Stories That Bear Witness Yom HaShoah – Holocaust Remembrance Day – is not just about remembering history. It’s about confronting it. Feeling it. Passing it on. There are many ways to honor this day: lighting a candle, saying a name, learning something new. One powerful option is through film. Stories can shake us awake, open […]
11 Powerful Films for Yom HaShoah – Holocaust Remembrance Day Read Post »
Do your politics matter while converting to Judaism? No! (Yes, of course they do.) Should you be open about your politics while converting? Only you can answer that, but let’s give you some useful information to make that decision. Disclaimers! Lawyers love disclaimers, and I’m no exception. I’ve been a part of and visited more
Can Politics Ruin Your Jewish Conversion? Read Post »
If you’re young enough, every conversion candidate thinks about the possibility of going on Birthright. I went on Birthright after my conservative conversion, but I was on a trip organized by an orthodox organization and the specific trip was actually labeled as “modern orthodox.” I think that effectively just meant that the trip was shomer
Converts and Birthright Read Post »
Personally, my biggest tongue-twister is hashkafah and hashgacha. My brain consistently combines the two into a nonsense word: hashgafa. Hashkafah: Worldview. It generally refers to your “brand” of halacha and Jewish living. Modern orthodox, yeshivish, Satmar, etc. Hashgacha: The kosher certification of a restaurant. It’ll be evidenced by a little sign in the window, which
UPDATED: Adventures in Semantics: Hashkafah, Hashgacha, Haskalah Read Post »
A very straight-forward reference post for you today. You generally needn’t memorize the Hebrew dates of most holidays, unless told differently by your beit din. However, you should be able to list these major holidays in chronological order, starting either with Rosh Hashana or Pesach. You may want to compare and contrast with the post
Handy Dandy List of Jewish Holidays with Hebrew Dates Read Post »
You will eventually need to know the short-hand names for the eating-related brachot, so here is a handy list to help you out! Even better, you’ll hear these phrases thrown around quickly in conversations, so now you’ll understand what these people are talking about, and you can even use these phrases in your conversations! What
The “Nicknames” of Brachot Read Post »
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
A Convenient Hatred: The History of Antisemitism Read Post »
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,
Controversies You Should Understand: Chabad Conversions Read Post »
Something that confused me for a long time was that Hebrew letters are also numbers. Worse, the words for numbers have both feminine and masculine forms. But today, we’re going to focus on Hebrew numerals. Think of Roman numerals (I, V, and X) and Arabic numbers (1, 2, and 3). I find the Hebrew system
When Hebrew Letters Are Actually Numbers Read Post »
Today, I’m going to tell you why the Voca People are awesome. But I’m not going to make you take that on faith. I’ll tell you a little about myself so that you can know I am a clear authority on their amazingness. First, I saw it. Second, I’ve seen a lot of performances of