/-

"We thought it would be fun, and
the Advertising Mall, gaining, literally,
a mitzvah to help our community,"
global exposure. A newly added ser-
says Bernard, president of
vice, "Ask the Rabbis," provides confi-
IntelliGineering Corp. in Southfield.
dential e-mail directly to the rabbi of
Since December, the infant site has
your choice.
only had about 250 "hits," or visits
"We do hope to make some money,
from Internet surfers, but that should
eventually, from the ads," says
change soon, once the more ,than 500
Bernard.
The Nadels' site is linked to around
search engines and online directories
100 other related sites, from the
i-with which the Nadels registered pick
Jewish Food Recipe Archive with its
up the site, Bernard says.
almost 4,000 recipes to
A Torah observant couple,
serious news services, both
the Nadels have made it their Berna rd and Idit
Jewish and general.
policy to post nothing against Nadel put the
With myriad Jewish sites
Halachah (Jewish law) on the 'hood on the Net.
on the World Wide Web,
site. Thus, recipes, advertise-
michiganet.com uses the "top one per-
ments and jokes are all "kosher." The
cent of Jewish Internet sites for links,"
site even provides links to Web filter
Idit estimates.
services, such as CyberPatrol, to
"We've been very selective for the
\--:,encourage monitored family Internet
ones the community would enjoy the
surfing.
most," she says.
Michiganet.com is user-friendly,
A profusion of Torah site links on
featuring fun graphics and bright col-
michiganet.com ranges from local insti-
tutions such as Bais Chabad and
Machon LTorah, to Virtual Jerusalem's
Kotel Kam live footage of the Western
Wall. Lectures, both written and in
audio, on the weekly Torah portion,
Talmud study, Chassidic philosophy,
and much more are all available at the
click of a mouse.
Surf the Yiddish link and catch
jokes and news in Yiddish or listen to
a recording of Shalom Aleichem read-
ing his own stories.
Hit the General Jewish Interest link
and laugh at Dry Bones comics, check
out genealogy at "JewishGen," or
explore the thousands of links on the
"Maven" site: the Dead Sea Scrolls,
life in Israel, Torah, politics, Holocaust
studies, sports, medicine, and virtually
anything else you can think of.
The michiganet.com site has even
expanded into matchmaking, with a
free confidential "Shidduch Line"
recently added, against Idit's protests.
"I thought adding shidduchim was
off the wall," she says, "but Bernie
said, What does it hurt to try? Let's
see what happens.' I didn't really want
the responsibility."
While admitting that part of Idit's
job is "to bring me down to earth with
my harebrained schemes," Bernard
hopes to network with other online
matchmaking programs, and "provide
a real service."
The Nadels, both very enthusiastic
ors. Local information, including a
about michiganet.com , work together
community calendar of organizational
as a team to maintain the site.
events and personal simchas, is a spe-
"We have fun doing it," smiles Idit,
cial feature of the site. Free classifieds
although "the kids can't stand it! Every
are available for anything from lost or
time we get something new to show
found objects to homes for sale. Local
them, they say, 'Oh no!'"
merchants can purchase ad space in

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1/9
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