Did An Orthodox Funder Unduly Influence A Study Of The Jewish Internet?

The Avi Chai Foundation, which is closely linked to haredi apologist Marvin Schick, funded a study of the jewish Internet. Excluded from that study's rankings of top Jewish blogs and Websites  is the only Jewish blog or Website to have exposed Schick's ethical lapses, even though that blog's traffic far exceeds most of the blogs and Websites the study ranks.

The Avi Chai Foundation has just published a study of the Jewish Internet. The methodology is, I believe, questionable and, as you will soon see, there is a very real possibility of intentional bias.

Avi Chai's website notes:

AVI CHAI adheres to the philosophy of Rav Avraham Yitzhak HaCohen Kook zt’l, Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1921 – 1935, in interpreting these covenants and in drawing guidance concerning criteria for projects designed to further AVI CHAI’s objectives.

The academic who conducted this study is Ari Y. Kelman, a professor of American Studies at the University of California-Davis, and the study appears on his university Webpage. Kelman set out to study the Jewish Internet and rank the Websites within it.

To do this, according to his published report Kelman relied on four traffic measuring services – Alexa.com, SEOmo.com, Compete.com, Google pagerank. Kelman also used an algorithm written specifically for his study.

Kelman told me he also used Quantcast.com, but no mention of Quantcast appears in his report. This is significant because Quantcast was the only traffic-measuring service in 2009 that had hard data on most of the Websites and blogs Kelman ranked. Even so, Kelman removed Quantcast and its data from his report. This means Kelman excluded the best hard evidence available, for reasons that are not clear, and relied instead on estimates.

So what about the traffic-measuring services Kelman did use?

Compete.com was in its infancy at the beginning of 2009 when Kelman gathered his data.

(That anyone would think nearly two-year old data would accurately reflect the Internet as it is today or a group’s reaction to the Internet as it is today is itself ridiculous and reflects Kelman’s lack of understanding of his research subject.)

Alexa.com primarily serves as an estimator of traffic, not as a hard measurement of traffic.

SEOmoz.com measures links to individual Websites. The problem here is that media citations often do not include hard links to the blogs and Websites cited. For example, this site is often referred to in such citations as Failedmessiah or the blog Failedmessiah and not failedmessiah.com or failedmessiah.typepad.com. Because those citations are not links, they are not counted – even when, in my case, those citations appear in dozens of Jewish newspapers and the New York Times.

Kelman also includes dozens of other blogs and Websites that have significantly less traffic than FailedMessiah, but does not include FailedMessiah. (My mention of the traffic of other blogs and Websites should not be taken as an attack by me against them. Many of them are run by people I consider friends, and I respect the work they do.)

Hard-measured today by Quantcast, FailedMessiah has twice the traffic that Jewlicious or FrumSatire have. Both are mentioned prominently in Kelman’s study. Indeed, at the point in time Kelman measured, FailedMessiah.com had about 25% of Jewcy’s reach. Jewcy had an office, an editor, and several other employees along with dozens of contributors ad several large financial backers, and I was a national columnist for Jewcy at that time.

Kelman writes:

“Significantly, over the past few years, [blogs] have also played a significant role in breaking and exploring some important news stories including the MASA incident, the Rubashkin’s scandal and revelations of sexual misconduct at Brooklyn yeshivot.”

Yet even though FailedMessiah broke literally dozens of stories about the Rubashkin scandal – including the immigration raid itself – Kelman does not include FailedMessiah in his study.

I asked Kelman why he excluded FailedMessiah. He claimed excluding FailedMessiah was a simple mistake. He had heard the name FailedMessiah “bandied about”, Kelman told me, and the “omission was purely accidental.”

To measure the level of Kelman’s errors (or his incompetence and/or bias), look at the links posted on the far right sidebar of this page under the title FailedMessiah in the Media. You’ll see FailedMessiah was cited prominently in both the Jewish and non-Jewish media during the time Kelman’s data was gathered. Kelman read many of these publications and measured some of them. Being “bandied about” by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Forward, JTA, Jerusalem Post, Ha’aretz, and many others, while having traffic that dwarfs most of the other blogs and Websites mentioned, wasn’t enough to rank in Kelman’s study.

And then we have this quote from Kelman’s study, which contains the only mention of FailedMessiah:

“In an interview with [FrumSatire blogger Heshy] Fried, who is both young and Orthodox, he explained that his efforts with Frumsatire are intended to engage the very large Orthodox audience in conversations and debates over contemporary Jewish life. ‘Blogger is still a dirty word in some Orthodox communities,’ he said, adding that sites like his and like Failedmessiah are attempts to foster dialogue and transparency.”

In other words, a blogger prominently featured in Kelman's study mentions FailedMessiah, and Kelman paraphrases that quote, which again shows that he must have been familiar with FailedMessiah and its importance.

Marvin Schick is Avi Chai's "Senior Consultant" and is listed as such under the heading "AVI CHAI-Staff" on its Website. Schick is close to the Foundation’s leadership.

Over the years, I’ve exposed Schick’s ethical lapses and Avi Chai’s enabling of them.

Schick wrote about Orthodox Jewish crime, attempting to show media bias against haredim in reporting it. But he did not mention the prominent criminals in his own family.

Schick made false (and probably defamatory) claims about author/journalist/sociologist Hella Winston, which I exposed.

Schick minimized pedophilia in the haredi community, claiming reporting of it was motivated by anti-haredi bias, and that pedophilia was actually less prevalent in the haredi community than elsewhere, contentions I both ridiculed and refuted.

And Schick publishes a privately-sponsored column in The Jewish Week, a column whose sponsorship both Schick and The Jewish Week refuse to reveal – and which could be Avi Chai, a member of its board or one of its major funders –and this is something I also exposed.

