I just submitted my article to The Jewish Daily Forward on how Jewish nonprofits are faring with Web 2.0 technology. The short answer: they’ve got some catching up to do.
An interesting idea came up during my research. I was asking Rabbi Hayim Herring from STAR (Synagogues: Transformation and Renewal) if he had thoughts about why Jewish philanthropies are slow to jump on the Web 2.0 bandwagon, especially when some Christian organizations are maybe better thought of as Church 2.0.
He said, “Historically, we are a people of the book. We are not a people of the byte.”
Do you think Jewish organizations are slow to pick up on technology because they’ve got their noses in books? What’s your take?
You can read my entire article in the Forward’s special issue on Giving on June 20.