A Note on This Blog's Purpose

I figured this deserved a post of its own.

This blog is NOT—neither the posts I want to put up about my books nor this blog in its entirety—I repeat NOT a hard sell or an attempt to get you to buy my book.

Of course, if you WANT to buy it, I've made links available in the sidebar. :-)

But that's not the point of this blog. The point is to talk about writing (especially fiction) and Judaism, about Jews and the literary arts, about Jewish expression through writing.

Through the medium of fiction, I also invite talk about conversations and dialogs between the various movements, about what it means to honor diversity among Jews, about how the way we present ourselves to each other and the world has an impact even if we don't see it.

I don't claim to have any answers. But I welcome the opportunity to explore the questions.

A caveat: anti-Jewish, anti-Israel, antisemitic, and let's be honest, anti-me comments will be deleted. This is my blog, after all, and comments that bash what I love have no place here. I do welcome differing, even opposing, opinions, but let's keep it respectful.

As I wrote here in Toward Jewish Identity,

"The Talmud (both Babylonian and Jerusalem) was wise enough to include dissenting opinions, even when the majority or history or innovation or even common sense produced the prevailing opinion. At no point did the holders of the prevailing opinion question the very Jewishness of the dissenters. (Their logic, values, or ability to read, maybe, but not their identities.)

"I frequently look to the contributors of the Talmud for inspiration, and I’m reminded that it would not even exist as we know it today were it not for their courage, creativity, humility, and willingness to take an unpopular stand but always continue the dialog."

B'ruchim haba'im. I hope you enjoy and are willing to contribute to the dialog.