A Blog About The Blog

Sometimes I reflect about the blog and its goals. This is one of those times...

First, I want to thank EVERYONE visiting Mevakesh. According to my stats page, last month there were 14,677 visitors. For a one person blog which is devoid of any lashon hara or other such popular items and whose author is a simple Jew without any great credentials. All told, since this blog was born about 2 and a half years ago - 244,394 visitors. The goal of the blog is to make a difference in people's lives and if so many people are coming there is a chance we are doing just that in a small way. So once again - thanks so much for coming, giving feedback, passing on to friends etc. etc.   

Second, most of the posts are pure Torah. Some are more personal and autobiographical. I write about my life because by sharing my personal struggles I hope to give others strength to deal with their own. I am having a rough time in certain areas and in other areas an extremely rough time and I feel it instructive to give people a peek into my psyche to see how I deal with things. I try to be honest and tell it how it is. I am not trying to impress but to educate and inspire. When I was a teenager I was  miserable. I have not been consistently unhappy in about 2 decades. This is not because things have always been easy but because Hashem showed me ways to deal with the various difficulties that I have encountered. By sharing with others I hope to exhibit different ways of coping that have worked for me. I give little thought to "What are people going to think of me?" Frankly - I don't really care. I don't have to impress anyone and loathe the thought that people sometimes share with me that "this post might make people think about you that...."

Baruch Hashem, I don't work for anyone so I don't have to impress my boss [anyway, many bosses are crazy and impossible to please]. I once had a job somewhere and was dismissed after being told that "You are not as popular as you used to be." At another school where I taught I was told that I have to change the topic of my classes because they are not popular enough. Some people see life as a popularity contest. In classical Hebrew there is no word for "popular". That means that this is not even a concept according to the Torah. [In modern Hebrew the word is "po-poo-lari"]. I can't worry what people are thinking of me because I know that I can't control that and also because it doesn't matter. My job is to be an emes-dike Jew who says what he thinks is right and does what he thinks is right and lives in the right way. Sometimes I take [to borrow from Frost] the "road less traveled" and that has infuriated some and even cost me a few donors to my causes. My soul is worth more than a few dollars and the dissatisfaction of a wealthy person or people with sway over wealthy people will not change me or silence me. There is enough sheker in the world without me adding so I think that some unadulterated truth is the order of the day. I am not saying that I am always right but I am saying that I am always honest. Fortunately, people have told me that they appreciate my frankness.

That being said, I must add that there are certain topics that I make sure to avoid. One is my family. I make it a point never to share personal things about my marriage, children, parents etc. Not that it wouldn't be interesting. I think stories and insights concerning my family life would interest a lot of people. But since other people are involved I have no permission to put them "out there". I can say what I want about myself but not about others. I also avoid writing about topics that might cause machlokes. Sometimes I have an urge to share my righteous indignation about certain wrongs that I see in the Jewish community and don't think it would be lashon hara to share. "Lashon hara" is evil gossip and lamenting and calling for the eradication of evil is not "evil". It is actually "good". But since it won't help anyway [in my estimation] and would make me a participant in a fight and I have enough problems of my own, I avoid controversial topics. People close to me know what I think because I openly share with them but the blog is not the forum.

Thirdly, I value the friendships and connections I have made through the blog. Nobody should be shy about contacting me. It is true that I am "busy". I am trying to cover all of the Torah in and many, many lifetimes I still won't finish - but I will not stop trying. I want to write a thousand sefarim which is time consuming. I have children for whom they have not yet invented an adjective to describe the intensity of my feelings of love for them. They also take up time. I also daven 3 times a day. So, all told, I don't have a free minute. Yet, I never neglect to answer an email or telephone call because every person deserves that courtesy and because I naturally love people so my desire to connect comes effortlessly. 

All we have to know is that there is NOTHING besides Hashem. איז דאך אלץ הבל הבלים - אין עוד מלבדו    
   
May we be zoche to be partners in spreading the Light:-)

Love always,

Me  

PS - The original version of this  post was slightly edited for Kibbud Av V'aim purposes...