Blog - Building a Jewish Life

What to Do During the Amidah/Shemoneh Esrei

The Amidah (also known as the shemoneh esrei) is the high point of the prayer services. This is the long, silent prayer where you see all the rocking. Except for the maariv service and any time there is not a minyan, the Amidah is repeated by the chazzan after (most of) the congregation has finished […]

Reason #843 You Know You’re Crazy: You Have a Ridiculous Love of Woody Allen Films

I used to write a lot of these posts, and I haven’t in a long time, so here we go again! However, I think this one is pretty self-explanatory, so it’s going to be short. Honestly, I think my parents should blame themselves for my eventual conversion. You don’t show Woody Allen movies to preteens […]

Tonight Begins Sukkot

This blog is shomer Shabbat and Yom Tov. Tonight begins the first days of Succos. Therefore, there are no posts on Thursday, October 13, and Friday, October 14.

Ben Stiller Does a Yom Kippur-themed Saturday Night Live Monologue

I’m a few days late, but last motzei Shabbos, Ben Stiller did a Yom Kippur-themed Saturday Night Live opening monologue. I’d say it’s about average quality for what SNL is putting out these days, but it certainly could have been worse. …Meh. But there was a pretty good Borsht-Belt joke at the beginning: “My father’s […]

Conversion Special Cases: Converting with Children from a Prior Relationship

This post is going to be a cross-over between my two main “specialties”: conversion issues and law. NOTE: I am not a family lawyer, but I did work in a family law office as a student for half of law school. While I loved working in family law, I don’t plan to practice family law […]

Word of the Day: Yeshivish

Yeshivish is a language all its own. Supposedly it’s a form of English, but sometimes, you’d never know it! Yeshivish exists most strongly in Yeshivish communities (whodathunkit?), but many orthodox Jews (primarily Ashkenazim) keep some yeshivish up their sleeve. Sometimes, it’s just a faster way to communicate an idea. The words may be either Yiddish […]

Interesting Follow-Up: Active Mormons Misrepresenting Themselves to Convert to Orthodox Judaism

Funny how you hear one thing…and then you run into the same thing 40 times in the next week. Here is a story written by an LDS member two weeks ago about Mormons seeking to convert to orthodox Judaism. It’s very well-written and also fairly represents the Jewish reaction. I’m glad to know both sides are […]

Why Insincere Conversion Candidates Matter

GIANT IMPORTANT POINT: This issue can approach a fine line between protecting the community and bullying. Before you accuse someone (to their face in private or to a rabbi in private) of being an insincere conversion candidate, CAREFULLY consider your motives for doing so, your options for action, and how your actions will affect the […]

How to Deal with the Yetzer Hara

I originally thought about naming this post “how to defeat the yetzer hara,” but defeat is the wrong word. As you now know from yesterday’s post, I don’t view the yetzer hara as “the enemy.” But even if the yetzer hara isn’t the enemy, what do we do with its bad suggestions? Merely one gem […]

Phrase of the Day: Yetzer Hara

Technically, if we’re going to talk about the yetzer hara, we’ll also discuss the yetzer hatov. The yetzer hara is the “evil inclination.” Yetzer (inclination) ha (the) ra (evil). The yetzer hatov is the “good inclination.” The yetzer hara gets a bad reputation, but it is a necessary part of each of us. The yetzer […]