Building a Jewish Life

As some of you may remember, I’m very passionate about the “forgotten” victims of the Holocaust and Nazi Germany, such as the Roma and gay men. Thanks to the Jewish Book Council, I got a free copy of the book Branded by the Pink Triangle, which is a very short book about the Nazi experience […]

Since I last posted, I’ve become a kollel wife. I’m a married woman who learns full-time in a beit midrash. I suppose that’s not the first image that pops into your mind when you hear “kollel wife.” But isn’t that the idea behind a punch line? Perhaps it’s more appropriate to refer to my husband […]

So…you finally got a meeting with a conversion beit din! Mazal tov!  Now the fear really sets in. You know you’ll be asked questions about your Jewish lifestyle and knowledge, and you know that you know a lot. Your local rabbi knows you know a lot or he wouldn’t be approving you for this next step. […]

Has a stranger ever approached you in public to rebuke you for your religious observance? The very idea seems absurd to me, but I know it happens with disturbing regularlity.  The nice ones try to do it in a nice way…the backhanded Southern way:  “I bet you didn’t see there’s not a hechsher on that […]

A generic post was going around on Facebook this week: Jewish Top 10s: Contemporary Comedians. I wouldn’t normally bother reading such a generic post, but I have a soft spot for Jewish comedians. A couple of the choices just didn’t make sense to me. If we’re going to profile Jewish comedians, it only seems reasonable […]

Three years ago today, orthodox convert and chossid Yoseph Robinson Z”L was shot and killed during a liquor store robbery in Crown Heights, trying to protect his girlfriend. I remember when the story happened, even though living in NYC wasn’t even on my radar yet. It was heartbreaking, a tragedy, the life of a mensch […]

I’m doing some east coast driving this week, and I stumbled upon a really neat museum: the Frontier Culture Museum. If you ever pass by Staunton, VA, I highly recommend spending a couple of hours exploring the grounds. In the museum store, I stumbled upon the most un-Jewish book ever. I have a hard time […]

Board games aren’t just for kids. If you’re shomer Shabbat, you hopefully already know this. If you looked around orthodox sites, you’ll really only see games mentioned for kids, so I thought it was time to refresh you on your gaming options. But, in fairness to all opinions, you should know that some groups believe […]

As someone who came to the religious community late in life, I have a big hangup with the average Shabbos kitchen: using disposable Ziploc bags to store Shabbat leftovers. There must be a historical reason for this, and that is the question I submit to you, dear readers: Why are Shabbat leftovers so often put […]

It’s wedding season! Whether you’re happy or bitter about yet another wedding invitation, at least you get to enjoy some great food and hopefully have a good time! Frum weddings are fun. My family (totally unconnected to orthodox Judaism) still swears that my wedding was the most fun wedding on the face of the earth, […]