The Talmudic story of the four who entered Pardes sticks with me. It’s definitely in my Jewish Story Top 10. I couldn’t tell you why. Maybe it shows I’ve got a 1/4 chance of making it out of this conversion alive and mentally/emotionally/religiously intact. Four men entered pardes: Ben Azzai, Ben Zoma, Acher [“the other […]
Interpretation of the Torah, Pardes, and Kabbalah Read Post »
I don’t know how it happens, but the phrase “beged ish” pops up in the most random of contexts. Perhaps that says something about the people saying it, but I’ll leave that to you. Beged ish is Hebrew for “a man’s garment.” In short, men and women aren’t supposed to wear the clothing of the
Phrase of the Day: Beged Ish Read Post »
When you’re new to converting, it can be hardest to figure out why everyone freaks out when you get a little too close to the wine bottle. What’s that about? (And later on, you get freaked out by how many people don’t know these laws and try to hand you the wine bottle!) Let’s discuss.
Non-Mevushal Wine Survival Tips Read Post »
Sometimes conversion candidates can get so frustrated by Jews who are “bad Jews” in their mind. You have to go through hell and back and basically get a seminary/yeshiva education, but people who just happened to be born Jewish can and will drive to synagogue on Shabbat. Women can and will dress tznius in synagogue
Revisiting the Double Standard Read Post »
Last Friday’s soapbox moment got a lot of attention. Worse, it got a lot of sympathy, proving that I’m not alone. However, I want to clarify what prompted me to write that post because of some of the reactions in the comments. As you should all know by now, I’m studying for two bar exams.
Revisiting Last Friday’s Post Read Post »
While researching yesterday’s post for conversion gift ideas, I came across one of the strangest bits of Judaica I’ve ever seen: The Mitzvah Measure. It is “[a] tape measure that contains measurements in accordance with Jewish Law such as tefachim, amot, minimum sizes for lulavim, etc.” I thought these measurements were hotly contested by the rabbonim;
Jewish Resources Are Getting Weirder and Weirder Read Post »
Rabbi Angel, former President of the Rabbinical Council of America and author of Choosing to Be Jewish: The Orthodox Road to Conversion, has written a pretty scathing commentary on this week’s parsha and conversion. Here is an excerpt. The full version is located here. Some years ago I attended a meeting of Orthodox rabbis to discuss policies
News: Rabbi Angel on Parsha Hukkat and Conversion Read Post »
You know someone who is about to complete or has recently completed a conversion. Very graciously, you want to give that person a gift. I don’t think Miss Manners writes about which gifts are appropriate for this occasion, so we need to figure that out for ourselves. I will present my suggestions, but please feel free
Gift Ideas for a Conversion Read Post »
This is something that perplexes me. When I first began learning the brachot (blessings), I could not understand why water doesn’t have its own blessing. I even contacted a rabbi to ask what blessing we say on water because I believed that I simply missed it. I still don’t understand, so I thought I would
Why Does Water Not Have Its Own Bracha? Read Post »
Appropriately enough after my last post, today’s word is “b’seder.” This word/phrase is ubiquitous in Israel. That means it is everywhere. Israelis say “b’seder” more than teenage girls say “like.” Literally, it means “in order.” It generally means “ok” or “fine” or “everything will be ok.” You can even end your sentences with it, like
Phrase of the Day: B’Seder Read Post »