George Rohr, Chabad's uber-funder, sits on Avi Chai's Board of Trustees. I've reported on Rohr and what I believe to be his corrosive impact on Jewish communal institutions, specifically his apparent ability to quash negative reporting on Chabad.

(I should also add that Avi Chai employs a Baruch Kelman, who may be related to the study's author.)

It is a striking coincidence that the only Jewish blog to take on Schick, Avi Chai, Rohr and Chabad would “accidentally” be excluded from an academic study funded by Avi Chai. Indeed, of the blogs cited in Kelman’s study, FailedMessiah was and is the only one to regularly cover the Rubashkin Scandal – a significant black eye for Chabad and haredim – along with other crime and pedophilia in the haredi community, and Chabad messianism.

Kelman told me he would add a footnote to the book that will soon be published noting that FailedMessiah and potentially other Jewish Websites and blogs had been omitted from his study, but Kelman refused to correct the study itself, claiming it was too late to do so.

You can choose to believe Kelman erred or you can choose to believe Kelman cooked the books, either for personal reasons or on behalf of the Avi Chai Foundation and/or Rohr.

Either way, Kelman's study is tainted.

Here is a PDF file of Kelman's study:

Download The-Reality-of-the-Virtual_AYK

Update 8:10 am 11-17-10 – Readers have pointed out that three influential Jewish blogs were left out of Kelman's study.

Two of these blogs are unquestionably Orthodox – Rabbi Gil Student's Hirhurim and Rabbi Harry Maryles's Emes ve Emunah – and the third is The Unorthodox Jew, which is extremely critical of haredim.

But these three blogs share something in common with FailedMessiah – they all have taken positions that are considered by Chabad to be anti-Chabad. Rabbi Gil Student even wrote a book explaining why Chabad's late rebbe cannot be the messiah.

It is an amazing coincidence that Kelman managed to exclude those three blogs and FailedMessiah from his study.

It is an even larger coincidence that Chabad's uber-funder George Rohr sits on the Avi Chai Foundation's Board of Trustees.

Again, you can choose to believe Kelman erred or you can choose to believe Kelman skewed his study to intentionally eliminate blogs Chabad and Rohr would not or do not like.

Either way, as I noted above, Kelman's study is deeply flawed.

Update 11-25-10 – DovBear.blogspot.com isn't mentioned, either, and he is often considered by Chabad to be anti-Chabad and anti-Orthodox, even though he is himself observant.

And Ohr.edu is ranked in the top 100 Jewish websites by traffic even though my traffic is – and was in 2009, as well – more than 4 times more than theirs.

Even if all these omissions are errors rather than intentional exclusions, Kelman has proved himself to be an incompetent academic. And his study is absolute garbage.

Comments

[Simon]

The study also excludes facebook, twitter and myspace (p.9). I question whether you can legitimately study any aspect of the internet without paying attention to social sites...
The author also excludes Google (p.10). IMHO "Jewish sites" are created because mainstream sites don't have the ability, space or willingness to cover Jewish issues. However, in those places where the mainstream sites like Google work, a Jewish alternative is never going to be as popular (for example, shamash.org).

[ah-pee-chorus]

your conclusions seem reasonable and correct.

[Jon]

You realize posts like these make you seem paranoid? And this from a supporter.

[Ari Y Kelman]

Sir. Thank you for posting the link to my full study. I appreciate that you're extending the opportunity to everyone to read the report, and evaluate its merits, for themselves. I'll make two small points here about the report, its methods, genesis and, ultimately, its findings. I won't address your implicit claim that I "cooked the books" because it is doesn't really contribute to a productive discussion of contemporary Jewish life, which is something that you and I both hope to foster.

1. With respect to Mr. Schick, and his role in my report: I've never met the man and to the best of my knowledge, he's never read a draft of my report including the final one. Additionally, I was never told, either implicitly or explicitly, to omit or alter my methods, my data or my findings at any point during the ongoing research that contributed to this report. Your claim in this regard is without merit or basis in reality.

2. My intention in undertaking this research was to shed light on the broad dynamics of Jewish websites because, when I began this research, there had been no systematic investigation of Jewish websites and blogs. My report never intended to highlight or showcase certain sites, although, as I ran the numbers, certain cites emerged as instructive examples. The report is not a celebration of successful sites, nor is it an examination of "best practices." It is an assessment of the trends in which your blog participates. To that end, I'm pleased to be in discussion with you, because your blog is a good example of precisely the changing dynamics of leadership that I highlight in the study.

So, rather than attacking me or the integrity of the study or making spurious accusations about the study's sponsor, attend to the findings which advocate for your work in spirit, if not in specificity.

[Moshe Aron Kestenbaum, Williamsburg ODA]

Shmarya, Who gives a shit? These people live in glass houses sink sh-sh-ships, let them go to hell.

[Aleksandr Sigalov]

Mr. Kelman,

I have to agree with Mr. Rosenberg that, at best, your study is not comprehensive.

FailedMessiah.com is a notable and long standing blog, that perfectly falls under your own description as ["...any site
that regularly contains overt Jewish content, targets a Jewish audience, and self‐identifies as Jewish. More broadly considered, Jewish websites and blogs engage in a larger, evolving
conversation about Jewish issues."]

[yidandahalf]

Kelman sold out and doesn't have the betzim to admit it.

[Moshe Aron Kestenbaum, Williamsburg ODA]

Don't you get it? Kelman was fuc-kn told to ignore this blog. And it's because these shiesters think they own the world by divine mandate

[real]

well he left out hirhurim emes and many other blogs.

[yidandahalf]

How about UOJ?

[Shmarya]

Not mentioned.

[Steve from Brooklyn]

I just read the study and it seems to favor the young(and the West Coast).

