At the outset, I want to thank the thousands of you who have written from around the world to express your obviously heartfelt wishes. To say that I'm touched, would be an understatement. I'm only sorry that I cannot do so personally. It is not intended as a slight in any way.

Cliched or not, from the vantage point of a hospital window, the world does indeed look different. VERY different.

Unfortunately, I now know this first-hand.

Over five years ago, I launched JewishWorldReview.com and told one and all that I would "put my heart" into it — what has resulted may have been more literal than I had imagined.

On the afternoon of Sunday August 17, I was admitted to Maimonides Hospital in Brooklyn. It's an institution that enjoys a reputation as having one of the finest cardiac centers in the nation. Without getting into the particulars, after a battery of tests, the problem was diagnosed and a remedy is being worked upon.

Why am I telling you this? For a simple reason: Because I think you care.

Though time and again I have been advised against publicizing this fact, I do not hide that JWR is a one-man-show. I think the quality of my webzine and, particularly, the quality of its readers — including White House staffers, senators, congressmen, syndicated talk show hosts, editorial page editors, Fortune 500 CEOs and just ordinary religious and patriotic Americans — says a lot about who we serve and what we stand for.

But the day to day stress in running JWR may, unfortunately, say a lot more.

In order to keep JWR running smoothly, I'm often up all hours of the day and night. And if this continues, I'm told, JWR will cease to exist, BECAUSE I WILL.

What we need now is to get sufficient funding for a staff and a technology upgrade. At this moment, every JWR page is designed by hand. We need to purchase and customize a database similar to "Story Server" in addition to hiring a staff.

That takes money. Something that about 95% of our readers don't yet appreciate.

I'm grateful — SINCERELY SO! — to the 5% of JWR readers who have expressed their kindness and gratitude in our appeal until now.

I've been advised to start charging a monthly or yearly fee to access this site. At first blush, this makes sense. The reality, though, is it will undermine JWR's mission.

Let me explain.

From its launching, JWR has been about ideas. I created this webzine as the go-to source defending and being an exponent of traditionalism, patriotism, and democracy. We've been around nearly from the beginning of the commercial Internet and JWR articles now show up HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of times in search engines. If we start charging, that status will end. So will the likely growth of this site. Simply put, folks will never sign-up and will never read us.

This appeal is NOT about making anybody feel guilty. I know we have many elderly readers and high school students who simply cannot afford pitching in. But I also know there are many folks here who are gaining from JWR and either don't fully appreciate the situation or don't care enough to support us. I pray this changes!

Some here are simply are embarrassed to send what they may consider a pittance, but to us is a lifeline. No expression of your gratitude — I REPEAT, NO EXPRESSION OF YOUR GRATITUDE — will be discounted or disregarded.

This note is getting long, so I will end.

Don't think the "other guy" will help — BECAUSE HE HASN'T AND WON'T. He will count on you.

I AM COUNTING ON YOU — as are all of our future readers who have yet to discover JWR.

JWR runs on an "honor system". If it is to survive, the 95% who regularly gain from it, but who have not pitched in, must begin to act honorably.

I apologize if this letter offends anybody. Perhaps if I waited a few days or weeks, the tone would be different. As a cherished reader, I just wanted to let you know what is amiss.

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