A Glimpse into the Orthodox Jewish Blogosphere

By: Ariella Gottesman

Posted: 10/30/09

In the age of Internet, weblogs, commonly known as blogs, are one of the primary tools in a web-savvy individual's quest for knowledge. Anything can be found on a blog; politics, science, religion, economy, human-interest stories. If there is notion, there is a blog.

There are as many 112 million blogs available on the Internet; how many of these blogs are oriented towards Judaism? The answer is more than you would expect, with Yeshiva University students numbering among the ranks of the bloggers.

Chana Wiznitzer (SCW '09 and The Observer's 2008-9 editor-in-chief), currently pursuing a Masters in Bible at the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies, has been blogging since she was in eighth grade, before blogging became common. It started as an outlet for her creative writing and as a forum for discussions, but has evolved over time to a more personal blog.

Entitled "The Curious Jew," Wiznitzer's blog gives daily updates about her personal life and insights into Judaism. Her blog intertwines both her religion and her life; there are pictures of her cooking and painting, quotes, short stories, poetry, notes from YU classes, divrei Torah, and stories and updates about her life.

The Curious Jew has a diverse readership base, an aspect that Wiznitzer loves. "The Jewish blogosphere allows many different camps to come together," she says. "I love the fact that atheists, people who are no longer religious, secular Jews, Conservative, Reform and all stripes of Orthodox Jews can all come together in this forum and speak to one another."

When asked why she chose to blog about Judaism, Wiznitzer replied: "Being a Jew is the most important thing in my life; it is how I define myself. Thus, it makes logical sense that this is what I would choose to document." She discusses Judaism from her own personal viewpoint, in connection to any topic, avoiding only politics. "I would rather hear about the inner working of someone's soul than trash public figures," she states.

The Curious Jew blog is not only the forum for discussion that Wiznitzer wishes it to be, it is also an area where Judaic studies can be pursued. Wiznitzer often posts her notes to the many YU classes and events she attends, with source sheets available that she has scanned and posted online. "The important thing is that every person look for a means to connect with God or explore one's Judaism," she writes. "There are, thank God, so many available venues to learn about our religion within the confines of halakha." Wiznitzer's blog is a highly personal account, the majority of it written through a Judaic lens. "It is a portrait of my life," she explains.

While there are multiple other Judaic blogs, two large and radically different blogs are DovBear and Hirhurim.

DovBear has been blogging for nearly five years. "[I] probably [have] the highest non-Orthodox and non-Jewish readership of any Orthodox blog," he states on his blog. His contents primarily concern religion, politics, current events, and the overlap between all three. He has recently self-published a book, "DovBear on the Parsha," a collection of his parsha posts that are, by his own description, "as unique as they are charmingly irreverent."
Acerbic and unafraid to comment on any topic, DovBear's comments range from "Orthoprax Koferim: Teaneck vs. Williamsburg," a breakdown of the Rambam's 13 Principles of Faith and who has the 'edge,' to "On Baseball in General, and Pesach in Particular," a post that won the Jewish and Israeli Blog's Bronze Award in 2005. The only topic he avoids writing about is his personal life, disguising all family details. "I do this because I wish to keep the blog and my private life separate," writes DovBear. "I keep a very stout wall up between them."

DovBear maintains that Jewish blogging is important, as it can be the means for social change within the Jewish community on all ends of the religious spectrum. He views his blog as a forum where a range of viewpoints can be displayed and complexity promoted.

On what may be the opposite end of both the real world and blogosphere spectrum, lies Hirhurim, run by Rabbi Gil Student (YC '94). Hirhurim has been regularly updated for the past five years. Originally posting under the pseudonym 'Simcha,' Student's blog has the sole agenda of Torah. The policy is written on the homepage: "This blog is intended only for the interchange of ideas for the purpose of Torah study, promoting enlightened public policy and/or the refinement of character."

Student started blogging because as Jewish blogs were growing, he felt the messages were representing neither Torah nor traditional viewpoints. For him, blogging is "an outlet for Jewish life...primarily Torah and looking at the world through a Torah lens," he says.

Hirhurim is, says Student, absolutely and unabashedly biased. He promotes his own philosophy and approach to halakha (Jewish law). On more than one occasion he has gone to a Rosh Yeshiva concerning halakhik questions. While he does moderate the comments, deleting anything disrespectful or profane, Student allows for free discussion. Student's posts, however, are solely Orthodox views. "A person who speaks or writes to the public has an obligation to promote Judaism; we are all messengers in this world," he writes.

There are many Jewish blogs available on the Internet, documenting every philosophy available. Since 2004, there has been the Jewish and Israeli Blog Awards (JIB Award), run by the Jerusalem Post. Its purpose is to point new blog readers toward noteworthy Jewish, Israeli, and pro-Israel blogs. The Curious Jew, DovBear and Hirhurim have won awards in the JIB's. The Jewish blogosphere, while certainly a small minority within the larger world of blogs, has carved for itself a unique niche where religion and anything else can intersect.