It’s a blog eat blog world

It’s been a helluva week here in The Times of Israel blogosphere. After all the excitement of the Presidential Conference died down, a few of our bloggers decided to weigh in on the question of whether or not they should be — gasp — blogging for free (some are still crafting their responses [I’m looking at you, Deena Levenstein]). The issue was first raised two weeks ago by Naomi Elbinger in a blog post on MyParnasa titled “Times of Israel Bloggers: Are You Getting Paid?” (By this week, Elbinger was also blogging on The Times of Israel, for free, but that’s a different story.)

Said Sarah Tuttle-Singer:

“…sharing my story with the readers of The Times of Israel has enhanced my life immeasurably in ways that are viscerally humbling and poignantly inspiring.”

First to comment on the piece was none other than our founding editor, David Horovitz, who thanked Sarah. And we are indeed indebted to STS for all she’s contributed to The Times of Israel, in touching accounts of her struggles as a single mother olah, in delightfully raunchy headlines, and in the unwavering spirit that drives her to reply to every single commenter on her blog posts — even the most hideous of trolls.

Word.

Be sure to check out Sarah’s latest piece, “Did I ruin my son’s penis?” a sort-of response to a recent German ruling on circumcision, in which she relates, with trademark humor and brutal honesty, her thoughts and feelings about having her son go under the knife.

Another blog post that’s been getting a lot of attention is “The little things I’ll miss about Israel,” by Alli Magidsohn, an intense, poetic tribute to our crazy little nation that is at turns uplifting and dejecting. (Simon Wiesenthal Center Israel Director Efraim Zuroff summed it up aptly in a comment on the article: “So why the hell are you leaving?”)

Back in the real world, a spate of posts tackled the hot-button topic of ultra-Orthodox and Arab-Israeli conscription. The Times of Israel’s latest all-star addition, Rabbi Dr. Donniel Hartman, suggested that the secular Israeli desire to see haredim shouldering an equal share of the burden was no more than a pipe dream, and that both sides needed to do some serious thinking about how to proceed without impinging on one another’s visions and values. Dan Kosky wrote that education — not army service — was the most critical aspect of integrating the haredim, while Calev Myers took on those who argue that the IDF is not suited to accommodate the ultra-Orthodox and their special needs in the realms of modesty and religious services.

The renascent social protests in Tel Aviv were also tackled from a variety of angles, including canine, cultural and the classic “what the hell were you thinking, guys?”

In other news, Shaul Magid deconstructed the community of right-wing American hippies in Israel, to which he once belonged; Haviv Gur introduced us to an Orthodox Israeli thinker who — surprise, surprise — does not object to a separation of synagogue and state in the land of the Jews; Sheldon Schorer of Democrats Abroad in Israel floated the idea that the freshly ratified health reform in the US would pit Republican against Republican; and settler par excellence Zahava Englard toyed with the idea of giving Israeli citizenship to West Bank Palestinians.

Finally, how could we let another week go by without grappling with that grand bogeyman of all conspiracy theories? Following close on the heels of Ronn Torossian’s brutal indictment of “The media’s despicable silence on Israel,” came Elad Nehorai, who claimed that, indeed, it was the Jews who controlled the media.

Go figure.

Welcome to The Times of Israel, Elad. And remember: It’s a blog eat blog world out there, so stay safe.

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Elie Leshem is the editor of The Times of Israel Ops & Blogs section. If you follow him on Twitter and Facebook he may just let you blog for free on The Times of Israel.