said. "If you're teaching the proper ways of observance,
very day or two, Eleanor Feldman sits down at
people who are interested will follow through using the
an antique computer — "black and white mon-
information you provide."
itor, no Windows," she said — and begins plow-
Project Genesis, based in Spring Valley, N.Y., pro-
ing through her Jewish e-mail, primarily from the
vides a model for the Internet yeshiva, with more than
Jewish genealogy Internet mailing list. She an-
3,500 subscribers around the world. The backbone of
swers a few of the messages on-line, downloads a
Genesis is a set of 13 Internet "mailing lists" -- a bak-
E few others for later responses.
er's dozen correspondence courses on specific Jewish
Ms. Feldman, a 50-year-old Maryland resident, lives in a
topics, from halachic rules about gossip, to a discourse
non-Jewish community; her connections to Jewish institu-
on the Book of Job. They are delivered for free directly
tions are tenuous, overlaid with frustration about rabbis
to the electronic mailboxes of subscribers, who can add
who don't have enough time to answer questions, congre-
their own contributions for public consumption.
gations that she regards as too narrowly focused.
Rabbi Menken himself teaches a class on M.C. Luz-
She has limited mobility because of a chronic illness. But
zato's Path of the Just. And the "RavFrand" list pro-
in the small bedroom that serves as a home office, she is in
vides transcriptions of the weekly parsha class of Rabbi
touch with Jews around the world.
"Part of my soul has wanted to be in a Jewish neighbor-
Yissachar Frand of the Ner Israel Rabbinical College
in Baltimore.
hood," Ms. Feldman said. "I've found it, in a way, on-line."
The rapid growth of Genesis, Rabbi Menken said, re-
Suddenly, around the world, Jewish cyberspace is hot —
flects "a tremendous hunger out there. The potential
so hot that Jewish organizations, from local synagogues to
for Internet to spur a Jew-
the major denominational bodies, are rac-
ish rejuvenation is incredi-
ing to develop an Internet presence.
ble. We're just starting to tap
Enthusiasts predict that the Internet
it."
and the commercial on-line services will
One of the most active and
revolutionize Jewish education and
aggressive Jewish services on
recreate a sense of belonging for disaf-
the Net is run by Rabbi Yosef
fected Jews. There is even a "cyber-
Yitzchok Kazen, the activities di-
shul," a serious attempt to fulfill some
rector of "Chabad-Lubavitch in
of the functions of a real synagogue
Cyberspace."
on-line.
His Chabad Web site
This combined effort, a sort of
(http://chabad.lubavitch.org ) re-
"virtual shtetl," some maintain, is
ceives some 2,000 "hits" every day
a powerful weapon against as-
— visits from computer users around
similation and apathy.
the world. He runs 20 Internet mail-
But there are dissenting voic-
ing lists on topics such as Chasidic lore
es. The vast potential of cyber-
and a "daily dose of Maimonides."
space is being squandered in an
"Based on the statistics, we have probably been seen
electronic torrent of denominational bickering, critics say.
by over a half-million people this year alone," said Rab-
And even some Internet authorities assert that computers
bi Kazen. "Many people tell us that they print our ma-
can never replicate Jewish institutions.
terials and share them with friends, colleagues and
"Ten computers do not make a minyan," said Rabbi Don
fellow congregants. Rabbis use our material for their
Weber, an Internet veteran in West Monmouth, N.J.
weekly sermons. Thus our activities are almost im-
"I'm a big fan of Jewish computer networking; I see it as
measurable."
a very useful tool," he said. "But it's not a community, because
The unique medium of Internet, he said, means
it's not people; it's only one part of people expressing them-
that "people can learn about our heritage at their own
selves."
pace. They can even hear Jewish music on-line."
According to Rabbi Weber and others, cyberspace holds two
Rabbi Kazen admitted that the cyberspace out-
possible futures for the children of Israel: it may strengthen
reach does not come cheap. "On the other hand, dol-
Judaism and reinforce the bonds that hold Jews together —
lar for dollar, it is reaching more people for less."
or end up as just one more instrument of division and sectar-
For Andrea Herrera, of central Texas, it took the
ianism.
Internet to reach her Jewish soul.
n one issue, at least, there is harmony: the Internet
Hardly the popular image of the cybernaut as
—the globe-spanning web of linked computer net-
teen-aged hacker, Ms. Herrera is a 38-year-old stay-
works — and the commercial on-line services such as
at-home mother of four. Her initial contacts with
CompuServe and America Online are capable of revo-
JAMES D. BESSER
an on-line rabbi triggered her turn to observant Ju-
lutionizing Jewish learning.
WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT
daism.
With a computer and a modem, a Jew in Hong Kong or
The rabbi "helped us 'go kosher' on-line," she said.
Canada's Northwest Territories can enjoy almost instant ac-
"I then started working with him, and we developed
cess to rabbis in Brooklyn, or archives of religious materials
a kosher newsletter that now has a circulation of
in Jerusalem, or the kind of rigorous talmudic debate that once
more than 10,000. And I run our town's kosher food
required a physical shul and a Jewish neighborhood big enough
co-op. All of this is because I hooked up with the right
to support one.
people on the Net."
"The primary benefit you can offer on the Internet is Jew-
The medium of the Internet, Ms. Herrera said,
ish education," according to Rabbi Yaakov Menken, director
makes Jewish learning accessible.
of Project Genesis: the Jewish Learning Network, whose e-
"The anonymity of the whole thing is very ap-
mail address, appropriately enough, is learn@torah.org .
pealing," she explained. "You never have to feel sil-
"That, in turn, produces benefits in terms of observance," he

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Will the birth of a
Jewish communit4
in cqberspace
renew or divide us?

0

7)