Why Do Jews Blog

When asked about her frequency of blogging, Toronto Pearl, who is a married mother of three and who works as an editor for a book publishing firm, noted: "I generally post daily, or every second day. Blogging can be some what addictive and you're almost afraid to miss a day of posts. Some people expect to read your words every day and get disappointed when there is nothing from you, just as I get disappointed when there is nothing from them on a particular day." "For me, blogging is a writing exercise that opens the mind, gets the creative juices flowing and spits out some good stream-of-consciousness writing for me," she continues. "I have made some wonderful offline blogging/online friends as a result -- we share common interests, have wonderful online e-mail friendships, are helping each other with advice and information." For Los Angeles-based mystery novelist Rochelle Krich, keeping a blog titled "News, Views and Schmooze" is part of her life as a writer. When asked why she started keeping a web log, she replied by by email: "I had always wanted a forum where I could express my views about a variety of topics and get feedback from others. When asked what role her Jewish identity plays in her blogging activities, Krich said: "It depends on the day, and the topic, of course. I've blogged about Passover and matzohballs, about Paris Hilton, about giving blood, about my tour experiences, about Philip Roth's latest novel, and also about the inaccuracies in American TV and film portrayals of Orthodox Jews." Who are her readers and how to they find their way to her blog? Krich, who adds new entries to her blog three to four times a week, says she has no idea, but adds: "I've received numerous comments from blog readers, all positive, about my various posts. The greatest number of hits followed my post about a serial child molester who was recentlyparoled and relocated to a community that refused to accept him." Regarding the pros and cons of blogging, and keeping a regular blog, Krich -- author of several well-received novels, among them "Grave Endings, a Mary Higgins Clark Award winner -- says that "that blogging is a wonderful writing exercise, though it's far more time-consuming than I anticipated. The ability to touch base with readers all over the world, of all backgrounds -- I find that exciting and stimulating." Elizabeth Weisberg keeps a blog and says she started her blog because she wanted to meet other BT women -- "Women who were already married and became 'from' with their husbands and all that that entails."

As for her Jewishness, Weisberg notes: "I can't do anything without being Jewish. I don't always talk about Jewish topics on my blog, but that doesn't mean you can't see something Jewish in them because they are coming from me." Curious goyim. Mostly my readers are in the US, but I do have someone from Germany who reads me regularly, and some from Australia and some from Israel, according to my emails. Most readers are pretty nice. Sometimes some readers yell at me for complaining too much. People are quick with advice and kind words." "Why do I blog? Well, I love meeting new people and asking them about their lives, "Weisberg said by email. "I get to see lots of different points of view. And I just love to read and real people's real lives are so much more interesting than anything else one can find to read." A blogger who calls herself simply Z., and blogs at http://www.matzahandmarinara.com/, says she got into blogging after reading Jennifer Weiner's blog. "I started my blog initially as essays about my life. It turned into Jew View' and has now morphed into 'Matzah and Marinara'. I feel I am a capable writer who has something to share." Z., a 42-year-old mom in Pennsylvania who blogs almost daily, adds that her Jewishness plays a big role in her blogging activities "since it also has a huge role in my life. I converted to Judaism in May 2003, and it is a constant struggle to define my Jewishness as it applies in my life. My blog helps me make those definitions. It also allows me to show the world that a Jewish mother has the same concerns as any other mother." "I was raised by a B'nai Noachfather and a Presbyterian mother," adds Z. "I was very interested in Judaism from a young age, and actually, it was the concentration of my history major in university. My senior thesis was on the Holocaust." "My son is twelve years old, and is working towards his bar mitzvah," Z notes. "He was recently diagnosed autistic. In fact, I once did an eight-part series on my blog in partnership with Shira Salamone from the 'On The Fringe' blog about children with disabilities -- her son is also disabled."

