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 […]
Can You Be an Orthodox Jew Who Happens to Be Vegetarian or Vegan?
YES! But uh…it depends on who you ask. There is a halachic basis for the rabbis who declare you must eat meat on Shabbat. (Though even they will admit there was a great rabbi-whose name I forget-who was vegetarian every day but Shabbat.) I find most of these rabbis tend to be far to the […]
What If You Don’t Like One of the Mitzvot…Can You Still Convert Orthodox?
One of the biggest disagreements about conversion is kabbalot ol mitzvot, the acceptance of the yoke of the commandments. In case you don’t remember, yoke mean burden, not to be confused with a yolk. Fun fact: the “stock” from “being put in the stocks” is a human yoke. Criminals and slaves were put in stocks. […]
A Convenient Hatred: The History of Antisemitism
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 […]
Do You Have an Adequate Support System?
Just as there are many baalei teshuva who read this blog, there are many conversion candidates reading Beyond Teshuva, a blog created for BTs. [Grammar note: notice that the plural of BTs is not BT’s. That’s your dose of my crazy for the day.] Last week, Beyond Teshuva had a great breakdown of the kinds […]
Tznius Women and Winter Weather
On another occasion it happened that a certain conversion candidate came before a rabbi and said to him, “Make me tznius in a New York City winter, on condition that you teach me all your fashion secrets while I stand on one foot.” Thereupon he repulsed her with the builder’s cubit which was in his […]
Lessons from Hillel: There Is Generally No One “Right” Way in Halacha
There is a lesson that many conversion candidates and newly religious Jews are not told until they’ve made a fool of themselves: There are different interpretations of halacha, and it’s possible for all these interpretations to be halachically valid and accepted. In other words, the modern orthodox, the “just plain orthodox,” the chassidim, and the […]
Nice Video from Aish About Torah Study
This isn’t worth a “regular” daily post, but I thought this was a really nice video. Regardless of what you think of Aish, I like how they showed the diversity of people who study Torah regularly and that even the busiest professionals find a way to make time for it! “Read it. Study it. Enjoy […]
Adventures in Semantics: The Thirteen Attributes of Hashem’s Mercy
On motzei Shabbos, Ashkenazim (and Chabad) began their series of the penitential prayers known as selichot. Sephardim started saying slichot at the beginning of this month, Elul. As Rosh HaShanah starts on Wednesday night, try to make the effort to rise early and go to synagogue so that you can recite slichot with the congregation. […]
When Hebrew Letters Are Actually Numbers
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 […]