Introducing "Appreciation Wednesday"

Treppenwitz has "photo Friday." Orthomom has her "Jewish Heroine of the Day" series. And now, for your weekly reading pleasure, Chayyei Sarah introduces Appreciation Wednesday, for which I will choose, every (sort of) Wednesday (sort of) a person or group of people whose hard work on behalf of their community, my community, or the world at large goes largely unnoticed and unthanked. People who do stuff should get a "thank you" every once in a while, dagnabbit!

I do not promise to do this every week, and not always on Wednesday. But I'll try.

This week, I would like to thank Jeff Finger and Zev Stub, the moderators of the Janglo group on Yahoo.

Janglo (short for "Jerusalem Anglo") is an email list serving about 1500+ English-speaking residents of Jerusalem; that is, 1500 people who, for the most part, did not grow up in this city and therefore don't have all the "connections" and Hebrew-language abilities of the natives. It is a place to turn when you need a recommendation for a doctor, plumber, or furniture store. Selling your couch? List it on Janglo. Looking for a ride to Be'er Sheva? Ask on Janglo. Need tips on where to take the kids during the Sukkot holiday, or how to rid your apartment of ants, or for a good travel agent? Ask on Janglo. Planning an event? Advertise on Janglo.

No, it's not a place to exchange grand ideas (or jokes. Or real estate listings). But the existence of Janglo allows people like me to exchange information that makes life a little easier. And moderating such an active list is a huge job. Zev and Jeff read every incoming message and strictly enforce the posting policies (I know; I've had one of my own messages rejected! But Jeff was very polite in explaining why). They devote a lot of time to make sure that Janglo remains as useful as possible while overloading people's inboxes as little as possible.

For all the hours they spend maintaining Janglo as a fabulous resource for Anglo Jerusalemites, I hereby express appreciation to Zev and Jeff.

PS To nominate someone for Appreciation Wednesday, please write to me at chayyeisarah- at- yahoo- dot- com. Thanks.