To my Dear WordPress followers,

It’s been a long journey you and I have been on. You may have been following this blog ever since I started it over 15 years ago.

Back then, my kids were young, I focused my writing on gardening, the notion of being a transplant, and yes, there was a post or two about Judaism and Jewish education.

You may have intentionally followed me, or came across my blog posts about how love letters have gone the way of fleeting text messages, the profiles I wrote about people in Rochester, NY or in the Detroit Metro area.

However the way you found your way to reading my work, I want to thank you. I think it is standing on its own.

I still get some modest traffic, even though I have not written in months.

My blog posts here on WordPress became fewer and farther between because, well, honestly, I’d found paid work that kept me extremely busy, with then very little energy to write for myself and my readers here.

Well, as life goes, I have found some more free time on my hands, and this will allow me to continue my writing more independently.

So, I’d like to invite you to follow me over to Substack.

Since October 7th, I am a changed writer.

A changed person.

The days where Jews could just be Jewish quietly and privately in one part of their lives and have their Jewish stuff go on over THERE while separately living the rest of their lives over THERE, seem to be over.

We never wanted any of this.

We wanted to live our lives as diaspora Jews, we thought we were comfortable, rising from the ashes of the Holocaust to build new lives in America, Canada, Israel and elsewhere. Raise our families and reach out to the rest of the wider world in our pursuits, professions, travels and hobbies.

But after October 7th and perhaps in the years leading up to that horrific date, some of us have felt as if we were now on the defense. Our Judaism could no longer be taken for granted.

So, I have decided to begin a Substack called LaKoom. LaKoom translates to “get up” or “stand up.” in Hebrew.

It is a command.

I will be writing about, and looking for stories about Jews who are sticking up for themselves, their communities, and somehow are finding strength and courage to rise above the hate.

In order to do this, I need to hear from you, my readers.

So, follow me over to Substack. Subscribe. And I hope, maybe you can support my work with a donation or a paid subscription.

Now, I must go and write.

See you all on the other side.