world, nor do we wish to constantly bash it, or see it gone, but because we believe that with every majority that there is a minority view and sometimes that minority is in the right. In fact we appreciate the sincerity of the writers of the Cross Currents blog and the Haredi world as a whole, in which a few bad apples spoil the reputation for everyone else in their community and to be fair, sometimes the ordinary Haredi family may feel that they are under siege both from within the Jewish community and outside it. 

However, our family are broadly liberal & conservative (politically and philosophically, not in respect of religion, where we are Orthodox in the broadest sense of the word) and do believe in the idea of freedom of speech, of thought and being able to articulate a world view, even if it one that we strongly disagree with. That is  one of the reasons why David set up our blog here, to allow for a forum where anything could be discussed, by anyone of any faith & even to ask about  heretical thoughts, in place where comments rarely get deleted & people can post under what nome de plume that they wish to. The truth can only be illuminated, never thrown into darkness.   

It was CP Scott, a famous liberal, who once said 'The voice of opponents, no less than that of friends has a right to be heard' ; in our own faith we study Torah in pairs, as we read we write and arguments down, debate it try and tear the other's argument apart. In this way we help each other to find the truth, as in the words of one Rabbi, study and debate are like a knife, that can only be sharpened on the side of another. That is the world we are used to and that is why we are happy to draw to your attention the Cross Currents- Open Comments Weblog.

Any questions ?

Hi All,

The sun is out , the sky is blue. The summer is here and hopefully it will stay! (:

As we will be blogging a bit lighter during these times of great sunshine*, which will hopefully be for much of the week, if you have any questions please leave them in the thread below and me, David, Sam & Esther will attempt to answer them. 

So fire away in the comments section on any topic, however frivolous or serious…


* Dave's away on business, I'm busy writing, Esther's gallivanting around the country and Sam's just being Sam.

Blogs to plug ? [Repost]

Hi All,

I've been updating the blog for us. If there are any themes or issues you would like us to talk about then please use the contact form  ('Contact us') opposite or this thread below. Also if you want to 'plug' a particular blog (e.g. your own) let us know and we will, in most circumstances put it up. It doesn't have to be of a particular ideology, religion or Jewish, providing it is entertaining, articulate, intelligent & regularly updated . Also just because there is a particular blog mentioned in our roll, doesn't mean to say we necessarily endorse or agree with the site in question or its position .

Shabbat Shalom to all! :)

Shul Notice

Hi All,

We've gone over to Disqus, which hopefully will provide a better comment platform. For those who wish to comment as anons, there is a function to do that.

Enjoy .

Notices

I like to get my notices done and out of the way. So here goes ;

1. You'll see that we've beefed up the 'pages' section, now moved to the right hand side bar, which contain what we think are important posts or points of discussion, so feel free to comment on these as there isn't a 'time limit' on them before posting gets disabled.

2. I see, via my e-mail tray,  that the 'blog roll' has upset one or two individuals, for linking to atheist & Christian sites (I will add to these on recommendation and as I encounter people online). Now quite simply, I couldn't  give a shit about what people think about the blog choice of I, Hannah & Esther,  because what we wish to read and link to is OUR business and no-one else's. If you disagree, get your own blog. They are free and easy to set up. You will see that some of the blogs are atheist, others Christian, others Jewish (of various hues). I make no apology for this, because when I read a blog I'm interested in the content of what is being said, not the tribal affiliation of the author; having interesting comments is also a plus factor.  The reality is that if one is to take seriously and literally  the[ Orthodox ]Jewish message of Jews being chosen and a light to the nations, one cannot do this if one is in a self imposed ghetto of his own making!!

3. I like to wear a black hat, it is simple as that. Just because Wiki tells you that Haredi Jews wear hats and I'm Sephardi doesn't mean that Sephardi can't wear nice black hats. If you want a stereotype blog that is like the PR room of a big corp, forget this blog. You're better off with one of the big popular Jewish sites,  such as Aish.com,not mine. Also please don't tell me, on my own blog, whether or not I should be posting on this particular day or that day. I've already checked much of this out, so stop being a wannabee Posek/Rabbi for me.

DK 

Blog so far ...

We've been reviewing the readership for this blog and we are all quite pleased that despite being just a couple of months old, we are getting a fair readership (about 3,000 unique visitors in total and about 40 to 50 individuals per day) given that this blog hasn't advertised & isn't written by lay  people who are not even remotely 'famous'... our 'religious' posts seem to get the most viewing figures,  key word searches for this blog have been ' hot gay Jews', 'Kavanagh Torah Weblog' & 'Orthodox Sephardi Blogs'. What is even more surprising is where the readership comes from. Below is the geographical representation of the blog readership so far, which is surprisingly global in scope :

• United Kingdom
• United States
• Canada 
• Netherlands
• Germany
• Kenya
• China
• Bangladesh
• Belgium
• Brazil
• Israel
• Poland
• Russia
• Australia 
• New Zealand
• Venezuela 
• Mexico

We've also agreed not to pre-moderate comments, so please don't abuse this, although to be honest moderation has become tiresome and detracts from other projects we wish to undertake-but we'd all still post here with no comments and no readership, as we're not doing this for vainglory.Next week, we all hope to be a bit more active in blogging. So stay tuned!

Allons-y!

On Blogging

To me there seems to be 3 types of blogger : 

1. Those who enjoy posting on other people's sites but don't have a blog themselves.

2. Those who enjoy writing on their own site and no-one else's 

3. Those who try and combine 1 &2

I'll be honest and say that I set up this blog for various reasons, not least because I've got things to say about the world etc. Therefore I'm going to endevour to be more like number 2 on my list .It is not that I don't enjoy posting on other sites or discussing comments on them,  but I simply cannot afford the time to really give each site I enjoy reading my full attention and do this blog  (even with fellow contributors) any justice. So whilst I will continue to read various other blogs, my comments & time spent on them will reduce drastically. I will say what I have to say here. And I think it is fair to say that both Esther and Hannah feel the same way. 

Allons-y!