First of all, 'wackyadam' is right - there is no harm done by referring to
the comments made on the Project Genesis Lifeline by name. Although it is
indeed prohibited (in almost all cases) to repeat even common knowledge
which is Loshon Hora, the intent is (presumably) to ask a legitimate
question rather than to deride the speaker - the intent isn't to speak
Loshon Hora. And on the contrary, given that the identity of "the web site"
is known to most readers, one would not be permitted to make any statement
which would be prohibited were the site or author spelled out explicitely.
Now, to address the issue itself, most of the writers are expressing valid
concerns, but nonetheless it is appropriate for a Torah site to request
positive reviews. Remember, the statement in the Lifeline said only: <<In
accordance with the laws regarding prohibited speech, we encourage reviews
which focus upon the positive aspects of books you enjoyed, rather than the
negatives of those which you did not like.>> This is hardly a full
statement of our policy concerning the books which we carry and plan to
carry in our "on-line Judaica store." Negative reviews will not be
published - but this does not mean that they will be ignored.
It is clearly not our intention to carry every book, even every work which
you might find in your local Jewish bookstore. We are, on some level,
implicitly recommending each book as one which will contribute in a
positive way to the reader's understanding of our Jewish heritage and
tradition. Our "bookstore" isn't just an attempt to make money (not that
we're against it, but we have a ways to go in that department), but also to
answer the needs of readers in far-flung locations for literature which
they won't find through amazon.com, and which will help them to learn more.
It is also beyond reasonable expectations to assume that we have actually
read every book which we carry. Thus errors are possible. I think it is
obvious that if someone finds a book in our store which he or she believes
contains blatant errors of fact, distorted understanding of Jewish
philosophy, or simple horrid writing, that person won't hesitate to contact
us simply because "we encourage positive reviews!"
And rightly so. Where "there is positive benefit to saying something
negative," we will not carry the book, rather than carrying it along with a
recommendation that individuals not purchase it (!).
On the other hand, there are differences of taste - there are books which
you love, and books which simply didn't appeal, and yet your tastes may
differ greatly from mine. My favorite books may all be those which you
disliked. This being the case, we (Project Genesis) were instructed by one
of North America's leading Halachic authorities that publishing a negative
review based solely upon taste is unjustifiable (and prohibited)
interference with the livelihood of the book's author. While your favorite
newspaper's book reviewer may feel that he is performing a valuable public
service when he tells you that book X is trash, Torah values are different.
Akiva Miller raised another important concern - if we _ignore_ negative
reviews, then a book which was liked only by a very few individuals might
be rated as highly as another which is uniformly acclaimed. In this case,
the value of our "ratings" would be questionable at best.
But the truth is that we do offer the opportunity to rate a book with only
one or two stars. Our current plan is to publish average scores - but only
for those books which rate higher than average. Those who wish to follow
positive recommendations of others only need to know about these. On the
other hand, because there are so many different works, most of which have
not been reviewed, the fact that one isn't rated doesn't necessarily say
anything bad about it. So negative reviews will not have zero impact - they
will indeed prevent a book from being listed among the "recommended works,"
but _without_ venturing into negative counter-recommendations of a book
which many individuals might find extremely beneficial and enjoyable. Thus
we will do that which is Halachically permitted and most valuable:
recommending those books which are definitely worth a closer look.
I hope that this better explains our policy and its Halachic underpinnings.
Btw, we've had more discussion of our review process than actual reviews!
Please, do visit our bookstore and lend us your thoughts. And if you feel
like making a purchase, that's not so bad either. ;-)
Yours,
Yaakov Menken