I checked the 17 blogs on page 73 (Appendix C: Sector Breakdown of Websites) and some are empty and most favor the young.

FM does deserve a mention as a leading blog.

[Yochanan Lavie]

The Schick has hit the fan.

[Nobody]

"This is significant because Quantcast was the only traffic-measuring service in 2009 that had hard data on most of the Websites and blogs Kelman ranked."

Oh, YEAH RIGHT

Like alexa was not functional then? Google pagerank wasn't functional?

His is published work using data. Yours is unsourced and unproven speculation. Show us the facts or save your sob stories.

[Nobody]

From the article: "Second,
the internet is dynamic, which means that links are constantly updated, added, deleted and
changed. The data presented here provide a snapshot of the Jewish virtual sector during 2009."

So when you, Shmarya, say this:
(That anyone would think nearly two-year old data would accurately reflect the Internet as it is today or a group’s reaction to the Internet as it is today is itself ridiculous and reflects Kelman’s lack of understanding of his research subject.)

What you say has no relevance. He doesn't "think" that and your condemnation is petty insult. He is describing a picture of the year 2009 with is research. What has changed since then is only relevant for a different study that describes the year 2010 or the current month, past 5 months, etc.

[curious fellow]

I also am suspicious.

Ari Kelman's response above is a dodge.

Avi Chai and its chairman Arthur Fried always play-it-safe. They are establishment snobs. They're made it in the Jewish philanthropic world, and they want to stay there. In their eyes, Failed Messiah, UOJ, and Emes V'Emunah do not exist. They're like the old Kremlin censors who alter photographs.

Meanwhile, what is the Avi Chai report card? Anybody notice a change in declining Jewish demographics? Intermarriage rate going down? Yeshiva attendance going up?

And about this report. It will make the rounds in the Jewish media for about a week or so, and then be consigned to the dustbin of history.

[Yerachmiel Lopin]

Dear Professor Kelman,

I am struck by a contradiction in your report. You are interested in studying emerging leadership and influence. But your methodology leans towards focusing on sites with reciprocal linkage where each links to the other. That approach is all good and well for looking at important cooperating entities.

Sometimes leadership is insurgent, challenging, etc. This particularly true in the orthodox world, where institutional outlets are highly censored. Failed Messiah is the most important counterpoint. Others of consequence during your study period included the awareness center, and the unorthodox jew. These are all sites whose traffic shrivels up during shabbat. Naturally, given the character of the institutional media they almost never link back to the critical articles appearing on these sites. Yet they are important sources of information that are contributing to an upheaval in that world.

Mr. Kelman, as a matter of honestly explicating the implications of your methodology you have to admit your methodology inherently underestimates significant insurgent leadership. Given the mission of Avi Chai and the stated goals of your study, you fell short. I hope you will honestly acknowledge that and move to clarify a better approach to these issues and a better acknowledgment of the biases (in the scientific sense) of your study.

[SJ]

>> To that end, I'm pleased to be in discussion with you, because your blog is a good example of precisely the changing dynamics of leadership that I highlight in the study.

And yet Failed Messiah isn't mentioned in the actual study. Something is definitely fishy.

[Nobody]

That said, yeah why isn't your site on there?

[Shmarya]

Oh, YEAH RIGHT

Like alexa was not functional then? Google pagerank wasn't functional?

I say nothing in my post about using Google.

As for Alexa, it is largely based on estimates rather than hard-measured date, which is what I wrote.

On the other hand, as I noted in my post, Quantcast is the opposite. It is largely based on hard-measured data.

[SJ]

Also from Mr. Kelman's post-

>> So, rather than attacking me or the integrity of the study or making spurious accusations about the study's sponsor, attend to the findings which advocate for your work in spirit, if not in specificity.

Shmarya did not actually accuse. I read Shmarya's writing for what it says:

>> You can choose to believe Kelman erred or you can choose to believe Kelman cooked the books, either for personal reasons or on behalf of the Avi Chai Foundation and/or Rohr.

Shmarya is saying it's possible it's a mistake or it's intentional; instead of actually accusing.

[Michael david kittell]

Failed messiah is the 500 pound gorilla they try to ignore- they can't handle the truth

[harold]

First Mr. Rosenberg gets cheated out of winning the Jewish Hero Award, now this. Life is so unfair!

[Loshon Hora]

Are VIN Yeshivaworld, Matzav, TLS, Yudelstake, & 6 Nuchim Rosenberg blogs & sites included?

[Shmarya]

Are VIN Yeshivaworld, Matzav, TLS, Yudelstake, & 6 Nuchim Rosenberg blogs & sites included?

VIN and Yeshiva world are mentioned. The others did not exist in early 2009.

[mycrobe]

The report also leaves out Hirhurim and Harry Maryles. He doesn't seem to like frum blogs.

[Baruch's sister]

Baruch Kelman is not related to Ari Kelman. I'm Baruch's sister, so I know.

[Sarah]

The man is clearly a coward.
Lucky there are no more like him around.....

[Aggies Suck]

Professor Kelman knows who pays him and hope to have more future business with them.

He does not wish to upset them by mentioning scandal blogs such as this, UOJ and others.

Professor Kelman is also very boring instructor, he did this study to supplement his income and to please his financiers.

[Critical minyan]

Poor kelman, whenever his name is googled, this will be the first page that shows up. Forever.
Your shoddy research has real financial impact for people like shmarya, who depend on ad dollars to pay the bills. If you don't rush out a correction, you and your work will be forever tainted.

[Moshe Aron Kestenbaum, Williamsburg ODA]

Kellman and his ilks are the so called leaders who think they have a God given mandate for their views. Hey kellman wake up and smell the coffee there is a world out there who disagrees with your views. I am in china now again for business and no one knows here who Prof. Kellman is here. kellman listen up, you guys are high on your so called success-achievement but low on failure-avoidance. True leaders do not bow like sheep, Kellman know this God-given gifts are within all of us not only for the few who think they are above it all .We are here to stay because EMES MEERATS TITSMACH and you and your reports will be long forgoten before the next rain.

