This webpage is for those who are want to understand basic information about how the system works. Don't be offended if the page sounds TOO easy - after all, that's why you came here.

You know that you bumped into some Jewish groups on the Internet, but you haven't a clue what they are about, or how they can be of interest to you.

What are the groups about?

In previous generations, people got together in order to discuss topics of mutual interest. They had big conferences and smaller meetings and contact groups.

In the late twentieth century, people began to place conference calls by phone. In that way, more than two people would be able to talk on the phone at the same time. This was further enhanced when several people joined conversations of mutual interest on extension phones.

Today we've gone much further. By using modern Internet email technology, a lot of people can now get together to discuss issues without knowing each other personally.

In our Jewish groups, we've arranged for people to "get together" by email in order to discuss specific Jewish or Hebrew topics. It's like having a little conference, except that those who join the group (the subscribers) have to wait a bit between the questions and the answers.

How do I find out the group address?

Each group has its own address. It looks like GROUPNAME@yahoogroups.com

Instead of the word GROUPNAME, you will see the name of your group. It won't be in capital letters, and the parts of the name will be run together to form one word, like eshetchayil or hebrewtranslating or jewishphotography.

You need to know that group address in order to send email to everybody else in the group. When you know the address, send an email message
To: that address and it will start on its way to the rest of the group (but see "How does the group work" below).

Here's how you can find out the address:

• You can wait for the monthly group reminder, which gives a great deal of information including the group address
• Your first email from the group will tell you the address
• You can ask the group moderator to tell you the address of the group that you joined

How does the group work?

Somebody presents an issue to the group. The issue must be related to the group's topic. They send this issue to the group email address.

That person sends a message to the entire group. He addresses the message To: the name of the group.

The message doesn't go to the entire group right away. It is sent to the moderator first. Since the moderator occasionally has other things to do, such as eating, drinking, greeting his family, sleeping, or trying to earn a living, he may not be at the computer just when you send your message.

When the moderator gets back to the computer, he makes decisions about each item that has been submitted to each group. These are his options:

• To approve the message. It will then be sent out to every members of the group
• To reject the message
• To return the message to the sender with suggestions for change or improvement. This usually happens when the sender does not follow the group guidelines

When the moderator does approve a message, it is received almost immediately by everybody on the group.

How do I respond?

Anybody on the group can then respond to the message by clicking on Reply and typing in a comment.

However, there are a few more steps before clicking on Send. Be sure...

• That the subject line is appropriate
• That you've removed most of the previous message(s)
  • After all, we don't want ever-growing messages to move back and forth
  • We want to keep them as short as possible

Your message then follows the same procedure — it goes to moderator for approval. If approved, then it goes out to entire group.