Started in December 2002 as a way to get the word out about cool events and lefty Israel news, Jewschool is now bigger and better than any of its founders ever could have dreamed. Originally a side project of Daniel J. Sieradski, a.k.a. “Mobius,” Jewschool quickly became home to a group of young Jews who were just learning about the blogosphere. Only later did we become an influential part of the larger network of the first generation of “J-bloggers” (Jewish bloggers).
Today we are a diverse group of reporters, reviewers, and ranters bringing you—our tens of thousands of readers—news, views, religion, and cultural criticism from the progressive sector of the Jewish world. Along the way, we not-infrequently scoop the mainstream Jewish press. The Times of London has called us the third most influential religion blog in the world and New Voices awarded us Best Blog of 2006. Over the years we’ve also won numerous accolades from the Jewish and Israeli Blog Awards and shout-outs from the established secular and Jewish press. And if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, who can forget the “True Jewschool” incident? Most importantly, Jewschool dares to do what others cannot: It pries Judaism from the grip of the Jewish establishment and serves it up to the public with the insistence, “This belongs to all of us.”
None of this would have been possible without Mobius’ vision, leadership, sweat, tears, and love. For nearly five years, Mobius has lived and breathed Jewschool. Now, confident about Jewschool’s place in the Jewish universe, Mobius has decided to move on to a new position as Director of New Media at JTA. Mazal tov! Today will be Mobius’ final day as editor in chief and blogger of Jewschool. You can keep up with him at his personal blog, Orthodox Anarchist.
As for us, Jewschool as you know and love it will continue to rock and roil the Jewish world. As of today Jewschool’s leadership will pass to a four-member core team drawn from our current editorial staff. During a brief transition period, all of us on the editorial staff will be working hard on exciting plans to expand our circle of contributors, increase our coverage, and continually refine our vision in order to bring you the best in Jewish blogging.
We invite you to leave congratulations to Mobius and wishes for the future either in the comment section of this post or in Mobius’ final post.
Media inquiries and submissions should be sent to editor – at – jewschool – dot – com.