[Moshe Aron Kestenbaum, Williamsburg ODA]

Shmarya lighten up at the end of the day you will get your dues. Hey I will lighten you up I am in china now and everything here is named BANG, BANG THIS AND BANG THAT I am staying in a town in china that is named Cao Bằng. Outside the hotel there is the Bang Salon & Spa and Bang Bang Chicken & fish, Liu Bang shoes, Xiang Yu bang,Bang Kung everything here is a Bang Bang Bang For Your Buck.

[Ann]

"First Mr. Rosenberg gets cheated out of winning the Jewish Hero Award, now this. Life is so unfair!"

Plus he did not nor did the Chabad Rebbe rescue the Ethopian "Jews"; making neither the Messiah.

[Ann]

"Shmarya lighten up at the end of the day you will get your dues. Hey I will lighten you up I am in china now and everything here is named BANG, BANG THIS AND BANG THAT I am staying in a town in china that is named Cao Bằng. Outside the hotel there is the Bang Salon & Spa and Bang Bang Chicken & fish, Liu Bang shoes, Xiang Yu bang,Bang Kung everything here is a Bang Bang Bang For Your Buck."

Any Chitty Chitty Bang Bang over there?

[Office of the Chief Rabbi]

Totally coincidental to this, I began reading yesterday before I read this post Kelman's recent book which I acquired this summer. Sacred Strategies: Transforming Synagogues from Functional to Visionary is co-written with Isa Aron, Steven Cohen, and Lawrence Hoffman, three faculty members of HUC-JIR [the Reform seminary]. One wonders (well, at least *I* wonder) why some haredi benefactor would choose someone tainted by this association. From my point of view, Hoffman is a good scholar (see his 10 volume commnetary on the siddur) and a great speaker, and I've been reading Cohen's stuff for over 20 years. Kelman is elevated by association with these two.

As to producing "scholarship" for an organization or benefactor, who has the right to edit it, that is problematic. Many university Jewish studies programs are being bought off by the Posen Foundation, which gives grants for them to offer courses in "secular Judaism." Kelman's department gets a whole pile of money to teach 4 of these courses. Next up: the "Wal-Mart Professorship in Employer-Employee Relations"?

[Michelle]

B"H

Could it have to do with Quantcast's xtian fish symbol as their "a" in Quantcast?

That would have made me avoid them too!

[Moshe Aron Kestenbaum, Williamsburg ODA]

Ann
Any Chitty Chitty Bang Bang over there?

OOOOOOOH YEEEEEEEEEES Oh yes, oh yes.

[Gevalt!]

FM is extremely relevant to all of us loyal and faithful readers and posters...

But for us to know the true impact it has on the larger jewish population, it would be important for us to compare the FM hits against the other top 5 or 10 listed websites on that list...

shmarya, in a respectful request, are you willing to post the # of hits a day/month for FM...how many are unique visitors?

by any chance do you know the same data for the other top 5/10 sites listed in the report...can it be obtained online - is it public?

that way we can try to compare apples to apples...

It is noted that "hits" is not the end-all measurement to gauge the importance, relevance or impact of a web page...There is no dispute that FM is extremely important and essential and adds a checks-and-balance system to the Frum Jewish World, irrespective of the number of hits...

But, for the purpose of the article and conversations above, knowing the true data would be relevant...

Thank you in advance for posting the number of hits day/month.

[Gevalt!]

HERE IS A GUIDE TO ASSIST OTHER READERS:

Hits, visitors, visits, pageviews:
what are the differences?

Technical definition of a hit -Each file sent to a browser by a web server is an individual hit.

Technical definition of a pageview - A pageview is each time a visitor views a page on your website, regardless of how many hits are generated. Pages are comprised of files. Every image in a page is a separate file. When a visitor looks at a page (a pageview), they may see numerous images, graphics, pictures etc. and generate multiple hits.

For example, if you have a page with 10 pictures, then a request to a server to view that page generates 11 hits (10 for the pictures, and one for the html file). A page view can contain hundreds of hits. This is the reason that we measure page views and not hits.

Conclusion: hits are not a reliable way to measure website traffic.

There is an additional potential for confusion here, because there are two types of 'hits'. The hits we are discussing in this article are the hits recorded by log files, and interpreted by log analysis.

A second type of 'hits' are counted and displayed by a simple hit counter. Hit counters record one hit for every time a webpage is viewed, also problematic because it does not distinguish unique visitors.

Here is an article discussing hit counters.

Technical definition of a visit- A visit happens when someone or something (robot) visits your site. It consists of one or more page views/ hits. One visitor can make multiple visits to your site.

Technical definition of a visitor - Technically, a visitor is the browser of a person who accepts a cookie. Opentracker utilizes 1st party cookie technology. By this definition, a visitor is a human being, and their actions are 'human' events, because only humans use browsers (with javascript) to navigate the internet. If a cookie is not accepted, then we use IP numbers to track visitors.

Opentracker measures unique visitors, which we track over long periods of time by giving them a cookie, this cookie is unique to their browser. We have found that cookies are often more reliable over the long term, as many servers re-assign IP addresses on a regular basis. IP usage patterns are changing. AOL, for example, has recently implemented a rotating IP address technology, to stop log files from tracking their members' search term queries.

How reliable are cookies when tracking unique visitors? Unless the user deletes their cookies continuously, they will be measured as the same visitor with each visit.

Strictly speaking, “one visitor” means “one person” based on the definitions given above. So that if someone continuously visits your site over long periods of time, they will be recorded only as one visitor.

