What a year!
This is my 327th post of the year, up from 288 posts last year.
There have been 121, 794 visitors to this blog in 2015.
There were 190,063 page views.
Many people sought out the blog from search engines, looking for answers to particular questions. They were, in fact, the bulk of the readers. The ten articles accessed most often:
- Bar and Bat Mitzvah Etiquette for Beginners
- 10 Tips for Attending a Jewish Funeral
- What’s “Yasher Koach?”
- What to Wear to a Jewish Funeral
- What to Wear to Synagogue
- “Baruch Dayan Emet:” Why Do We Bless God When Someone Dies?
- How to Succeed at Congregational Life
- Seven Facts about Bar/Bat Mitzvah
- Judaism and Mental Illness
- Jewish Greetings 101
All of these are older articles, but they seem to become more popular year after year. I’m glad: one of my goals is to provide simple answers to people who are unfamiliar with Judaism.
The ten most popular new articles this year:
- Why Do Some People Think All Jews are Rich?
- For Whites Only: After #Charleston
- Lost in the Service?
- For a Very Hard Year: The Movie Seder
- What Vestments do Rabbis Wear?
- Blessing for a New Job
- Why Can’t Jews Get Married on Shabbat?
- A Vidui for Martin Luther King Day
- Why Couldn’t Moses Speak?
- Does Leviticus 18 Forbid Same Sex Marriage?
I notice that many of these articles came from questions that readers sent me, or that they asked in the comments section. I appreciate your questions because they help me focus on my mission: to offer simple explanations to answer your questions.
Perhaps the most exciting development, to me, is that the Comments have really come to life this year. You left 1,868 comments – more than 1,000 more than last year! I am particularly pleased that you teach and learn from one another, and that the community that gathers here is able to disagree without rancor.
Most of all, it is a pleasure to learn with you and from you.
Thank you for a great year!
Happy New Year, Rabbi 🙂 thank you for a wonderful informative blog!
Thank you, Meredith, for reading and commenting! I wish you a good year.
Mazel Tov on the amazing reach of your wisdom, Rabbi! May you go from strength to strength in this new secular year as your efforts bring knowledge, understanding and healing to a world that sorely needs them!
Thank you very much, Rabbi! I enjoy reading your blog very much because I learn so much from it! I wish you a new secular year full of mitzvot!
There’s an erroneous link above: “Baruch Dayan Haemet” goes to the “What to Wear” post. Happy secular New Year!
Thanks for sharing your blog review with us. Yes, I attest to the fact that your teaching is clear and you make learning enjoyable. I also particularly appreciate the ease with which I’m able to understand your explanations.
I’ve read one of the success of a blog is the relevance of its older blogs and the information you’ve posted from the beginning is as important as the new information you post today. You provide each of us an opportunity to grow and learn at our own rate.
I so appreciate all that you do. Thank you Rabbi Ruth and here’s to you and yours a happy New Year. Sheri