What Are They Talking About? Listserv Discussion as a Window on the Concerns of Orthodox Jewish Educators

Abstract

More than 2,100 people subscribe to LookJed, an online discussion forum for individuals interested in Jewish education. The conversation of active forum participants-most of whom are modern Orthodox Jewish educators-has been preserved in a format readily available for analysis and interpretation. This article explores whether the discussion among listserv participants reflects widely assumed ''haredi dominance'' over modern Orthodox day schools and the sociological stresses thereby produced.

Comment on Kadushin, Social Networks and Jews

“…There are some studies that do examine such networks empirically; Kadushin lists several, and a recent one published in Contemporary Jewry (Pomson 2009) hints at what may be learned by making use of a great new resource-Jewish networks on the Web. But scattered studies can't have much impact on the socialscientific study of Jewry unless there's a framework to fit them into.…”