How to distinguish between new and returning visitors
1.A returning visitor is a visitor who visits your site with a 24 hour period in between.
2.Secondly, measure visits, a visit is a visitor’s clickstream broken by a ten minute interval, (minimum of ten minutes). So you have a cup of coffee, and return to the site after ten minutes, this will be a second visit. Say you go to bed, and you return to the site 24 hours later; you will be a returning visitor.

[Shmarya]

But for us to know the true impact it has on the larger jewish population, it would be important for us to compare the FM hits against the other top 5 or 10 listed websites on that list...

Why is that important?

Are you really saying that FM should be directly compared to the Jerusalem Post?

If you go to Quantcast and look at my stats (failedmessiah.typepad.com) you'll see exactly what they are.

Then search for other blogs in that study and you'll see I'm far larger than most if not all of them.

When compared to general news sites like the Jerusalem Post or Vin, I'm smaller. But they post many more times each day than I do, and each new post adds traffic. I don't cover taxi fare increases in NYC or Soccer in Israel. I cover a narrow are of the Jewish world.

There are tens of millions of Websites worldwide.

Depending on which measuring service you use, I rank about 125,000 to 100,000 (with 1 being the most trafficked Website in the world.)

And that dwarfs most of the blogs and Websites Kelman included in his study, sometimes by multiples of 10.

[mike]

Shmarya,

The poster with the name "Moshe Aron Kestenbaum, Williamsburg ODA" is a real name and someone is using this name and place of work but its not the actual person. Seems like the poster is trying for quite some time to hurt the real person.

[Adam Neira]

I fully realised a long time ago, on February 2nd, 1998 to be exact, that if one was to use vox populi to steer one's life ship you would end up in the doldrums. There is so much manipulation of data in the media world to create an angle or agenda it is pitiful. Thank G-d however that there is a plan in mind. A wonderful saying comes to mind...

"It doesn't matter what you think we will all know the truth and what is correct in the end."

Guess what boys and girls ?

The "end" is nigh...

[Menachem Mendel lll]

He's a piece of shtick.

On one hand he heard of FailedMessiah.com
“bandied about” yet somehow the “omission was purely accidental.”

F_uck him.

[Adam Neira]

To Gevalt!,

During various stages in life people will question things. Much of this questioning is done in private. People in certain positions are not willing to voice their concerns. Peer group pressure and the identity constructs they have created around themselves as coping mechanisms mean that it is too frightening to state certain tings openly. Private thoughts and self-talk are very different to public statements and poses. There are layers to character and consciousness. Human beings are incredibly interesting multifaceted creatures.

Many people are visiting Failed Messiah to "sneak a look" at various perspectives. I would prefer people be open, but as I have learnt in my 45 years on the Planet, people can internalise things very quickly and heal themselves under the right conditions. The value of the internet and sites such as this is great.

Blessings to Shmarya for providing this forum.

[Adam Neira]

To Ann,

In Australia retailers love the word "Galore".

We have "Sheds Galore"; "BBQ's Galore"; "Boats Galore"; "Holidays Galore"; "Weddings Galore"; “CD’s Galore”; “4WD’s Galore”; “Pets Galore” and even "Hot Tubs Galore".

Each nation has its own linguistic landscape. We may need a new Shakespeare to share the words around. China with 1.4 billion people would test even the great man for breadth and depth of language use.

Pop does eat itself.

[Moshe Aron Kestenbaum, Williamsburg ODA]

MIKE The poster with the name "Moshe Aron Kestenbaum, Williamsburg ODA" is a real name. Mike thanks for confirming that. I do have a question for you? What the fuc-k do you need to know who -what -where I am? Your faking your name,,there aint no chosid named MIKE in williamsburg. You sound to be a typical loooser that only showers when someone tells you YOU STINK. Remember Bob Grant? get of my phone you gavon.

[Kishka, Lakewood NJ]

Moshe Aron Writes :
Kellman and his ilks are the so called leaders who think they have a God given mandate for their views. Hey kellman wake up and smell the coffee there is a world out there who disagrees with your views. I am in china now again for business and no one knows here who Prof. Kellman is here. kellman listen up, you guys are high on your so called success-achievement but low on failure-avoidance. True leaders do not bow like sheep, Kellman know this God-given gifts are within all of us not only for the few who think they are above it all .We are here to stay because EMES MEERATS TITSMACH and you and your reports will be long forgoten before the next rain.

Moshe my hats off for you its excellent writing.

[Doreen]

MAK You say "EMES MEERATS TITSMACH" What does TITSMACH mean? Does it mean tits as with a women?

[Adam Neira]

To mike,

I was walking down the dusty streets of this Wild West cyber town this morning shooting the breeze and noticed a newly placed black and white poster nailed to a lamp post.

"All posters who use someone else's name will be shot."

A tumbleweed blew past, the cigar I was smoking needed replacing, the saloon was closed, and the sun had just risen. A dark figure appeared around a corner. I checked my holster and tugged on my hat. A whistling sound echoed from the distance. A chill went down my spine. I wasn't sure if it was from the wind...

(Apologies for this digression. I just had a flashback to a spaghetti western I acted in, in a previous life. I am very thankful to the Director of “A Fistful of Ravioli” for getting me a small part.)

[mike]

Shamrya:Is it legal to use someones identity on a blog or in a letter to a newspaper editor?

Lets say someone will post here with the name Jack Welch place where he lives and CEO of GE or Harvey Wienstien or just a name of an ordinary citizen,area of residence and place of work,is it legal?

If its not legal,i urge you again not to let him post.

