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Message: <br /><br /> If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view this article online at: http://www.jweekly.com/16100/full/16100/traveling-you-can-locate-shul-or-a-minyan-on-the-net/ <br /><br /> <b>Traveling? You can locate shul or a minyan on the Net</b> <br /> Friday, August 3, 2001 | by <p>James Besser </p> <br /><br /><p>If you're Orthodox and travel, you know the problem: It's not always easy to find a minyan in a strange city.<br /><br /> Proving that there's a solution to almost every problem on the Internet, GoDaven.com, the worldwide directory of minyanim, comes to the rescue.<br /><br /> This spare but efficient site lists over 1,010 minyanim around the world, from Kihei, Hawaii to New Haven, Conn., from Minsk to Perth.<br /><br /> The site is arranged for convenience. You can search by zip code, by city or by the name of the minyan.<br /><br /> For each, there's all the basic information you need: times, addresses, phone numbers and even maps for U.S. groups.<br /><br /> There's also a davening discussion forum and a modest collection of links to sites that offer information for neophyte daveners as well as veterans. And the site offers a small "davening bookstore"; click on a book and you can buy it directly from Amazon.com.<br /><br /> That's it: nothing fancy, no frills, just basic information, effectively presented. One gripe: the site pays its bills by selling space for advertising. This week, the discussion forum featured a particularly noxious "pop under" ad for a gambling site.<br /><br /> Check it out at <a href="http://www.godaven.com">http://www.godaven.com</a><br /><br /> On a related note, there are a number of Web sites that claim to offer worldwide directories of synagogues, but beware: some of them are tainted by denominational bias.<br /><br /> One that is not, is Jewishroutes.com, a glitzy all-purpose Jewish travel site. It does a fairly good job of inclusion.<br /><br /> From the "quicksearch" box in the middle of the home page, select your country and select "synagogues." If it's a U.S. city you're looking for, type in the name of the city or the state in the "location" box. And presto: zillions of synagogue listings. It's at <a href="http://www.jewishroutes.com">http://www.jewishroutes.com</a><br /><br /> If you're looking for a Reform synagogue, the best place to get complete listings is the terminally messy but useful home page of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, <a href="http://www.uahc.org">http://www.uahc.org</a> Buried in the densely packed information is a complete directory of Reform temples.<br /><br /> The Conservative movement is no slouch, either. The pretty, efficient home page of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism—<a href="http://www.uscj.org">http://www.uscj.org</a>—features a synagogue finder with a map. Click on a state to get listings of Conservative congregations, many with their own Web links.<br /><br /> And let's not forget the Reconstructionists, who are too often left out of even "inclusive" Jewish Web sites. The Jewish Reconstructionist Federation—<a href="http://www.jrf.org/index.html">http://www.jrf.org/index.html</a>—offers a decent, state-by-state synagogue listing.<br /><br /> * * *<br /><br /> Israeli officials say it's a bald-faced attempt to delegitimize the Jewish state, and Jewish groups around the world are mobilizing their troops for an all-out fight.<br /><br /> And now there's a Web site for activists interested in weighing in on an upcoming United Nations conference on racism in Durban, South Africa that's shaping up as the biggest Israel bash-fest ever.<br /><br /> The Anti-Defamation League has devoted a portion of its big, well-done home page to the issue.<br /><br /> The site includes the draft resolution that has Israel's friends up in arms, a concise history of anti-Zionism in the international body and talking points for activists interested in doing their part.<br /><br /> There are also news updates and ADL press releases on the subject, and a link to the U.N. Web site on the conference—whose bland tone may make your blood boil.<br /><br /> The ADL has been a leader in using the Web to promote activism; this timely, well-done site is another example of the right way to do it.<br /><br /> Check this site out at <a href="http://www.adl.org/durban">http://www.adl.org/durban</a><br /><br /> The writer is a Washington-based correspondent who has been writing about Jewish Web sites since the early 1990s. His columns alternate with those of Mark Mietkiewicz. Besser can be reached at <a href="mailto:jbesser@his.com">jbesser@his.com</a></p> <p> </p>

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