Jewish Journal to Expand Online Reach. Print to Resume After Synagogues Reopen.

Since this horrible pandemic started, I have recorded 93 episodes of my “Pandemic Times” podcast and written countless columns, all trying to help us make sense of a chaotic, tumultuous, bewildering and maddening year, when so many lives have been turned upside-down and so many of our physical spaces have been shut down.

For a paper like the Jewish Journal that depends on these physical spaces for distribution throughout our community, the lockdown presents an obvious challenge. As many of you know, we have a fast-growing and significant online presence at Jewishjournal.com, which has helped us compensate for the pandemic-era limitations of physical distribution.

Because the Journal is a nonprofit, we distribute the paper for free across the community. Readers can pick it up at various locations, especially synagogues. When those synagogues and other locations began closing in March as part of the national lockdown, we pushed our way through, found some new locations, and posted a PDF version of the paper online, always hoping that the lockdown would soon end and synagogues would reopen.

Obviously, that hasn’t happened. In light of this reality, we have decided it makes sense to take a hiatus from the print edition until our main distribution outlets — synagogues — reopen. After this week’s edition, we will provide our fresh content exclusively online.

Above all, we will expand our global reach and continue to look for diverse voices across the ideological spectrum to provide insightful commentary.

Much of my writing and podcasting this year has been about nurturing resiliency and looking for “silver linings.” Is there a silver lining to our print hiatus? Yes, there is.

Our new Jewishjournal.com website will be as nourishing as ever. You’ll get everything you love about the Journal and more. Our Morning Roundtable gives you three fresh takes on the hottest issues of the day. Among the new features, we’re launching a Jewish Streaming Guide that will curate the most interesting streaming events in the Jewish world.

For those who don’t use digital devices on Shabbat, we will provide “print-at-home” options for favorites such as our “Table for Five” Torah page.

Above all, we will expand our global reach and continue to look for diverse voices across the ideological spectrum to provide insightful commentary. As our partisan divisions become more and more pronounced, our mission remains to elevate, enrich and deepen the communal conversation. We don’t always succeed, but we always try.

In an odd way, this expansion of online makes me feel closer to the community, because this is precisely what so many Jewish organizations have been forced to do during this lockdown year. Just as our community has had to adapt and get creative, the Journal is doing the same.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in 2020, it’s that we’ve all been humbled by this lethal microbe. We’ve all been wrenched out of our comfort zones. We’ve all been forced to ditch old habits and adopt new ones. The question is: Can we come out ahead?

To quote a line from Rabbi Steve Leder that I often repeat on my podcast, if we have to go through hell, at least let’s not come out “empty-handed.” By significantly upgrading our online presence, both for our readers and advertisers, we at the Journal are aiming to do just that — to come out ahead.

On a personal note, ever since the Journal invited me to write a career-altering column (“Live in the Hood”) in August 2006, I haven’t stopped sharing my thoughts in the paper with you, the readers, week after week. Those columns (which are gathered in large scrapbooks) are my concrete legacy to a community I love.

The miracle of digital will enable this relationship to continue. If anything, I plan to write more often and gather more thought-provoking and timely content from writers around the world. We still will be a gathering place for the local community, but through the power of technology.

The reality today is that most people get their news and information through digital devices. During this print hiatus, we will take full advantage of multiple digital platforms and social media, including our podcast network, to maximize the reach of our content.

next time you show up at your favorite synagogue on a Shabbat or holiday, expect to be greeted again by your favorite Jewish paper.

I’m full of gratitude to everyone who helps produce this amazing paper every week, and to all of our loyal readers and advertisers. As we approach Simchat Torah, which signifies both an end and a beginning, I can say that for me, this moment represents more of a beginning than an end.

I’m excited about the possibilities of online, but I haven’t forgotten the power of paper. There’s a role for both. That means that next time you show up at your favorite synagogue on a Shabbat or holiday, expect to be greeted again by your favorite Jewish paper.

In the meantime, we’ll see you all on Jewishjournal.com.