[Adam Neira]

To Michael David Kittell,

This is why it is vital that a hierarchy of wisdom, awareness and righteousness is established on the Planet. The internet and current communication systems allow a multi-dimensional structure to exist from all points of the globe. The geometries are fascinating. As long as the good guys and girls are in positions of power, it doesn't matter that everyone doesn't know about them. Fame does not equate to wisdom. Yoda in the swamp held the very fabric of the universe together. But he did get a bit lonely at times and preferred the Jedi Council meetings and his little jaunts around the various galaxies.

P.S. A little tip about Isaiah 2:1-5 for you...

What the "mountain of the house of the lord" means is the following. Mountain implies peak, apex, highest point, i.e. the wisest opinion, perspective will present itself at some point. This higher authority will thus need to be heeded. The "chief of the mountains" bit means that this person will have to recognized, supported and heeded as the leader of the generation. The part about the word going forth from Zion alludes to the fact that at some point this person will be installed in Jerusalem proper.

[Shmarya]

Shamrya:Is it legal to use someones identity on a blog or in a letter to a newspaper editor?

Lets say someone will post here with the name Jack Welch place where he lives and CEO of GE or Harvey Wienstien or just a name of an ordinary citizen,area of residence and place of work,is it legal?

If its not legal,i urge you again not to let him post.

When the "real" MAK contacts me in a way that I can confirm his identity, then I can stop MAK from commenting using that name.

[NY Attorney]

Shmarya I am sure there are a dozen Moshe kestenbaums in williamsburg . I dont belive anyone has trademarked the name moshe kestenbaum, actually you can not trademark a public name.

[Michael David Kittell]

To Ann- why do you call Ethiopian Jews "Jews" with quotation marks?

[Nobody]

"MIKE The poster with the name "Moshe Aron Kestenbaum, Williamsburg ODA" is a real name. Mike thanks for confirming that. I do have a question for you? What the fuc-k do you need to know who -what -where I am? "

Did you just admit to impersonating someone here?

[Gevalt!]

Adam Neira:

i agree 100% percent with your comments. Although, I am not sure what they have to do with I posted....unless, you are merely stating that we cant determine impact FM has on based on hits/visitors to w particular web page...because some people stop by to just 'sneak a peak' and get different perspectives, and as such their visit has no relevance on the larger scale to this AVI CHAI Report...

But, i think that my posted acknowledged what you stated...that the importance and value of FM on the web is priceless, irrespective if it gets a nod or mention in this irrelevant AVI CHAI Foundation report.

Shmarya - your doing great! Few of us will ever know the weight or pekel you have to carry on your shoulders each day as a result of your efforts here. Hashem should give you continued strength in your pursuit of truth and siyata dishmaya to not let any personal agendas interfere with your ability to present the truth on various matters. I think we will all agree with the simple idea that the truth speaks for itself in many of these matters...

On a related note to AVI CHAI Foundation, i am intimately familiar with an organization that reached out to AVI CHAI Foundation for funding/support and was advised to jump thru so many hoops to even get to first base that it was virtually impossible to get any $ from them for support unless either 1) you had connections with the board or committee members, 2)it would ultimately result in AVI CHAI getting its share of fame and glory for funding you (and them really not giving a damn about the mission of the organization or what project you needed money for - it was all about exposure for them). They were curt in their verbal and written correspondence, irritated that someone (other than one of the larger mainstream institutionalized schools) would contact them for consideration of a grant, and abruptly dismissive of anything that may have had merit for funding, but which didn’t fit into their 'narrow-minded' profile of those schools/organizations that are worthy to get their money.

Like the Jewish Foundations or community federations that were discussed weeks ago when the issue of the Jewish homelessness was raised, AVI CHAI foundation is just another perfect example of a program that sucks money from people and then allocates it to a small group of 'connected' schools/organizations...more of the same corruption and 'smoke and mirrors' back door decision making once again...its all about who you know...

[Yochanan]

Gevalt,

Avi Chai is not one more organization that sucks money from people. It is a foundation set up and funded by a single philanthropist, Z"L. He was entitled to decide where his tzedakah goes or, more specifically, who he appointed to make those decisions. But they don't "suck money" from anyone else.

[Moshe Aron Kestenbaum, Williamsburg ODA]

To mike and Nobody

I will not bother responding to ignorant, bigoted yahoos. You and others like you just get blind and deaf when a person disagrees with your twisted thinkings. But you are entitled to your ignorant opinion(s). ... and I respect that.

But remember that respect is something that people have to earn. ... respect for yourself and others, you will be treated with respect also.

Jackass,smartass,badasses like you just have to get educated to the fact that there is a world out there its not just Williamsburg and Square town. Get a job, get an education and get of welfare. Yes It requires a lot of hard work and much much more, ...

To many Crockpots in your community are eating chulent and kugel and fighting over which son will become the next Rebbe.

You could do what ever you want , its a democracy, but not when your on welfare and the rate is over 80%.

I should have not to see my hard earned tax dollars going to support people like you.

Oh and one more thing, I will remind you of something to think, Your rebbi who ever it is, is laughfing his ass off when you are fighting for him. Just ask your rebbi if he would make a shidduch with you?

I bet the reponse will be that you dont have good yichus. or because you didnt part with your money or you didnt give more money for his money laundering organisation. Enough Said

[mike]

Shmarya, NY Attorney:

I don't know much about false identity laws.

There is only ONE MAK residing in williamsburg who in case you didn't know is affiliated with the ODA which is also located in williamsburg.

You have two reasons to suspect why its NOT the real one:
A) almost all posters on any blog are posting with handles and don't reveal their true first and last name.In this case its the full name and its not just Moshe Kestenbaum where there might be many.
B) You have been so that its not the real MAK

[mike]

Sorry,typo
You have been TOLD so that its not the real MAK

[Shmarya]

You have been TOLD so that its not the real MAK

Told by whom? An anonymous commenter on a blog?

