Author name: Kochava Yocheved

When choosing a minhag (custom) or halachic opinion, you might think there are two choices: Ashkenazi or Sephardi. That’s not quite accurate. Ashkenazi and Sephardi are geographic categories, but they are not inclusive of every group. There are many “ethnic” groups within Judaism: Mizrachi, Ethiopian, Yeminite, B’nei Menashe, Kurdish, Lithuanian, Chassidic groups (in some communities this […]

As we discussed earlier this week, a siddur is one of the first purchases you should make on your Jewish journey. But there are a lot of siddurim on the market, so how do you choose one? 1) Get a paper one. Don’t rely on a phone app for all your davening needs. For one,

When you decide to start exploring Judaism, the number of books and websites is overwhelming. But really, all you need is two books. Everything else is just productive procrastination at this point. The Tanach A Siddur Tanach: The Bible “But I already own a Bible!” you might say. “I just won’t read the New part!”

Have a “stupid” question you’re afraid to ask? Tell me, and I’ll ask it for you! Check out the new website page, No Stupid Questions, in the bar above. I was inspired by a search term that was my own favorite “stupid” question: Can you flush a toilet on Shabbat? Check out the page to

Shavua tov, all! Want to learn more about Our Chametz, Ourselves? Shiur will be this evening, New York City USA time, at 6pm! If you want to join the chat, make sure you’ve downloaded Google Hangout’s software so that we can see each other’s beautiful faces. Email me at crazyjewishconvert on gmail with your email

Pesach, rather than being The Time of Our Freedom, is often The Time of Our Enslavement to Community Insanity and the Vacuum Cleaner.  But don’t worry. It doesn’t have to be this way. Realize that most people are insane, and that your house is perfectly kosher even if you don’t dryclean the drapes, remove your

The Dutch only wait one hour…so why wouldn’t everyone choose to hold by the Dutch when you have the choice? As a convert (and baal teshuva with no family tradition), you can generally choose how long you want to “wait” between eating meat and dairy. You’ll often hear that you have a choice of 3

How does one “prove” he or she is Jewish?  Most of the time, a simple conversation is all that’s necessary: “Is your mother Jewish? Is your grandmother Jewish?” “Yes.” “Excellent! Please marry my daughter!” I exaggerate, but you get the point. Often, a simple question is all that is needed to establish “qualifying” for something

In short: probably, but it’s unlikely you’ll find one or be able to afford it.  The two major “slurs” against converts are accusations that you “converted for marriage” or “bought your conversion.” You rarely hear the second one, but it does come up. Ironically, the only accusations I know of were in the chareidi world

Few orthodox institutions allow conversion candidates to become students. However, one organization in New York City has a history of being conversion-friendly: the Drisha Institute for Jewish Education. It is not explicitly an orthodox institution, so admission is open to Jews and conversion candidates from any background. However, the teaching is “traditional” and in accordance