If you haven’t discovered it already, 2 Jews equals 3 opinions! And it is entirely possible for all of those opinions to be correct. How is that possible?? I’m Jewish, so I could give you 18 answers to that question. The best answer I can give you is that Judaism is not only NOT a […]
Berating Google
I’m a lawyer, and that means I try to be precise with my language. I don’t always succeed, but I try. So this means I do a lot of Google searches of “define X” to make sure I’m using a word correctly for the idea I’m conveying. I don’t remember why, but I wanted to […]
Phrase of the Day: “Be Attractive, Not Attracting”
People either love or hate this phrase. What does “be attractive, not attracting” mean to you? And do you think it’s a phrase worth telling someone (particularly a woman) as they’re learning the rules of tznius? If someone said it to you as you were becoming tznius, was it helpful?
How Do You Congratulate a New Convert?
This has been a surprisingly contentious issue. What do you say to someone upon finishing their conversion? Congratulations in English is a simple, easy way to do convey all the possible emotions. Out of the 200+ congratulations I’ve received in person and online, almost all people said “mazal tov!” to me, and I think that’s […]
Should You Make Up a “Jew-y” Name for Yourself?
Disclaimer: All names in this post are completely made up (and often from random name generators). If I happened to accidentally choose your name, I apologize. Well, except for the famous names. I just felt like using those. It’s very common for converts to take on a Hebrew name as their “everyday” name, even if […]
Should You Change or Add to Your Hebrew Name When You Have a Second Conversion?
I find it interesting that Hebrew names is the #1 topic that brings people to this blog through search engines. I wonder where all this interest in names comes from! Based on the search terms themselves, it appears to be adults choosing a name for themselves, rather than parents naming a baby. Well, this week’s […]
UPDATED: Adventures in Semantics: Hashkafah, Hashgacha, Haskalah
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 […]
Haikus for Jews?
All my Jew Crew on Facebook is all a-twitter about the Shema. Someone pointed out that the Shema is a haiku, and it began to spread like wildfire through status updates. After a few friends “verified” it, I decided it was finally time to investigate it for myself. The Haiku The haiku is a traditional […]
How to Pronounce the Word “Judaism”
I bet you’re wondering what on earth this post is about. Of course you know how to pronounce the word “Judaism”! Isn’t that a prerequisite to joining the religion?! I’m not saying there’s a correct way, but American English speakers have several very distinct ways of pronouncing the word. I’m somewhat trained as a linguist, […]
Why I Am “Modern Orthodox”
I get very annoyed at how “modern” is thrown around like an insult. Conversion candidates seem to feel this struggle more acutely than the frum-from-birth crowd. Baalei teshuva are probably in the same boat as the conversion candidates, but at least they’re still Jewish at the end of the day. Even the people who act […]
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