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Jewish Convert Reacts to Sydney Sweeney Conversion Rumor

Sydney Sweeney attended Rosh Hashanah services with her boyfriend, Scooter Braun. Then the internet obviously and immediately claimed she might be considering conversion to Judaism. To be clear, Sweeney has not publicly announced that she’s converting. Right now, it’s a rumor built around one synagogue appearance and her serious relationship with a Jewish man. But

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Is Sydney Sweeney Converting to Judaism for Marriage? A Convert Reacts

Sydney Sweeney was recently spotted attending Rosh Hashanah services with her boyfriend Scooter Braun, which naturally sent the internet down a new rabbit hole: Is Sydney Sweeney converting to Judaism? Maybe. Maybe not. As a Jewish convert myself, I have some thoughts about that. Thinking about converting yourself? Grab my FREE Conversion 101 ebook by

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“Nobody Wants This” Normalized Something Dangerous

If you’re converting or exploring Judaism, there are going to be words you hear that feel insider-y. Cultural. Maybe even funny. And when you’re new, it can be tempting to use those words about yourself – especially if you’re trying to signal humility or show that you “get it.” But some words carry history that

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You Can Miss Christmas and Still Become Jewish, aka What Should a Conversion Candidate Do on Xmas?

If you’re converting to Judaism and Christmas is coming up, you’re probably wondering what you’re supposed to do – and you may not feel comfortable asking out loud. Christmas is one of the most emotionally complicated days of the year for Jewish conversion candidates in Europe and North America. It’s a religious holiday, a family

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Can Jews Celebrate Halloween? The Nuance No One Talks About

When I was converting to Judaism, I wasn’t too worried about giving up Christmas. But Halloween? Oh hell no. But for years, I had a zero-tolerance policy. I was committed to my Jewish life, and that meant leaving Halloween behind… or so I thought. Then I had kids. And suddenly, things weren’t so simple anymore.

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Make your New Year’s resolution Jewish!

The Gregorian New Year is upon us, and it’s hard to ignore the “new year, new you” energy coming from everywhere you look. Why not embrace it? Regular times of introspection, reflection, and teshuva are an important part of Judaism, and we have four New Years every year (it’s not just Rosh Hashanah!), so use

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Dealing with Holiday Season Grief

I made this video last year, but apparently I never posted it here! Building a new workflow for my material has been surprisingly hard. Too many moving parts! But better late than never, right? Struggling with your old holiday seasons as you become Jewish? Not at all unusual. Whether you loved them or hated them

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Graphic of a red-white-and-blue donkey and elephant facing off against each other on a light blue background underneath text that says "can politics ruin your Jewish conversion?" and the word politics is written in a scary font.

Can Politics Ruin Your Jewish Conversion?

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

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Pesach Cleaning Got You Down?

I hope you all enjoyed my prank yesterday! That is the only successful prank I’ve ever done. I am physically incapable of playing a prank because my face gives it away every time. Enter…the anonymity of the interwebz. If you have no idea what happened, check out this explanation: What Is a Rick Roll? And no, I’m

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Shidduchim and Nose Jobs

I have a well-documented enjoyment of the Groggers. They released a new song on Valentine’s Day, and I wasn’t planning to comment on it. It’s the first song off their upcoming (as yet unnamed, apparently) album: Jewcan Sam (A Nose Job Love Song). As always, power pop/punk combined with satire makes me happy. But I don’t

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