And who are her readers? "My main readers are primarily men and women, not necessarily Jewish, who have children," adds Z., noting: "Around 85% of my readership is from the US, 8% from Israel and 7% from Canada. The people who visit my blog seem to react to my writing with great compassion and empathy. A lot are parents of disabled children like my son, Evan. They relate to my stories and anecdotes because they make them feel less isolated and less alone. Other readers are just people on whose blogs irregularly visit. We keep up with each other." When asked why she blogs, Z. answered: "Of course, there's a degree of exhibitionism involved. My blogs are anonymous. I use the moniker 'Z' which in my little mind allows me to write about people whoa re closer to home such as my Sisterhood or the local synagogue. However, more and more people affiliated with those are reading or could be reading, so I have backed off of that. For me, the blog allows me a venue to expres smyself. My son is autistic, and my husband is diabetic and needs a heart transplant. Me? I muddle through. I get a lot of support from my blog and it allows me avenue to vent, kvetch, brag, whatever. It's very satisfying. I would like to write a novel someday. Through my blog I was able to meet author Rochelle Krich who emailed me privately and we chatted for a while -- and what an honor that was! Advice from Rochelle Krich! Without my blog, I never would have me her!" Why do people blog? Why do Jews blog? What's blogging all about? To really understand the phenomenon of modern blogging, it's best to plug into the Internet yourself, do some random surfing and search engine browsing, and then call up those blogs you want to read and ... start reading. From A Simple Jew to Jewish Blogography, from House of Joy to Five Years Later, from On the Face to Expat Egghead, from My Urban Kvetch to Help Me Bubby, from Jerusalem Revealed to This Normal Life and a hundred thousand other blogsites, you will be amazed, surprised, educated, nonplussed, exasperated, thrilled and filled with naches. Most of important of all, you will have your global Jewish consciousness raised to a level you never imagined possible.

Bubbie and Zadie invite Jewish children worldwide to write special ''Hannukah letters'' to them.

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI -- Since 1981, an imaginary pair of Jewish grandparents named Bubbie and Zadie have invited Jewish kids each Hannukah to write handwritten letters to them, for free, telling Bubbie and Zadie about their hopes and wishes for the upcoming Hannukah holiday, describing their families and relatives near and far, and relating their ideas about world peace and all nations learning to get along with all other nations.
Bubbie and Zadie are in their 70s, their listen to Beethoven and Bach,
they know all about hip-hop and rock and they even know how to rap in Yiddish. And -- they live in Kansas City, where, though semi-retired, they still run a small tailor shop and devote the Hannukah season to running their annual letter-writing program. Each letter received gets a letter back in return, also handwritten by Bubbie and Zadie, and there has never been a charge for this service, according to Bubbie and Zadie's backroom benefactor, a Jewish writer, Internet blogger and self-described "Jewish memory bank manager" named Danny Bloom. Bloom, a native of Boston and a graduate of Tufts University there, has relatives in Missouri, in St. Louis. He says he ''placed'' Bubbie and Zadie in Kansas City because "it's a universal city in a universal country" and because the name of the city has always resonated with him. Bubbie and Zadie have lived in several cities in America since he first created them in 1981, on a whim, thinking that Jewish kids just might have fun writing handwritten letters to a pair of magical grandparents. At first, Bubbie and Zadie lived in Nome, Alaska, where they were fur traders. Then they moved to San Francisco, and then to Chicago. For now, Bloom says, Bubbie and Zadie live in Kansas City, where they have plenty of free time at this time of year to devote themselves to the letter-writing program. "It's their little mitzvah" Bloom says, using a Hebrew word for "good deed". For Bubbie and Zadie, it's the highlight of their year, reading all the letters that come in and answering them all, too. Bloom runs the program out of his own pocket, he says, although he accepts donations from people who want to help pay for postage costs. "I've been been running this letter program for almost 25 years, and it's been a wonderful way to connect to my own roots and to let other people connect as well," Bloom, who currently lives in Asia, says. Taiwan? "I've always been a world traveller," Bloom says. "I've spent the last 15 years in Asia and I love it here. Still, each Hannukah, I help Bubbie and Zadie spread some good cheer around with this letter-writing project."

