Fast Forward - January 12, 2001

Simchas in cyberspace

"Mazel tov! You both look adorable together! I wish you a home filled with all the brachot that life has to offer. May you build a bayit ne'eman b'Yisrael."

This type of congratulation is what people find throughout Onlysimchas.com, a Web site that offers Jewish people the opportunity to share their celebrations with other Jews around the world. Whether it's a wedding, bar or bat mitzvah, or engagement, pictures and stories are posted on the web for family and friends to share. But it doesn't stop at family and friends. Once those pictures are posted, Jews around the world can view them and post a response or congratulations to other Jews they know well or do not know at all.

"People check out the birth page, and it makes them smile, even if they don't know anybody," said Yossi Markovitz, chief operating officer of the site. "They are happy to know the world is going on, and it's a great thing."

Dov Katz, Doron Katz and Markovitz, three friends, created Onlysimchas.com three years ago. The idea for the Web site came after Dov created private sites for his friends to view pictures from engagements and weddings during college, Markovitz said. So many of his friends began requesting Dov's services that the three friends decided to make a business out of it.

The site, although heavily visited by Orthodox Jews, was not created specifically for them, Markovitz said. Since the idea began among their friends, whom he labels as modern Orthodox, it may appeal more to that audience but is open to everyone.

The site is not only a place to learn about other people's lives but also about current events.

"After Sept. 11, people posted names of family members who were missing," Markovitz said. "In that case, Onlysimchas was being used as a resource for the community."

The site recently raised $75,000 for Magen David Adom and is also starting a new tzedakah drive, called the Simcha Fund, to raise money for families who have lost a relative to terror in Israel, so they, too, can afford celebrations, Markovitz said.

The men, all in their late 20s, work together to maintain the site, which receives six million viewers a month, Markovitz said.

"People are always interested in learning more about?what's going on in the community," Markovitz said. "In such an environment where people are constantly on top of the news, they don't want to miss a beat - with Onlysimchas, they don't."