Israeli journalists used to call August “cucumber season” because the only subject you could squeeze a news story out of during vacation time was the rise and fall in the price of cucumbers. This August is much more eventful, what with the Iranian atomic threat, war between Russia and Georgia, the Olympics, and the rise and fall in the dollar. But it’s still a good time for us to take a pause and solicit your opinions and comments about our South Jerusalem blog.
Gershom and I created South Jerusalem at the end of last February because we sensed a need for a critical but loyal Zionist voice in the blogosphere, and in the public debate about Israel as a whole. Furthermore, we wanted to offer readers a more rounded picture of Israeli culture and society than the traditional press usually provides.
The experience has been both exhausting and exhilarating. It’s a pleasure to be able to write about issues and subjects that are important to us. And it’s a lot of work to keep up the standards of good writing, accuracy, and thoughtfulness that we’ve set for ourselves.
As we head into our second six months, we’d like to hear some more detailed reactions than we’ve received so far from both regular and occasional readers. We’d be delighted if you could let us know–either by commenting here or by e-mailing us (at gershomg@gmail.com and hwatzman@gmail.com). In particular we’d like you to address the following questions:
1. What kinds of posts do you read most? Politics? Culture? Judaism? What would you like to see more of? What less? Are our posts too long? Too short?
2. What do you think of our new design? Do you like the look? Is it user-friendly?
3. What suggestions do you have about where and how we can seek more readers?
We look forward to your responses.