A free press is quintessential for democracy. One problem is, though, that both print (newspapers, books) as not-print (radio, TV) media are in the hands of people with official diplomas, connections in high places and money. Democracy so gives equal voting power but unequal freedom of speech.
Newspapers always had a Letters section but also there, often, words by people of stature were printed most, with an occasional token commoner’s reflection just added as afterthought or curios.
Then came the Internet. For a few bucks, you could have a computer, writing software and an Internet connection and post whatever and whenever you wanted. But the problem now became, how does one’s writing attract readers. And again, wealthy people found ways to push their writings, in effect obscuring the voice of the common person.
But now we have something that puts equality a step further. An Internet newspaper, the Times of Israel, has a blogger section that is open to anyone who knows how to write basic English and has a passion to spread his/her thoughts. One applies and gets to work with software with lucid instructions that make posting one’s contributions easy. It encourages but does not obligate the use of illustrations and incorporation of clips. It also stores drafts and archives past postings conveniently.
The TOI does not sit in some dark corner of the Internet as it covers the news from and about Israel and beyond fairly, lucidly and often in context and depth. And now, it shares its limelight with hundreds of bloggers of all stripes. By enabling the voice of the people, it both enriches its overall message and enables everyone a say.
Surely, to help readers tell the forest from the trees, among its hundreds of signed-up bloggers and thousands of their blog posts, the TOI groups posts it recommends as outstanding (“featured post”) and sends their hatching around to people who signed up to feeds.
However, non-featured blog posts have their day too. First of all, readers can subscribe to feeds of all future posts by their favorite bloggers. There is also a list of popular posts – those that are sent around most on Facebook. That’s a popular vote that should stand for something.
Last but not least, the TOI has a chronological list of all blog posts (“latest”), with total equality between the pieces. Like in the voting booth, every say counts equally. Besides, the three groups, featured, popular and latest, are on equal footing. Any blogger’s piece has a fair chance to be seen.
Another way to have one’s blog post found is that at the bottom of each post, some of the main topics (“Related Topics”) are listed. By clicking on each of them, one gets other posts that have been written with these tags. Some will be peculiar, others will be erudite and some will contain little news, and together they make up a rich passionate bank of insights. For example, click the tab under a post on a weekly Torah portion and you get a list of dozens of comments on the same portion by a gamut of writers.
And the TOI does more than just opening up its channels to the public. It does “stealth editing,” making sure that the post looks its best graphically and also does not go against democracy, by (inadvertently) promoting racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. If it thinks it’s a bigoted post or section, it’s still open to the blogger’s amendments and argumentation, I found often at the beginning of my blogging with them. They don’t try to unify different opinions – only to stop things that no one needs to read. I remember my first draft having a spelled-out link in the text while in review they embedded it as a hyperlink and I quickly learned how to do that myself.
I could write my posts in their software but I rather use Word, edit and reedit (and again), use its synonyms lists and speller, then grammar check it on the web and only then paste it into the TOI bloggers’ port for adding illustrations and tags. As a recovering perfectionist, I make sure that I spend a lot of time making my writings as clear and readable as I can but I’ve given up on perfection. With any query, I ask their always busy but cordial editors.
I see it as not coincidental that this all happens at the home of a publication that carries Israel in its name. Not that all writers or bloggers are necessarily Jews, Monotheists or religious. This site with its focus on the Jewish State reminds me of the largest and most intricate Book every published by any group of people, the Talmud, that is also dominated not by opinion and information but by questions and discussions whereby rejected minority positions are still recorded.
However, don’t for a minute assume that all Israeli news outlets would encourage such diversity. One accepted me as blogger but then stopped my postings with no recourse for me. One invited bloggers but the address for that is a dead link. One even removed a friendly disagreement by me under an article of theirs. One removes my best reactions so that I won’t win any argument against its pieces. Sadly, a free press will rarely be as democratic as the Times of Israel.
It is so good to have a chance to speak, even if I have no idea who hears me. I’ve met people who exclaimed ecstatically: It’s YOU, the TOI blogger? So I know I’m being read. And it’s great to sometimes see that Bibi or the media heed my advice. Like today, CNN following my posting.
I feel privileged to have this chance to have my say at a worldwide marketplace of ideas that so many visit to acquire news, thought, knowledge and inspiration and that can be checked by generations to come. Of which I can always proudly say that I did it my way.
Yet, this free opportunity is not just a TOI altruism. With this egalitarian bent, the Times of Israel enriches and underlines the superiority of its own reporting.
Thank you, Times of Israel and fellow bloggers.
MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. *
As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. *
This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Of the 15 (!) books he has in mind, the next two are about homosexuality in Judaism and new rabbinics. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2600 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog that also may contain updates to Times of Israel posts, to which one may subscribe, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. *
He's getting ready to publicize books on: "Free Will, "Judaism and Homosexuality, "His parents in the Holocaust, "Judaism, "A New Torah Translation and "A New Hebrew Grammar, "Co-Counseling, "Vegan Facts, "Immortality, and more. *
Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He agrees that in a post-truth world, that's irrelevant, but then this is for the record. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. *
Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. *
Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. *
He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. *
He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. *
He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. *
His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. His posts are spell, grammar, and style polished by AI, but all written by himself. *
To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. *
His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1
