Funny Anonymous Blogging Story

Perhaps this is only funny in a you-had-to-be-there sort of way, but I just had to share this little story. A Simple Jew told me once he would get a big kick out of it if he was in Shul somewhere and he heard people talking about the "A Simple Jew" blog in front of him. What happened wasn't quite that good but it was quite amusing so I wanted to share it.

When I initially announced that the author of the Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh seforim was going to being giving his first live video shiur I, as Dixie Yid, sent out an e-mail to many people letting them know about it. One of the recipients was a friend of mine (in real life) who feels that the seforim are life-changing for him. He did not know, however, that "Dixie Yid" was someone he knows in "real life." Apparantly he missed the shiur and was very upset about that, but e-mailed Dixie Yid to see if he had any pictures online that he could forward. I obliged by sending him several screen shots I'd taken during that first shiur. Later that day I received an e-mail from this same guy on my person e-mail account sending the-real-life-me those pictures he'd just received from Dixie Yid, but whithout saying where he got them. He just knew the "real me" would appreciate it. I decided to play around with him a little bit so I thanked him for the pictures and asked him where he got them. He responded later that he got them from "a chaver."

A bit later, I got another e-mail from my friend on my Dixie Yid e-mail account, asking me how I'd gotten into the Bilvavi seforim. I told him about it and other seforim I (as Dixie Yid) was learning. Apparantly what I wrote about struck a chord, because he continued to ask me more questions about who I was and where I was from, since he has other friends that learn the same seforim. I didn't answer with my identity but just enjoyed cooresponding with my friend about the seforim we have a mutual interest in, as two different people. At some point I decided to reveal who I was to him and stop playing around so at the end of one of my e-mails as Dixie Yid, I asked him, "Why don't you tell (my real life name) who your chaver was who sent you the pictures of the Bilvavi author?" After a few laughs, we kept talking after I'd been "unmasked."

The funny part doesn't end there however. I received an instant message the other day from a friend I haven't seen or talked to in a very long time. Let's call him "Shloime Shpader". He told me that he was working with a Rav that my aforementioned friend coordinates shiurim with from time to time. I asked "Shloime" if he knew my friend and he said that not only did he know who he was, they were currently cooresponding by e-mail to coordinate a shiur. He then copy/pasted the latest e-mail he'd received from my friend and IMed it to me. I then e-mailed my friend (as the real me) and asked him if he knew "Shloime" from that Rav's office. He wasn't sure he recognized the name so I e-mailed him the text of the e-mail he'd just sent "Shloime" earlier that day. He wrote me back totally confused and asked, "Don't tell me you're 'Shloime Shpader' too!?"

We had another good laugh and I clarified that no, "Dixie Yid," was my only alternate personality. So anonymous blogging can be funny sometimes!

-Dixie Yid