Guidelines for Making Comments

This page is unnecessary because you already know how to have a civil conversation. All the same rules apply when you submit a comment to the blog on this site. For example:

1. Be nice. I think of the blog as an extended version of the weekly Torah study group at my synagogue. We can learn a lot from each other, as long as we treat each other with respect and kindness. Please remember that this is a Jewish blog. Comments that denigrate Jews and Judaism are as welcome on Reb Jeff as they would be in a synagogue. 
2. Be open-minded. I am proud to be a Reform Jew and a rabbi who serves a Reform congregation, but I try to write for a Jewish audience that includes all Jews—Reform, Orthodox, Conservative, Reconstruction, Renewal, and also the other two Jewish movements: I-Don't-Know and I-Don't-Care. You don't have to agree with my opinions, but I do ask that you just read and comment with an open mind.
3. Be who you are. Please identify yourself with your name and email address. (That's part of having a civil conversation, too). If you are commenting here just to place a link to your commercial website, please don't. It's annoying and your comment will be removed as quickly as it goes up.

I will occasionally require that comments be approved for posts that are on topics that attracts a large number of disagreeable comments. (Circumcision comes to mind). I don't like doing that because I like to foster a free-flowing exchange of ideas. That being said, if a comment shows up that seems like an egregious violation of these guidelines, I will remove it.

Thank you for reading and for all your wonderful comments!