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This site is created, written and maintained by Tracey Rich. I do not claim
to be a rabbi or an expert on
Judaism; I'm just a traditional, observant Jew who has put in a lot of research.
I must be doing something right, because one of the rabbis at an "Ask a Rabbi"
website routinely copies material from this website! All of the material
on this site was created by me, just one individual. There is no corporation
or organization behind this site.
Contrary to popular belief, I am not "blinded by my Orthodox Jewish upbringing."
I was raised nominally Reform Jewish, though I have leaned much more toward
the traditional since I was exposed to it in college. I write the site from
an Orthodox perspective because I think that's the best place to start if
you want to understand Jewish traditions. You're never going to appreciate
kashrut if you say it's just a primitive health regulation that was rendered
obsolete by the refrigerator, as they teach in Reform synagogues where almost
no one keeps kosher. Instead, you should try to understand Jewish traditions
as they were understood for hundreds of years by people who lived them
day-to-day. It's similar to the way we teach our children that Ben Franklin
discovered electricity with a kite, George Washington chopped down a cherry
tree, Betsy Ross sewed the first flag, even though most scholars agree that
none of that really happened.
This site grew out of a series of posts I wrote on the ILink bulletin board
network in the early 1990s. That's why it has such a conversational style.
When I learned how to make web pages in 1995, I converted about 20 of my
posts into HTML and created this site. It has grown from there.
I work as a librarian and Intranet administrator for a law firm. I am also
the co-author of several legal reference texts. I am a member of
Congregation Or Shalom, a Conservative
synagogue in Chester County, PA, and also attend weekday minyans at an Orthodox
synagogue in Delaware.
I don't accept advertising; please don't try to contact me to advertise on
this site. The only "ads" I have are links to Amazon.com books that I was
recommending even before the Amazon Associate program began. Yes, I receive
a small commission for those links: enough to pay for the out-of-pocket costs
of running this site, with a little left over.
Unfortunately, I am no longer able to respond to emails. I work a very long
day, and have obligations when I get home. However, I can assure you that
the overwhelming majority of genuine questions I received (as opposed to
people asking me why I don't believe what they believe) can be answered by
simply searching the site.
© Copyright 5756-5768 (1995-2008), Tracey R Rich
If you appreciate the many years of work I have put into this
site, show your appreciation by linking to this page, not copying
it to your site. I can't correct my mistakes or add new material if it's
on your site. Click Here for more details.
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