Tzvi Update

You may remember back in October when Tzvi Fishman announced he was tired of people only reading his terrible blog instead of also reading his terrible books. Since then, Tzvi's grand experiment to force his good taste on his readers using his blog has sadly ended. The INN brass have taken down his blog post, but IIRC Tzvi wrote a long missive publishing some emails between him and the editor, which contained the fantastic line, "We hired you thinking we were giving you a soapbox, not a place to plug your books." Zing?

Since then, Tzvi has announced his departure from INN for greener pastures, where he'll have more free rein to publish random junk to his heart's content.

I would like to thank Israel National News for giving me the opportunity these past few years to spread the light of Torat Eretz Yisrael to readers who have never been exposed to the true light of the Torah in all of its national fullness, and for being able to clarify the overwhelming centrality of Eretz Yisrael to Jewish life, as compared to the tragedy of Jewish life in the Diaspora. We are also thankful for having had the privilege of alerting our holy brothers and sisters to the dangers of Internet surfing and for being the first to discuss the subject on the web.

Actually, I'm pretty sure frum Jews had been talking about the dangers of the web long before you. Something tells me it probably came up for those rabbis who don't let their followers have internet access.

Last week, with the infinite kindness of G-d, we had the great joy of seeing our eldest son married, and we hope to have another three weddings this year. Accordingly, my free time to write blogs is limited, and I will be devoting, G-d willing, more hours to translating (for parnassah) books which deal with the revitalized national identity of Am Yisrael in our time of Redemption and with the great mitzvah of living in Eretz Yisrael. For the time being, my occasional essays will appear on the new “Times of Israel” website, which has agreed to publish my words and even allow me to post an occasional link to my books.

Boo-ya! Tzvi's moving on, your loss, INN! He's found someone who'll treat him right!

Or maybe not: over at the Times of Israel, Tzvi's gone back to op-ed writing. And he's already gotten censored.

18.Thanks for the memories at the Times of IsraelThis is their reaction to my latest blog about Gunter Grass: "I'm sorry but we can't run a piece that accuses all Germans of being Nazis or implies that another Holocaust is imminent in the US. You're welcome to edit these suggestions -- as well as the implication that all Europeans are anti-Semites -- out of the piece. If not, I have to ask that you take it down."
When did truth become so unacceptable?
Tzvi Fishman, Yerushalayim (12/4/12)

Tzvi, if you want to strike out on your own, the answer is very simple: stop insisting on writing for someone else and just start your own crazy religio-political-firebrand-shameless-plugging blog. Believe me, you have plenty of fans (just maybe not the kind you thought you'd have).