e

I gig.

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May the coming year be filled
with health, happiness and prosperity
for all our family and friends.

Live Laugh Love

The Litvin Clan
Melissa, Kenny,
Spencer & Carson

Temple Beth El member Cindy Bolokofsky of Rochester Hills using eScapegoat
says,"Way better than a real goat!"

in its inaugural year is that it is a
mobile app with a very seasonal lifes-
pan as most users only used it for two
months out of the year.
Last year, G-dcast received reports
of rabbis using eScapegoat in their
synagogue programming in advance
of the High Holidays to encourage
congregants to confess their sins. At
Temple Sinai in Oakland, the rabbi
even read some of the submissions
from the pulpit on Yom Kippur. The
G-dcast team realized that private,
"walled-off" Mini Goats could be
a powerful tool for communities
because the interface encourages
more sharing, which becomes more
interesting within a smaller com-
munity.
Lefton said, "It lets people see
what's bubbling in their own back-
yards — all the regrets are so much
more powerful when you know they
belong to your neighbors and friends.
It also creates a safe and private place
for younger users in school settings:'
Synagogues can purchase the Mini
Goat package for $99, which includes
a custom, private goat website that
synagogues (or organizations) can
moderate with a login, a virtual goat
with the community logo, space on
the mini-site to include community
event info (promote classes, Yom
Kippur service times, etc.), and
inventive curricular support materials
including activities for different age
cohorts. A "Goat-in-a-Box" option is
even available for an additional $49,
which includes an assortment of mar-
keting materials such as eScapegoat
posters, tote bags, stickers and tem-
porary tattoos.
More than 30 day schools, syna-

gogues and other organizations
across the country have signed up
for Mini Goats. From the responses
G-dcast has received so far, teachers
and educators are using the mobile
app as an entry point into the idea
of repentance. Like Temple Beth El,
many other congregations (including
Reform, Conservative and Orthodox)
are using it as an interactive way to
engage teens and adults. G-dcast is
careful to offer the caveat that one
cannot really fulfill the requirement
to perform repentance through a
mobile app.
G-dcast is using a Twitter feed (@
SinfulGoat) to share examples of
actual atonements from users of the
app and some of the examples are a
bit risque.
A representative of G-dcast said,
"We decided if we left it G-rated, it
would be less meaningful. There's a
big difference between tweeting 'I
put gum in my sister's hair' and 'I'm
sorry I couldn't put my family back
together (and didn't really try): It's
been powerful reading through all
of the entries and sharing those on
Twitter:'
G-dcast has many other apps
besides the eScapegoat. Its Rosh
Hashanah app "Wake Up World"
turns your smartphone into a shofar
(see page 52). All of its apps are
available at www.g-dcast.com/apps .
To download the eScapegoat app, visit
www.escgoat.com.

❑

Rabbi Jason Miller, the Detroit Jewish

News' technology expert, is a local

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May the coming year be filled
with health, happiness and prosperity
for all our family and friends.

Andy, Sandy and Sam Dubin
Dubin Cleaners & Laundry

May the coming year be filled with
health and happiness for all our family and friends.
L'Shanah Tovah!

Rhoda and Marvin Perlin & Family

entrepreneur, educator and blogger. He is

president of Access Computer Technology.

Follow him on Twitter at @RabbiJason.

•

JN

September 25 • 2014

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