R' Gil points to a
Jewish Press piece which contains this very odd quote:
The Novominsker Rebbe recalled that American Jewish history was replete with battles to protect Shabbos, kashrus, Taharas HaMishpachah, all of which are proudly adhered to in observant Jewish America today. However, the Rebbe stressed, the threat of the Internet is greater than all the previous perils combined...
Huh?! I don't get that at all. I agree with Gil's comment at the beginning of the post:
Fighting the internet is like fighting the telephone. You're never going to win. You'll have much more success teaching people how to use it responsibly.
Meanwhile, I was reading
this post of Larry Gordon [the 5 Towns Jewish Times editor] (
via Krum) and I'm appalled. I can't believe he said either of these:
- Our buddy Krum-As-A-Bagel seemed tickled to see his name in lights or at least on dull newsprint paper culled from the Canadian forests. I guess if you cannot have your name in lights—and that’s what you crave—then this next best thing may be newsprint.
- Ariella seems a little angry about something and seems bent on targeting this writer for merchanting in hypocrisy laced with contradictions.
Interestingly, he then hints at criticizing anonymous bloggers including Ariella, who actually is not anonymous (just doesn't broadcast her name). I don't think I even need to get into the details of why he's wrong about all of his opinions in this piece; you can read the post, read their posts, read the article he wrote, and decide for yourself. But these comments he made!? Wow - what a jerk.
Absolutely on target on all the topics you touch on. Whether you attach your name to a blog or newspaper or not doesn't make a difference - what matters is whether you respect other people's opinions and treat them fairly. As you wrote, read the respective blogs and publications in question and decide for yourself.
ReplyDeleteChaim - Thanks, and amen.
ReplyDeleteEzzie, from my reading, the criticism of Ariella was a thinly veiled attempt to discredi not only her blog, but her publication, and just comes off making Gordon look bad. It makes me wonder if he's just irked that some of his advertising dollars may have been diverted to Kallah Magazine. In any case, it's pretty nasty.
ReplyDeleteRM - I agree. It's downright low... and pathetic.
ReplyDeleteWhat is interesting is the claim that Ariella does not post her name or contact info. Her blog is a subsite of her main webpage, where her info is posted, and it is in every .pdf of the magazine on the site. If L.G. wanted an example of a site that posts contact info on its main page but nothing on its blog he might look at... well, his own.
ReplyDeleteMaybe instead of focusing on whether a writer decides to make his/her name public, the focus should be on whether writers, both print and blogger, treat people fairly, report facts accurately, and raise the level of discourse in our community, or whether they choose to use their public voice as a soapbox for ridicule, lashon hara, and distortion.
very small of LG. I never was particularly impressed with his, but I'm far less impressed with his mentschlichkeit.
ReplyDeleteChaim B - Agreed completely. I actually checked myself to be sure that I was right that her info was easily found; any self-respecting journalist would have been able to find it with less than 30 seconds of work. That he didn't means he didn't even try.
ReplyDeleteFormer 5TJT - I can't say I've read it more than a few times, but I'll definitely agree on the latter.
I've even spoke with Ariella on the phone. :)
ReplyDelete