Gather round, friends. I want to talk to you about something near and dear to my heart: you do not need to “speak Yeshivish” to be frum. If you want to, that’s fine. But I don’t want you spending time beating yourself up over the idea that you “don’t talk like everyone else talks.” Elul […]

I’m surprised how often this question comes up. After all, what do you think is the alternative? Making them go hungry or having to hire someone else to feed them? We can get so afraid of unusual situations that sometimes we don’t stop to think through them logically first. Fear is common whenever you face

People tend to fall into two camps: those who don’t advocate for themselves and people who are always advocating for themselves.  As a society, we tend to deride that second group of people. But why? Is their behavior really that annoying or are we jealous? I can’t answer that categorically, but in at least some

Oh gee willikers, guys. There’s so much going on. And I can finally share it with you!  First, let’s talk about some personal stuff. I fell off the face of the earth recently, and now I can tell you why: I’m finally pregnant for the first time, and I’ve been sick as a dog. In

You’ve probably seen this phrase really often but may not even know it, especially if you don’t yet read Hebrew. Most notably, it has been written on (sewed onto) every challah cover I’ve ever seen. For example: So what’s it all about? Meaning & Usage It means “in honor of/for the honor of Shabbat and

I hope you have a fun Lag B’Omer! Break out the BBQ, shave, get a haircut, and don’t burn anything down!

You get four invitations to “The Annual Dinner.” In one day. Seven in one week, and I doubt the mail onslaught is over yet. From shuls past and present, Hatzolah, yeshivas, and seminaries. One is for a shul you’ve never even belonged to. In fact, you’ve never even been there. How does that happen??  All

I’ve written several times before about the need for every convert and BT to have a mentor. But really, you need at least five mentors because each will expose you to a different part of the community and to different facets of Jewish life. As a bonus, you see how multiple people handle similar situations