In 1985, after a New York Times article about Bubbie and Zadie caught the attention of a publisher in New York, Bloom wrote a children's book titled "Bubbie and Zadie Come to My House," which appeared first as a hardback book, then as a paperback for the Weekly Reader Book Club and then later as an audiotape from HarperCollins Books in New York, with the story read by Hollywood actress Pat Carroll of Disney's "The Little Mermaid" fame. The book itself is now out of print, although more than 15,000 copies were sold when it was first published, and over 5,000 copies remain in libraries across the nation, according to Bloom. This year, however, Bloom put the entire story from the book onto a free Internet website, where anyone can click and read it. "Kids can read the story about Bubbie and Zadie now for free, print it out if they wish and even illustrate the words with their own colorful pictures and send them to Bubbie and Zadie," adds Bloom. The address: Bubbie and Zadie's Tailor Shop, Global Mail Center Post Office Box 1000, Chiayi City, Taiwan 600-99. Adults who use email can also contact Bubbie and Zadie and reconnect with the memories of their own bubbies and zadies, by sending email to: bubbie.zadie@gmail.com, according to Bloom. Santa Claus, you've got company now; Bubbie and Zadie are here to impart some holiday joy of their own! Mazel tov!

Taiwan human rights group says current Chinese written characters for 'Jews' are biased Read this article in Internet format.

TAIPEI -- The Chinese language is comprised of thousands of characters and combinations of characters, each composed with various strokes. It's not an easy language for foreigners to learn to speak, and it's not an easy language to write. What does this have to do with Jews? Well, a human rights group in Taiwan recently called on Chinese journalists and academics worldwide to stop what has been called the "discriminatory" way the characters for "Jewish people" are currently written in Mandarin worldwide. "There are many Chinese characters for 'you-tai' or Jew, but the combination that is currently being used refers to an animal of the monkey species, and has the connotation of `parsimoniousness," Chien Hsi-chieh, director of the Peacetime Foundation of Taiwan, told reporters at a recent press conference in Taipei. His remarks, complete with illustrations of the offending characters and the new characters Chien recommends, were widely reported in the Chinese-language media across Taiwan and China, both in print and online. "A better choice for the word 'Jews' in Chinese writing would be one
that is pronounced the same, but written with a more neutral character."

Following the press conference held in a meeting room in Taiwan's Parliament, a local English-language newspaper quoted Zhou Xun, a Chinese professor at the University of London, as saying it is not easy to define Jews as a people using a combination of two or three Chinese characters. "In fact, the current way of writing 'you-tai', to mean 'Jews,' indicates the imagined physical difference between the Chinese and the Jews, which is rooted in the tradition of picturing all alien groups living outside the pale of Chinese society as distant savages hovering on the edge of bestiality," the Chinese scholar said. Chien first brought the matter to the attention of the Taiwan government last October, where it was discussed by officials in Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Government Information Office. The government said that it would help promote the new way of writing the term for Jews in books, newspapers and on the Internet if local civic groups, such as the Peacetime Foundation, continued to promote the idea. However, since the island nation of Taiwan has no official diplomatic ties with Israel, due to pressure from communist China, there have been contacts with Jerusalem about the matter, Chien said. The Jewish people are not the only ones that the Chinese written language discriminates against, Chien added. He also recommended that the Chinese world community -- in Taiwan, in China, and in Chinese communities overseas -- replace the currently negative term for Islam ("hui") with a better combination of characters ("yi-si-lan") because the current term has "a connotation of paganism". According to the foundation in Taipei, the origin of the Chinese term used for "Jews" can be dated to around 1830 when Christian missionaries in mainland China were translating the Old and New Testaments and chose the current, discriminatory combination of characters. Chien believes that while there were many other characters the missionaries could have chosen to use in the Chinese writing system, they "purposefully chose the one with character root that means 'dog' which brought with it a centuries-old Christian prejudice against Jews." As an aside, the foundation also notes that near the end of the Qing Dynasty in China, there was so much anger against English colonizers there that it was common to see the Mandarin characters for England with a ''dog'' character root as well. This character root was later cast aside, however.

Chien hopes that on September 21, 2005 -- World Peace Day -- the current way of writing "Jews" in Chinese script will be changed, in order to reflect a more progressive and neutral attitude in looking at all peoples.