While most web logs are run by a single person and have no focus, Kesher Talk enlists many contributors with a comparatively narrow focus.
Kesher Talk is dedicated to the discussion of Judaism, Jewish issues and events and Israel and the Middle East.
"Kesher" is Hebrew for "community," which we hope to promote through debate and discussion on this web log.
Judith Weiss was born to Holocaust refugee parents in Dallas TX in 1953, and recently moved to New York after lengthy stays in Philadelphia PA and Austin TX. She misses her house in Austin with the creek, armadillos and pecans in the backyard, her Shabbat dinner crowd, her shul, HerDomain, and 78704 (not so much a zip code, more a way of life). She is currently job-hunting in her latest career - corporate training and development - and enjoying the vast resources of NYC.
Judith hopes to chronicle the rhythms of egalitarian somewhat observant Jewish life in NYC from the vantage of a 49-yr-old single adult, including various dating scenes, shul-hopping, Jewish learning, music, theater, and political events (such as the Israel rally in DC).
Rami is an expatriate of Seattle, now living in New York and currently writing for The Forward newspaper.
At the Forward and with Kesher Talk, he calls himself "the token Orthodox Jewish guy," a position he loves.
Rami also runs his own weblog, Opinion Native
Rachel is a sociology PhD candidate at Purdue. She studies the intersection of religion and politics, especially how religious organizations work with the broader community.
Alisa was born in the USSR 42 years ago. When she was 14 I moved to Israel, and lived there until 1990. Then she met her future husband, and together they went to Missouri, where they lived for 9 years. Their son, who is now 9, was born there. They now live in one of the many suburbs of this great country. She has been mostly staying at home all these years in the US, except for teaching Hebrew part time at MU for several years. She misses Israel and her friends and family there. They have been planning to move back for a couple of years now, but so far it has not worked out. They are trying to make it happen this coming summer - they'll see how that goes.
Josh is currently a senior at the American University in Washington, D.C. He attended Jewish day school for over 10 years (until his sophomore year in high school), and has a very strong interest in education -- particularly Jewish educational issues. He spent Spring 2003 blogging from London, England while on his semester abroad.
Josh has been a member of Agudas Achim in Alexandria, Virginia for as long as he can remember. "It's a terrific synagogue, and Rabbi Jack Moline -- in my judgment -- does an outstanding job in his leadership of the congregation. I'm not as familiar with the cantor and educational director there, as both arrived after I left for college. But my sister is president of their United Synagogue Youth chapter -- no small task!"
Josh runs his own personal blog, All About Josh, where he discusses an eclectic mix of things in the news, including the Middle East. He used to focus a lot on domestic politics, but it's a conflict of interest with his current place of work.
William is a research consultant in Washington, D.C., analyzing science and public policy. He is of French-Canadian descent, though his French skills are almost as low as his opinion of the Quebecois.
In addition to his work at Kesher Talk, he also blogs once in a while for the Edge of England's Sword and the Hockey Pundits, and writes columns for whomever he can find that will print them.
Joanne lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and is a writer and editor for a Jewish newspaper in New Jersey. She and her husband, who is not only her true love but her tech support as well, are the parents of a college-student daughter who is their pride. Their older daughter was killed in a car accident when she was a 20-year-old college student, and those facts are the filter through which she sees the world.
Rachel Barenblat is founder and executive director of Inkberry, a literary arts nonprofit in western Massachusetts. She holds an MFA in Writing and Literature from the Bennington Writing Seminars, and is author of two chapbooks of poems. Her writing appears in Lilith, Dovetail, and The Jewish Women's Literary Annual, among others, and she was recently published in The Women's Seder Sourcebook and The Guide to Jewish Interfaith Family Life (both Jewish Lights, 2003). She is working on a book about the art of Jewish ritualcraft.
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