Monday, February 05, 2007

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.

2 comments:

Diana Raab said...

Hi there ~

I was just flipping through my files and found the article in the NY Times where they mentioned your blog back in September. What a fabulous plug for you!

By the way, I love your blog and wondered if you'd be interested in mentioning my newly released memoir, "Regina's Closet: Finding My Grandmother's Secret Journal (Beaufort Books, Sept 2007). My grandmother was of Jewish descent and was orphaned during WWI in Poland. It's gotten fabulous reviews. For more information, you can view my website (http://www.dianaraab.com) or Amazon.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Cheers,
Diana Raab
http://www.dianaraab.com

Sheyna said...

Hi Diana,

thanks, and congratulations on the publication and reviews of your book!

I am swamped at the moment with editing the second David Cohen novel and about a dozen books waiting for reviews, but when I have a chance, I'll check out your website. Thanks for the info!