Either the "real" MAK contacts me in a way that I can determine who he is or the the 'fake' MAK can post as much as wants.

[Moshe Aron Kestenbaum, Williamsburg ODA]

Mike Shut your snout fatty Callate el osico gordota. I see this FM irks you.

FM site is the medicine you guys need.

If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen.

Stop delegating yidishkeit to others.

Every crime in the book is committed in the name of yidishkeit by you guys that call themself satmars.

You guys represent the end of Western civilization.

If you love iran so much.. why don't you go live there?" ...
This ugly picture of kissing Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the name of anti zionisim is still in my head.

I am also anti zionist BUT I WOULD NEVER KISS THIS DOG OF HUMANITY.

So bottom line you guys are not representing satmar, you guys are opportunist and thief's, Welfare Cheats, leidigiers and cock suckers.

Mike put cotton in your ears because you will never never ever quiet me down

[mike]

"Mike put cotton in your ears because you will never never ever quiet me down"

We shall find out pretty soon.

[Nobody]

"You and others like you just get blind and deaf when a person disagrees with your twisted thinkings."

Not really. You just made that up, in fact. I don't think I've ever even corresponded with you here. I asked my question because it seemed like you admitted to impersonating someone (which I of course find objectionable and surprising). So I asked if you were admitting to doing that. This way I can know whether I understood your comment correctly or not.

Your name-calling is fitting for a child, but the problem is that you are a man. Grow up.

[Nobody]

Btw, "moshe" - I'm not chassidic, don't live in those places, and I'm not on welfare you clown.

[Nobody]

"You have been TOLD so that its not the real MAK

Told by whom? An anonymous commenter on a blog?

Either the "real" MAK contacts me in a way that I can determine who he is or the the 'fake' MAK can post as much as wants.

Posted by: Shmarya | November 18, 2010 at 12:17 PM "

Actually Shmarya, it seems that the 'fake' MAK admitted it. That is far more grounds than just some other random person accusing it. He seems to have confessed.

[Edel]

Nobody
let go of it. Dont make zimmas about this I dont want to scare off MK I love his posts

[NY Attorney]

"Mike put cotton in your ears because you will never never ever quiet me down"

We shall find out pretty soon.

Mike What did you mean by that? Will you beat him up? Are you threatening him?

MK As an attorney we look for grounds for money damages, if the slander created money damages ect. ect. MK is pretty good in his writing or maybee rantings, but did he damage someone's business or enterprise here on FM? I dont think so. A name is not a domain. This is clearly not illegal.

[mike]

NY Attorney,you say:
"Mike What did you mean by that? Will you beat him up? Are you threatening him?"

No, i meant legally.

He is impersonating someone exactly with that persons status. You call it legal? Is FM an accomplice? All that we will find out.

[NY Attorney]

Mike In civil court you could file a lawsuit on anything you want . You could file a lawsuit against a chipmunk.will you prevail? I Doubt it I dont give you a chance

[mike]

Your name lets say is Joe schmoe you live in alpine nj affiliated with a law firm abc lawyers inc.

Can i post comments as in Joe schmoe,alpine nj,Abc lawyers inc?

[NY Attorney]

if you say abc lawers Iinc then you have grounds because a Iinc is a domain, Iits a corporation owned by a proprietor. but you really have to be able to prove damages thats the key.

[busy]

I know someone who knows him. I will have him contact the REAL Moshe Aaron Kestenbaum from ODA and we'll see who has the last laugh. Not an attorney, but I don't see how you can impersonate someone in public using very specific details (i.e., first and last names, name of company and location) with utter abandon.

[Nobody]

"Nobody
let go of it. Dont make zimmas about this I dont want to scare off MK I love his posts

Posted by: Edel | November 18, 2010 at 03:23 PM "

Can't he just use a fake name like everyone else?

[anotherjew]

this site is more anti-semetic than any nazi sites. and you wonder why this well-meaning guy doesn't endorse you?

[alternative childcare]

I read through the paper, there is reference to FailedMessiah, but I don't see what the problem is. Luke Ford, who actually posts original material as oppposed to just reposting selected Ynet stories, is not mentioned either and he's had much greater impact, and following the argument of his paper there was no purpose in any further reference to this site than the one noted.

[Shmarya]

Posted by: alternative childcare | November 20, 2010 at 08:11 PM

Off your meds again, I see.

1. Luke is my friend.

2. I do post original material, but I also post news reports from other sources that deal with Orthodoxy. To say that I don't publish original or exclusive material is a lie.

3. Kelman claims to have relied on several traffic measuring services, but he clearly lied about which ones he used and how he used them.

4. The point, which your delusional egocentric mind can't process, is that to exclude me – or Luke, or UOJ, or Hirhurim, or Harry Maryles – is wrong, especially when all five of us are the most critical of Chabad of all Jewish blogs, and especially when Luke and I have so much traffic.

Now here's a warning for you.

One more lie out of you and I'll ban you. Got that?

[alternative childcare]

I'm off my meds? You quite well know that in terms of functioning normally and productively in society I'd rank quite a bit higher than you, particularly these days, when you think the international movement of Chabad and the Reform movement are banding together to silence you. Fact is, no one really cares.

I'm a liar? You are the paranoid individual here. Would you do a count of how much original material you post here and see if it qualifies as a significant percentage point? And I think your recent delusional behaviour here, with regards to the Perillo case, your supposed role in Ethiopian Jewry, how you solved the issue of street kids in Israel, that totally false posting about Amnon Yitzchak, etc, really dies support some issues with regards to your psyche and health.

And I like your "threat" of banning someone simply because they make true statements and doubt your centrality to the Universe.

[Shmarya]

Please.

You're an egomaniacal jerk.

