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Becoming Jewish Without Questioning Your Sanity

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How to Prepare for Your First Beit Din Meeting

You finally have a date with your full beit din! Yay! …Now what? Whatever you do, don’t panic. Google “how to cope with stress” if you need tips on how to keep your calm over the next few days or weeks. Nervousness will trip you up in the meeting and make you forget basic facts. […]

A Hebrew Breakthrough!

Yesterday, I had a Hebrew breakthrough. It may sound silly to some of you, and certainly not worth a post, but hey, it’s my blog! I think this was a major milestone in my Hebrew education, and it’s not a milestone I expected. We spoke recently about the concept of internalization. When you internalize a […]

The Mandatory Matisyahu Post: Must Jewish Men Have Beards?

I guess I have to be like everyone else and weigh in on the Matisyahu Beardgate 2011. In case you don’t have access to any news source, Facebook, Twitter, etc…Chassidic singer Matisyahu shaved his beard. GASP! Shock! Disbelief! This is ridiculous. My initial thoughts on the news: “Oh. Interesting.” And then I moved on to doing […]

Getting Ready for Chanukah: The On-Going War with Candle Wax

Just a short tip today. One of the most annoying things about orthodoxy is the sheer volume of candlewax that invades every part of your life. (Drip cups are always a good idea, but they can only lessen the inevitable.) I know Chanukah is getting close when I begin thinking, “Ok, it’s time to clean […]

A Convenient Hatred: The History of Antisemitism

A book has just been released that you should consider buying or checking out from the library. (Since it literally has just been published, you may have to request that your library get a copy of the book. It’s a simple procedure.) Disclosures: I did not receive this book to review it. However, I did […]

Word of the Day: Mezumen

When you bentch, you may notice that sometimes a person leads the bentching and sometimes not. Chances are, you won’t be leading the benching anytime soon, but you may be confused what’s going on. I wondered about this constantly, but by the time bentching was over, I’d forgotten my question! Before we start, go grab […]

Controversies You Should Understand: Chabad Conversions

I’ve been trying to decide how to approach the Chabad question for several months. It is definitely an issue that needs to be addressed for conversion candidates because many discover Judaism through local Chabad houses. However, it is difficult to handle a controversy fairly and without making too many people angry! I am not Chabad, […]

Signs You’ve Made It: Nightmares

Nightmares are probably the strangest sign that you’ve really cast your lot with the Jewish people. But they seem to be universal: everyone begins to have nightmares about Nazis, the Holocaust, or other anti-Semitism. [I don’t think anyone dreams about the Cossacks.] It seems unavoidable. Interestingly (and in my totally unscientific opinion), I believe it’s one of […]

Do You Have an Adequate Support System?

Just as there are many baalei teshuva who read this blog, there are many conversion candidates reading Beyond Teshuva, a blog created for BTs. [Grammar note: notice that the plural of BTs is not BT’s. That’s your dose of my crazy for the day.] Last week, Beyond Teshuva had a great breakdown of the kinds […]