My month-long poll on the homepage just ended, and here are the results:

88 people responded.

Of those, 27 people (30%) say “most of my friends and relatives are Orthodox.”

37 people (42%) say “I know a number of Orthodox people well.”

15 people (17%) say “I know a few, but not well.”

And the smallest group, 9 respondents (10%) say “none personally.”

I find this very exciting, because if 27% of the respondents are saying they don’t really know Orthodox Jews personally, hopefully this blog is an opportunity to learn about us Orthodox folks in a real way – not in media-hyped or Hollywood-puffed fashion.

Also: the comments that those very 27% post, are being read by the 72% who are very comfy in the Orthodox world, which means the insight is traveling both ways.  (For the number-geeks out there, the percentages are rounded, hence the 99% total.)

And that, my friends, will hopefully be the beginning of the Bridge… the one that will draw us nearer to one another as a People.

I can hardly wait.