Heshey Fried

Since he was born, with his yarmulke and hanging tsitses, Heshy Fried has followed all of the holidays, prayers and rituals that are expected of him. But two years ago, he started having some fun with his observance, putting his quirky thoughts about Judaism to computer screen, for the world to see.

Like all bloggers, Fried, 27, writes under a blogger name; it is "frumsatire." His web traffic on jewcy.com evokes support, sympathy, to scathing responses from other Jews, on the empty space left underneath each post for comments.

"I can't believe you are making fun of Orthodoxy,'" he recounts, when asked what his typical reader response can be. "'You are bringing Jews down, you anti-Semite.' I've been called an anti-Semite, a racist, and every name in the book.'"

Still keeping the faith, Fried disagrees with his readers' remarks, but he is hitting more than a few chords. With 3,000 visitors daily (the computer keeps track of the traffic) Fried makes the computer his megaphone, and is earning an income-from doing standup comedy as an offshoot of his writing, to selling ad space on his blogs. His most recent topics range anywhere from the quality of French fries in Monsey, to being mistaken for a baal teshuvah (newly religious) during the most recent Simchat Torah services, also in Monsey.  Unlike most bloggers, though, who hide in an anonymous veil, with no photos and under a nom de plume, Fried, who once resided in Rockland County but recently moved to Far Rockaway, has become something of an online star. He is so open that he includes his phone number in his personal info. While this puts him in the minority, Fried, who was born and has remained a "Conservadox" Jew, is in good company. And although there is no official count, there are hundreds, possibly thousands of religious Jewish bloggers venting in the "J-Blogosphere" world, discussing, in brutal honesty their views on the world and religion. In fact, visiting the Jewish & Israeli Blog Network's website, sifting through all of the posts and learning about each blogger, can provide hours of reading material from highly opinionated Jews.

Writing publicly about one's private thoughts about anything at all: family matters, politics, relationships, or even the daily trials of life have been around since the internet has become commonplace. The J-blogosphere (a term used for bloggers with a Jewish slant) exposes oneself anonymously to an unlimited audience-and gives some Orthodox writers the freedom to vent, which they could not do so publicly in their community without repercussion, under the anonymous veil. At the same time, they are also able to engage in a lively dialogue, as most blogsites have spaces for readers to leave their remarks.
Is blog writing going against Orthodox Judaism? After all, in some ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities, such as enclaves in Lakewood and Jerusalem, the use of a computer has been banned entirely. The possibility of banning computers was brought up by some rabbis in Monsey about three years ago. However,"Abandoning Eden" a 27-year old blogger was brought up ultra-Orthodox in Bergen County, is not certain that there is a contradiction.

"I don't think it necessarily (is), but it can," she responded.  "For instance, it can be very easy to write 'loshon hara' (evil tongue, or gossip) on a blog, because it seems very anonymous, and no one will know it is you. It is also easy to harass other bloggers, which doesn't seem like a nice thing to do in general, although I don't know if there's a particular Jewish law against that...sinas chinam (senseless hatred) maybe?"

Rabbi Chaim Zvi Ehrenreich, of Chabad of Chestnut Ridge, follows monseychabad.blogspot.com, and crownheights.info, both mostly used to post messages and local news. However, he has had his "fair share" of encounters with the negative type of religious Jews people who are writing the opinionated blogs anonymously, he said.
"These represent a small minority of the next generation," he said. "Unfortunately, the Orthodox community at large has not yet found a comprehensive way to deal with this issue. It is very often the case that these youngsters were never given a joyous Jewish experience. They were indoctrinated as to what they can't do, while not being given a full appreciation of the beauty of what Yiddishkeit has to offer on the positive side."

This is not to say, that the safety of anonymity only results in negative or satirical blog sites. There are as many Orthodox Jewish bloggers who write about how the lifestyle has given them purpose; hundreds throughout the U.S. and Israel write daily about holidays, family and God in a meaningful light.

Jacob Stein of Wesley Hills, with his family

In fact, an Orthodox Jew living with his wife and three children in Wesley Hills, is so positive about his choices, he started www.jewishphilosopher.blogspot.com in 2006 to counteract the negativity he saw on the web. Adopted as an infant by Lutheran parents (his birth parents were also Christians) Stein grew up in New City and attended the local schools. After taking out James Michener's "The Source," from the library of Clarkstown North High School he felt captivated by Judaism to such an extent, he converted at 16. It was in March, 1977, he said, that Lee Scott Epple "died" and became Jacob Stein and started attending a yeshiva.

"I do not expect to convert the entire world to Orthodox Judaism but I feel there are a certain number of people in that gray area, perhaps they are Orthodox and thinking of dropping out, or someone who is considering to be Orthodox who has questions, that may read my blog and I will be able to tip the scale in favor of Orthodoxy," he said. Stein is so open with his staunchly right-wing, no-holding-back viewpoints (that may offend some people who hold more moderate ideas) that he publishes his home address, work address, as well as family photos and videos on his website. "By hiding it would sound as if I'm ashamed of something that I'm writing," he said. "There are so many anti-Orthodox articles that are posted, you know, I had to do my side. Maybe in some ways my opinions are more credible because if I had been raised Orthodox in New Square they would be dismissed. But no, I wasn't raised this way. I wanted to do it and I chose it consciously.
"There are a couple of other Orthodox bloggers but I'm more militantly Orthodox perhaps. I'll put out articles critical of the evolution theory. There are many other people out there who are no shy about critiquing religion, and I'm not shy about critiquing them."