I had the great pleasure to spend Shabbat this week in Venice, CA. I know nothing about the area, except that I’m pretty sure it was the Venice Boardwalk in the move Son in Law. (Pauly Shore movie from 1993…pure comedic gold!) I attended the Shul on the Beach (officially known as the Pacific Jewish
Crashing Venice, CA, for Shabbat! Read Post »
Since this blog is, in theory, about conversion, let’s talk about some converts! On a practical level, this is very useful knowledge because it’s inevitably going to come into a conversation: “Oh, you’re a convert?? Did you read the New York Times piece about Shyne??” Rap star Shyne has taken the Jewish and non-Jewish media
Taking a Shyne to Judaism! [Cue rimshot] Read Post »
Original story: DiCaprio May Convert to Judaism for Love. Beside the fact that converting to a religion simply to marry a person sounds like a recipe for disaster, what do you think about this? My initial response was “DIBS!” but then I remembered that I’m not a DiCaprio fan. It was my automatic female response.
It seems that most orthodox converts you meet are also liberal Jewish converts. When we liberal converts begin an orthodox conversion, we all seem to think we’re crazy to be going from a liberal movement to orthodoxy. But no, you’re certainly not alone. I had the great pleasure to meet with an amazing rabbi who
Liberal Conversion: The Gateway Drug Read Post »
Reason #92 You Know You’re Crazy: I live in a very small Jewish community. As far as I’m aware, I’m the only observant Jew on my campus. And the only people who haven’t batted an eyelash at my lifestyle changes have been my Mormon classmates! In fact, they’ve been the most curious and supportive! I
Here’s a really wonderful article by Rucheli: The Back of the Bus. For those of you who don’t know, there are some buses in Israel (and a couple in America) that segregate men and women. I knew that it had to do with tznius, but thought it had more to do with avoiding accidental touching
Just wanted to share an article… Read Post »
“It may sound like I’m whining, but I’m just Jewish. That’s how we communicate.” Le sigh, the things I don’t want to hear at a law school lecture. Do other religious/ethnic groups buy into the stereotypes about them? You know, other than us stupid Southerners 🙂 Jews certainly buy into the Jewish stereotypes. Self-deprication is
Convert Confessions: I Hate Jewish Self-Deprication Read Post »
I hope you all have a wonderful and peaceful Shabbat! I’m not feeling so well again, so my Shabbat is probably going to consist of a book and my bed! But now to my weekly ramble… (since that’s so different from what I normally post! Hah!) On the Aish website, there is a running series
Shabbat Shalom! The Dating Convert Edition Read Post »
I’ve noticed that people in the orthodox community tend to call themselves “religious Jews.” I really don’t like this phrase. I’m not happy with the phrase “observant Jews” either, but I haven’t found a better replacement. (I’m open to suggestions if you have any!) And if you’re thinking of using the term “orthodox Jews” instead,
Adventures in Semantics: Observant v. Religious Read Post »
One common problem for the newly-observant conversion candidate is when another “orthodox Jew” doesn’t do what you’ve been taught “the law” is. Or worse, the first time you see an “orthodox Jew” drive to synagogue on Shabbat. We get so upset – “How come that person can still call himself orthodox? And why am I
Rule #42 of Orthodox Conversion: There ARE Double Standards. Get Used to It. Read Post »