Every single conversion syllabus and potential beit din question list asks about Rambam’s 13 Principles of Faith. Rambam’s list attempts to distill the key ideas of Judaism. If you can not accept these principles, you cannot convert orthodox. I don’t know how the other movements stand on these principles, but I was required to know […]
Sunday is Lag B’Omer!
Lag B’Omer is the 33rd day of the Omer. (My understanding is that Sephardic Jews say Lag LaOmer, which is just a different literal translation of the preposition.) Forgive me for not giving you a detailed explanation of the Omer here. This year, Lag B’Omer is Saturday, May 22, 2011, at sundown until Sunday, May […]
Halacha in a Nutshell: The Laws of Family Purity
Halacha in a Nutshell is a series that does not aim to actually teach you halacha. The goal is to acquaint you with the general ideas of a halachic issue so that you can follow conversations without looking like a total n00b. Now here’s a fun topic full of vague euphemisms. This will not be […]
Halacha in a Nutshell: Tzedakah
Halacha in a Nutshell is a series that does not aim to actually teach you halacha. The goal is to acquaint you with the general ideas of a halachic issue so that you can follow conversations without looking like a total n00b. Just in time for the US tax deadline! Tzedakah is normally translated as […]
So What Exactly Are Chametz, Kitniyot, and Gebruchts?
A Jew can not “possess” or benefit from chametz during the 8 days of Passover (7 in Israel), which additionally includes erev Pesach (the day when Pesach begins at sunset). Any remaining chametz must be destroyed, sold, or nullified by a certain hour on the morning of erev Pesach. The hour depends on your location, […]
Halacha in a Nutshell: What Is an Eruv?
Halacha in a Nutshell is a series that does not aim to actually teach you halacha. The goal is to acquaint you with the general ideas of a halachic issue so that you can follow conversations without looking like a total n00b. For many people, an eruv is an essential “feature” of any orthodox community. […]
Adventures in Semantics: D’Oraisa v. D’Rabbanan
Just a quick vocabulary lesson today! There are many ways to classify mitzvot, and one of the major ways is by source: from the Torah or from the rabbis. Mitzvot d’oraita (mitzvos d’oraisa) are mitzvot directly from the Torah, both the Written Law and the Oral Law. The theoretical punishment (when there was/will be a […]
Passover Timeline: When Do I Do What?
Last year during the High Holydays, I had to write out a timeline of the Holydays for my school in order to justify why I couldn’t attend certain classes because of a religious holiday. (Because of night classes, just putting down a date wasn’t sufficient because many days, I could attend day classes but not […]
Jewish Traditions in a Nutshell: The Ketubah and the Get
The New York Times had an article last Friday about non-Jews using ketubot (also Englishized by us English speakers as ketubahs) as part of their wedding ceremony: Christians Embrace a Jewish Wedding Tradition. (You may have to create a NYT account to view older stories.) This definitely goes in my “least expected national news stories […]
UPDATED: How to Interview a New Jewish Community
Happy Half-Priced Candy Day! Now on to business… During conversion, you feel like you’re the one always being interviewed. And you are. But at some point, maybe even during your conversion, you’ll also get to interview someone: the rabbis and congregants of a new community. Hopefully you have a selection of communities! Even if not, […]