Cantor's Corner by Eric Schulmiller

This June, all of those kids I tutored for their bar or bat mitzvah during my "rookie year" are graduating high school. What cheers me up from the fact that they'll soon be leaving us (and that they're all taller than me now), is that I know that such a smart, talented, funny and creative group of young men and women are bound for great success in the years to come. And I'm sure they all remember their haftarah word-for-word.

Instead of weighing them down with lengthy discourses or volumes of Talmud, I thought I would send them on their way with links to the best places to visit on the Jewish web, and beyond. Then I realized that most of these sites would be useful to the whole congregation, so I decided to publish them here, in an open "bon voyage" to the class of '04!

Culture:
Jewschool.com is a great "blog," with lots of information about the new generation of Jewish culture - Yiddish hardcore punk bands, Hebrew-Latino Hip-Hop, Ultra-left Israeli politics, and random bits of humor, and news about what's cutting-edge in the Jewish world.
Nextbook.org is a bit more refined — lots of info on the latest novels, poetry, Jewish authors, etc. Also links to many stories about the Jewish world in the mainstream press - everything from an article about the Jewish connections on Will & Grace from the Jewish Week to a profile of the Jewish architect for the Ground Zero memorial from the New York Times.
Klezmershack.com has a comprehensive schedule for who's playing where. Any Jewish music happening in the world is likely to be listed on their amazingly thorough calendar of events.

Organizational
JRF.org is the übersite for the Reconstructionist movement. Links to teen programming, social action, locations of Reconstructionist congregations far from home, new educational initiatives and what's happening around the movement can all be found here.
RSNS.org — where would we be without our own website - now wonderfully updated and organized by our own author and web-maven Dawn McKay! Need to know what's going on at the shul or the school? Miss an article by Rabbis Lee, Jodie or yours truly? Here's the place to look!
shamash.org/trb/judaism.html is Andrew Tannenbaum's wonderful master index of Jewish sites on the internet.

Jewish living
chowhound.com/boards/kosher/kosher.html is a great site if you want to get a kosher burger in Ann Arbor, or Kosher sushi in Rochester.
beliefnet.org has smart and diverse articles on all world religions, and how they relate to each other and the world we live in.
ritualwell.org is a treasure-trove of creative, egalitarian Jewish rituals for any occasion.
myjewishlearning.com has smart, readable articles on any topic imaginable- history, Israel, politics, holidays, you name it!

Social Action
areyvut.org is a one-stop site for volunteering, and other social action information
shalomctr.org takes social action as a religious obligation. Also has up-to-the-minute issue updates, with the ability to send your opinion on any issue directly to your congresspeople, president, local media, etc.
rac.org - if it's happening in the U.S. government, this site will give you a Jewish perspective, and then let you act!

Non-Jewish essentials
froogle.com — sure, you know about Google, but how about it's cousin? If you need to buy a new stereo, computer, or even a pair of sneakers, this site will tell you where you can get the best deal.
snopes.com — want to find out whether something is true, or just a hoax or urban legend? This is the site to check anything - from a friend's story to a suspicious email.
bookfinder.com — before you get ripped off, find that textbook, novel or out of print classic on this great site.