I publish original material, material that is cited by the New York Times, WSJ, Columbia Journalism Review, JTA, Forward, Jewish Week, and dozens of other print and even television and radio news outlets.

But you are such an unmitigated asshole, you ignore that, lie, claim I don't, and then when outed say the percentage of original material is 'too low' too matter.

You're liar and an asshole.

And, as for Puello, I confirmed with the rabbi of the Orthodox Sefardi synagogue he belonged to in Canada that he was a member in good standing and that only Jews are allowed to be members in good standing.

But you, the delusional egomaniac, decided that Puello is not Jewish no matter the evidence otherwise, and have attacked me for months because I dared to report the truth.

Did Puello con that synagogue?

Maybe.

But so far, no one, including you, has proved he did.

Now pick up your flabby ass and waddle over to some other blog.

You crossed the line one time too many.

[Shmarya]

And, asshole, I never said or implied the Reform movement was trying to "silence me."

Get the psychological help you so desperately need.

[anotherjew]

GO ALTERNATIVE! finally, someone sees through shmaryas bullshit

[Shmarya]

GO ALTERNATIVE! finally, someone sees through shmaryas bullshit

What bullshit?

That my traffic was exponentially higher than pretty much every blog Kelman included in his study?

That Kelman lied about what measuring tools he used to skew his sudy?

The the groups who paid for the study has a clear conflict of interest?

Rohr's involvement?

That Kelman excluded the most influential blogs, all of them associated with being anti-Chabad?

The facts are the facts.

That you and AC choose to ignore them is just another sign of what you really are.

[SJ]

It's sad that people whose ancestors suffered so much persecution have trouble handling a lil bit of dissent themselves.

Yes I believe God will keep his promises to the Jews as written in the Bible etc. etc. etc. but I would think that such ironies are not beyond him.

[Nobody]

"That my traffic was exponentially higher than pretty much every blog Kelman included in his study?"

Now that's just not true.

If you really claim that, please substantiate it with the statistics. Type them out for us so we don't have to take your word for it. I'm willing to believe you are one of the more popular sites and have enough traffic that one has to wonder why you didn't appear on the top 100 list. But I highly doubt that you have more traffic than every single site listed! Come off it.

[anotherjew]

no, the bullshit that you distort any significant event to your anti-semitic (yeah, i said it!) views! you obviously have some sort of complex with haredim, so anything that smells like a scandal to you smells like bullshit to me.

[Paul Freedman]

Shmarya, with you it's always a lie and its alwaya a conspiracy. One version of reality would be that you are the victie of multiple distortinos and lies, from readers and bloggers and outside parties. The other would be that you use these charges to generate heat and traffic or that you take yourself more serously than the world is prepared to. Another would be that, yes, in this instance you were actually excluded. And?

[shimon baum]

Mike nobody cares seriously get a life its a blog. Quick call the FBI someone is using a fake name on a blog. Douche!

[Scott Trader]

Scott, you would gain some credibility if you would stop swearing at people and talk to them intelligently especially since your comments rules ask for no name calling!
"The one with the loudest voice usually has the weakest argument."

Do you monitor your ads on the site? There is an ad for yoga class Friday night in the city... are you kidding me?

[Heshy Fried]

I found that the statistic services they are using are known in the SEO and silicon valley blogging community as faulty, there are very pricey internet tracking services to use, but to really quantify traffic you need to have access to the websites back end. Alexa is faulty and you can very easily make your rankings higher if you want - My Alexa ranking is equal to that of Jewlicious, yet from conversations I've had with David Abitbol they get 4 times the amount of unique traffic I get.

To put it simply, tracking a blog or website without access to the back end is next to impossible - hence the reason that html based tracking software like sitemeter is only used by very shitty websites.

Jewschool and Jewcy are both very progressive sites who were featured prominently in the study, both of those sites and mine as well have numerous critical articles of the Rubashkin and Martin Grossman affair.

I kind of feel honored that the only reason you were even in the study was because I mentioned you while sitting in a coffee shop Berkeley.

You do have to remember that many influential blogs were left out, how many sites are linking into Hirhurim and Harry Maryales? I do find it puzzling that your site was left out, hence my long comment at 3am.

[Shmarya]

Heshy,

Thanks for your comment and for mentioning me when you were interviewed by Kelman.

You make good points. All would add is the following:

1. Quantcast has hard access to many of the sites it measures, mine included.

2. Jewschool and Jewcy have run articles critical of Rubashkin or Grossman, but they are not sites that are viewed as anti-Chabad. On the other hand, Harry, Gil and I are viewed as being anti-Chabad as are our blogs, and Luke is hated by Chabad for various reasons. Past that, Jewcy changed hands and is now owned by the philo-Chabad J-Dub Records – a fact that surely influenced Kelman.

3. It isn't as if Kelman was unaware of FailedMessiah, Hirhurim, Emes ve Emumnah and Luke Ford. He carefully and clearly chose to exclude these blogs, even though two of us had much larger traffic (hard measured, not estimated) and much greater impact than at least 90% of the blogs he included.

In other words, Kelman is liar. His study is garbage.

[Nobody]

Howcome you don't write out those statistics for us if you claim that "hard measured" (is the adjective hard supposed to make it seem more empirical? We get the point, you're talking about what you think is an accurate measurement vs. what you think is less accurate, don't add redundancy, some of your readers are not morons), so if you claim that measured stats from quantcast show your site to have more traffic than "90% of those sites" unlike the 'estimated' figures (but, was this also true for the year 2009?) can you just write out the numbers for us and tell us the clear proof so we don't just have to take your word for it? If it's true, it would be very easy to demonstrate for us with the hard data.

Btw, I noticed that you backtracked and instead of saying you're more popular than "pretty much every blog" in the study, now it's 90%...