Three stories, three countries... from Haaretz: Zionism just ain't what it used to be Picture this: Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, who in recent years has caused headlines mainly by issuing inflammatory rulings and statements against Arabs and Reform Jews, invited to bestow his blessing, wearing his turban and brocade gown, on the staid and civilized proceedings of the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency in Jerusalem. from The Jewish Chronicle: Saving our lost Jewish communities in the UK Aliyah and marrying-out are shrinking once-thriving populations. Some now face a struggle to survive. “If communities of a couple of thousand have difficulty making a minyan, then 500 will find it more difficult and when you get to 50 you’re asking 20 per cent of the community to turn up. … Continue Reading
Leveraging Data Analytics
What Would Google Do? Leveraging Data Analytics to Grow Your Organization by Sacha Litman What makes Google the omnipresent $21 billion leviathan company it has become? While its search engine and its application suite are impressive, Google’s key to success is its ability to mine data on customers that use its products for free. This data is used to put the right targeted ads in front of its customers for which advertising companies pay a hefty premium. This optimization requires a dedication to data tracking systems and analytics that explain consumer behavior and interests. And it’s not just Google. Despite the difficult economic times of the past few years, data analytics has ranked in companies’ top 3 areas for investment because, like Google, they recognize that the key to success … Continue Reading
Around the Jewish Web
Some odds and ends this first day of 2010. from The Toronto Star: Launching a lifetime of giving Danielle Leboff is just 12, but she's already looking to adulthood and the responsibilities that come with it - and topping the list is making the world a better place. Gil Troy writing in The New York Jewish Week: American Jewry’s Decade Of Decadence It is tragic yet emblematic that Bernie Madoff, the billion-dollar Ponzi schemer, is this last decade’s most influential American Jew. In fairness, if this great economic recession recedes, thanks to Time’s 2009 Person of the Year, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, historians will remember Bernanke more than Madoff. But it is premature to assess Bernanke’s success, while the damage Madoff caused was clear. Madoff epitomizes … Continue Reading
The Aughts and Us
As the new year approaches, the first decade of the 21st century is drawing to a close. The Forward invited a dozen thinkers to weigh in on some moments, developments and trends of Jewish significance from the past 10 years. The Aughts and Us 2000-2009: A Look Back at What a Decade Brought American Jewry in Second Place by Jonathan D. Sarna Amid ongoing, year-long commemorations of 350 years of American Jewish life, a news item of immense historical significance passed practically unnoticed. On May 10, 2005, Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics announced that the country’s population of self-identifying Jews had reached a grand total of 5,550,000. The closest parallel number for Jews in the United States (where the figures are admittedly less precise and more controversial) is … Continue Reading
We’re Now Available in Hebrew, Russian, Spanish and …
As part of a Website redesign launched two weeks ago, eJewish Philanthropy has become the first online media publication serving the Jewish world to provide site content in a range of languages. Striving to remain 'ahead of the pack' in delivering news and thought pieces to our global Jewish audience, this new addition provides a quick and simple way for visitors to access content in their language of choice. A "Translate" button now appears at the bottom of every post; when clicked a popup window opens showing a list of the available languages (take a look below). We will have more to say on our redesign over the next few days, but in the meantime, take a look around to become more familiar. And if you haven't yet watched, check the video currently on our home page - a tribute to the late … Continue Reading
Redesigning Your Homepage?
from Connection Cafe: The 10 Commandments of Effective Homepage Design I. Thou shalt clearly state who you are and what do you. II. Thou shalt be able to point to where your top 3-5 online goals are represented on the homepage. III. Thou shalt offer clear, concise navigation. IV. Thou shalt provide scannable, up-to-date content that entices visitors to click for more. V. Thou shalt dedicate space to each of your audience groups. VI. Thou shalt convey a visual hierarchy so visitors know where to look and what to do first. VII. Thou shalt include 3-4 ways for visitors to engage. VIII. Thou shalt avoid the Flash intro or any other gratuitous animation. IX. Thou shalt make sure most relevant content is above the fold. X. Thou shalt balance meaningful … Continue Reading
What are Your Key Words? Do You Know?
Part of being a smart and effective marketing organization requires creating easy ways for people to find you even if it's not you they are looking for. Most people search online to get information - not specifically for your organization but to find a solution to a need. Someone searching the web might be looking for a Jewish pre-school program or hospice services, or how and where to do volunteer work in your community, or simply to find a good Jewish organization to contribute to. While certainly lots of people will check out your organization's web site - especially prior to giving to it - many people are looking online for a service or product not a web site destination. That is why key words are so important. To see how well the Jewish community performs on the key word search, I did a … Continue Reading
The Jewish Liturgy Project: A Toolkit for Custom Liturgy
from Haaretz: Prayer ala carte Aharon Varady always dreamed of putting together his own prayer book. Realizing that many people - including himself - often see prayer as a dull and robotic exercise in the fulfillment of a religious duty, he thought for years about ways to enable people to create their own prayer book, or siddur, in order to make the most of their experience. A fellow at this year's PresenTense Institute, Varady earlier this month finally embarked on a daring project, creating a tool for "individuals and groups to build the siddur they've always wanted," as his Web site explains. Varady's Open Siddur project aspires to funnel all different regional traditions, translations, commentaries and instructional notes that Jews from the four corners of the world have produced … Continue Reading
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