Mandatory Disclaimers: (1) I am not a rabbi. I am certainly no halachic source. I’m not even in a formal learning program right now, so my resources are my congregational rabbi, great friends (including an informal tutor and a couple of orthodox rabbis), and my own research, usually online. (2) I talk a lot about
Management Update: Expanded the Mandatory Disclosures Read Post »
I had the great pleasure to spend Shabbat this week in Venice, CA. I know nothing about the area, except that I’m pretty sure it was the Venice Boardwalk in the move Son in Law. (Pauly Shore movie from 1993…pure comedic gold!) I attended the Shul on the Beach (officially known as the Pacific Jewish
Crashing Venice, CA, for Shabbat! Read Post »
According to the Talmud, rabbis must ask potential converts a very serious question: “Why should you wish to become a proselyte; do you not know that the people of Israel at the present time are persecuted and oppressed, despised, harassed, and overcome by afflictions?” That’s a great question. And even many converts can’t quite pinpoint
Why on Earth Would Someone Convert to Judaism? Read Post »
I don’t think I’m alone in the convert world as being someone obsessed with books. Jews are the People of the Book, after all! However, I think I’m taking this a little too literally. My late Chanukah present to myself arrived! In my defense, I got an amazing deal! Of course, it’s only 5 months
Converts and Books: An Obsession Read Post »
I’m taking off on a cross-country road-trip today, which makes me feel like a real 1950s beatnik! For your pleasure, here is a short video from my Birthright trip, as taken by Rivka. It was taken on a small jutting-out area on the top of Masada. If you listen carefully, you can hear the amazing
A very interesting question came up on Twitter: When is a convert’s “Jewish birthday”? The actual Hebrew date of his/her birth or the date of going to the mikvah and reemerging as a new Jewish soul? I’d never thought about that before, but that’s a very deep question! As converts, when is our “birth”? My
When Do You Celebrate Your Hebrew Birthday? Read Post »
I was reading Halichos Bas Yisrael and came across an interesting point: “Bright red clothing is considered immodest.” It was then grouped with tight clothing (which is an interesting line in itself!). I had heard that “bright red” (as distinguished from shades like “burgundy red”) is considered an immodest color before, but primarily from people
Halachic Discussion: Is Red an Immodest Color for Women? Read Post »
Since this blog is, in theory, about conversion, let’s talk about some converts! On a practical level, this is very useful knowledge because it’s inevitably going to come into a conversation: “Oh, you’re a convert?? Did you read the New York Times piece about Shyne??” Rap star Shyne has taken the Jewish and non-Jewish media
Taking a Shyne to Judaism! [Cue rimshot] Read Post »
Original story: DiCaprio May Convert to Judaism for Love. Beside the fact that converting to a religion simply to marry a person sounds like a recipe for disaster, what do you think about this? My initial response was “DIBS!” but then I remembered that I’m not a DiCaprio fan. It was my automatic female response.
Dear creators of resources that teach people to pray in Hebrew: I have some problems with your products, and I would like to discuss them. Let’s begin at the beginning. If I am coming to your CD/book or website to get help learning to pray in Hebrew, it’s very likely that I either a) Do
How NOT to teach a convert or BT to pray in Hebrew Read Post »