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WEB SITE page 16
to hook up with each organiza-
tion's Web site (often the nation-
al one).
When I signed on, Young Ju-
daea's site was missing an "offi-
cial description" of the group, and
B'nei Akiva's site was not acces-
sible. BBYO's colorful, bright site
was the easiest to access, and
NCSY's was sophisticated.
Press the "university connec-
tions" button, and you'll find in-
formation about college
scholarships, universities and
study abroad programs in Israel
and Hillels around the world.
At the "discussion groups" con-
nection, individuals can chat with
other users about what the coun-
cil calls "hot issues." Because I
signed on in the middle of the day,
when most youngsters are at
school, I was alone in the chat
room. The site informed me that
I was user No. 11 to the system.
When a few teens are online at
the same time, Mrs. Yost says
they discuss everything from Mid-
dle East politics to 'the December
dilemma."
'What do you do if you are a
Jewish high-school student, for ex-
ample, and you are asked to sing
religious songs as part of a reli-
gious pageant at your school? We
had another one on there at the
time of elections — What do you
think this means for Israel and for
American Jews? Obviously [top-
God Online
Orthodox Union, Aish HaTorah make it easy to e-mail a note to the Western Wall.
W
ant to leave a note in
the Western Wall
without the hassles of
overseas travel? Not to
worry. Just e-mail your holy
message to cohorts in Jerusalem
and they'll do the legwork for
your literally.
Courtesy of Aish HaTorah ---
http://www.thewall.org-- or
the Orthodox Union —
http://www.ou.org — you can
e-mail a note to Jerusalem and
have a fellow J#w place it be-
tween the cracks of the Western
Wall for you.
ics] change because the times
change," says Mrs. Yost.
But the site does not give a
plethora of factual information to
help the teens debate, admits Mrs.
Yost.
`There is [information] from the
Michigan-Israel Connection," she
notes. While most of the site's in-
formation "has to do with oppor-
tunities for kids to study and
travel in Israel, I think from time
to time there have been news
NOW THROUGH
SUNDAY, JANUARY 26
At the Aish site, you will be
connected to a current picture of
the Kotel, which is updated
every 60 seconds, by a camera
(located at the Dan Family
Building, Aish's world head-
quarters) positioned directly
across from the Wall in
Jerusalem's Old City.
The Aish site has been up
since Chanukah. About 3,000
people sign onto it each day, ac-
cording to Rabbi Kalman Pack-
ouz, who manages the site Since
its debut, the site has received
about 40,000 visitors.
From there, you can click on
a number of options, including
one that allows you to leave a
note in the Wall. Direct your
mouse to this option, and you
will see a note with "Dear God"
at the top and room for your re-
quest underneath. Apparently,
your e-mail is picked up by Aish
officials, printed out and given
to an Aish student to place in the
Wall for you. Same at OU online
"the Cyber Home of Torah."
Talk about technology. LI
items on there. And I know that
there are other sites on the Web
that have a lot of news."
At the discussion link, teens can
connect to CNN, Arutz 7's daily
news reports from Israel, and
Jerusalem One, which provides
items and pictures from and about
Israel's capital city via "Virtual
Jerusalem."
The site went up around the
end of October, Mrs. Yost says.
A University of Michigan fresh-
man, Jeremie Kass, manages the
site. Mr. Kass brings to the task
"an enormous amount of comput-
er experience and [he is] very
knowledgeable about the [Jewish]
community, having grown up
here," says Mrs. Yost.
A graduate of Hillel Day School
and Berkley High School, Mr.
Kass grew up in Huntington
Woods and was involved in Jew-
ish youth activities, Mrs. Yost
says.
— Lynne Meredith Cohn
The Council is "in the process
of getting the word out to the com-
munity," says Mrs. Yost. "I think
that kids are starting to learn
about it. We sent out a news re-
lease to all of the temple bulletins.
We sent fliers out to all of the
youth groups, congregations, or-
ganizations.
"It's a matter of people know-
ing that it's there. We have had
a number of hits on the site, and
we've been pleased with that.
We've had a nice response from
the youth groups and organiza-
tions wanting to put their infor-
mation on the site. Jeremie seems
to be pleased with the cooperation
he's gotten."
The idea for the site arose out
of the Council's continued in-
volvement in Jewish youth pro-
gramming, says Mrs. Yost.
"One of the things that this
agency does is community coordi-
nation, and I think that this was
just sort of a natural outgrowth of
that activity, using the new tech-
nology. We knew the Internet was
getting to be big and kids were
into it, and this was a useful way
for kids to hook up with each oth-
er. This is a way for them to be-
come part of the community."
Perhaps signing onto a local
Jewish Web site will pull young-
sters into the community, says
Mrs. Yost, "and hopefully
strengthen their identity."
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