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December 24, 1999/15 Tevet 5760, Vol. 52, No.17
The future is now
Internet is community's learning, communication tool of new millennium
Communication tool is minefield
TAMI BICKLEY
Staff Writer
Gone are the days when the only way to study Torah was by enrolling in a class offered at a neighborhood synagogue. So are the days when meeting other Jews, whether in the same city or a continent away, called for some physical and verbal effort.
It is now possible for Valley Jews to throw themselves into nearly every facet of what Judaism has to offer - biblical, educational, spiritual, social and visual - without physically leaving their homes. And it's becoming increasingly feasible for Valley congregations and Jewish organizations to share their message with Jews around the world. All they need is access to the Internet.
With the click of a mouse, Internet users can visit the Western Wall in Jerusalem; shop for Judaica; communicate with friends overseas; and study Torah and Talmud. Such ready access presents Jews with opportunities never before experienced, and these may change the way Jews collect and absorb what it means to be a Jew, and how they go about being Jewish.
"There's no question that the Internet is the wave of the future. It's the easiest way to access information," says Natalie Lang, a marketing strategic planner and executive vice president of Oryx Press, a local book-publishing firm.
Lang, who is on the board of the Women's Division of the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix, has been working with Shirley Norris, the federation's marketing director, writing copy for the federation's new World Wide Web site, www.jewishphoenix.org, which has a launch date of mid-January.
The site will explain what the Phoenix federation, as well as federations nationwide, do. It will introduce people to federation's various departments and provide information and links to its constituent agencies. A monthly local feature, "a feel good" story, according to Norris, will inform visitors about something going on in the Phoenix Jewish community.
Site visitors also can also access current news and features about the Phoenix Jewish community, as well as global news, through a link leading to www.jewishaz.com, Jewish News' own Web site, which has been on-line since 1996. The Jewish News site has archived stories from past issues dating back three years, covering a wide range of topics.
One of the many advantages to federation in having its own Web site, Norris says, is that contributors will now be able to make donations - hosted by a secure site - online.
"We want to stimulate people's interest so they can see why they are (donating money) locally, nationally or overseas," explains Lang. "The Internet is invaluable (for us) in helping our constituents (and community members) understand what we do and why we do it, and why it's so important. ... You can't do that with a brochure. ... There is no marketing material that could accomplish what a Web site can accomplish."
Chabad of the East Valley in Chandler, like the Chabad-Lubavitch movement throughout the world, reaches out to Jews through a Web site, www.chabadcenter.com, says the congregation's spiritual leader, Rabbi Mendy Deitsch.
"Chabad tries to utilize every facet to expose Judaism and teach Judaism to other Jews, and the Internet is a great means of communicating with other Jews locally and internationally," Deitsch says.
The Internet can be useful in helping people who are moving to a community learn what various synagogues and Jewish organizations have to offer. Deitsch says he knows of a number of people who researched synagogues online, then chose one to join in their destination community, even before they packed their bags.
Rabbi Maynard Bell of Temple Solel in Paradise Valley relates that recently a family from England went online and discovered Solel on the Internet. The family was planning to move to the Valley and was hoping to find a Reform synagogue to join before they arrived here. They chose Solel based on what they learned online and what they saw when they visited just prior to moving here.
Jewish Web sites also often serve as social networking tools. Some allow entrance to online chat rooms, where participants can join with people from all over the world, or just around the corner, to discuss anything from Israeli politics to life as a single, dating Jew.
Deitsch keeps in contact via the Internet with people he met when he traveled to Guatemala and Singapore, he notes. Doing that the conventional way - by letter or phone - could prove tedious and/or expensive.
Bell admits that he "loves e-mail."
"It's much quicker than other written correspondence," he says. "Through e-mail, I have a network with colleagues and friends all over the world."
The site at www.pirchei.co.il offers a place to sign up for a Jewish pen pal. A form to be filled out with one's name, age, hobbies and other personal characteristics is provided so the service can match people based on their similar interests.
"Yes, the Web is a tremendous tool," comments Rabbi Chaim Silver of Young Israel of Phoenix. One can study Torah or brush up on Hebrew skills from home with use of his organization's site at www.angelfire.com/az/youngisrael. The company Killer Web is currently designing a new site for Young Israel, Silver notes.
Young Israel's Web site comes in handy for out-of-towners who plan to visit the Valley, as they can view online the Orthodox congregation's daily and Shabbat minyan schedule, Silver says. The site also includes locations and times for mikvot (ritual baths), and information about kosher restaurants and grocery stores.
Jews can recite prayers and learn Torah and Hebrew on the Web, Silver notes, and can shop for Judaica and other Jewish goods online, without leaving home.
"If someone living on a farm in the middle of Iowa can't get to a kosher store, he or she can have kosher (food) delivered within two days with the click of a button," he says.
And if one wants to see Israel, it's possible to view such sites as the Western Wall in Jerusalem by logging on to www.aish.edu or www.shemayisrael.co.il.
Silver relates a story about a teen he knows who visited Israel recently with a Jewish youth group and who phoned his father in Phoenix while he stood near the "Kotel cam" at the Western Wall. The father visited the Web site and was able to see his son wave to him. The camera updates its image once a minute.
"People can utilize the Internet in the comfort of their own homes, on their own time, at their own pace," comments Deitsch. "Jews can now explore Judaism (online), as there are (Jewish) sites out there that cover practically any subject."
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