Building a Jewish Life

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, […]

As you may have guessed from my long absences, things are quite busy with me. My job hunting has finally stopped, as I now plan to attend seminary for a year, starting this fall. Another thing keeping me busy is helping Holocaust Survivors! I have been working with an organization called iVolunteer NY, and I […]

This is an honest question. Can the “fear/awe of heaven” make you act in a neurotic way? My gut says yes, when we internalize certain mitzvot in a OCD fashion.  Not sure what this question even means? Let me give you an example from my own life. I’ve realized that I don’t use hot water […]

If you don’t already know about the Women of the Wall, you’ll eventually come across it. If you’re lucky, you’ll run across it in a news article. If you’re not lucky, you’ll run into it during an angry rant at a Shabbos table. Yesterday, the Women of the Wall held a special Rosh Chodesh service […]

But don’t fret!  Pesach does not have to be as scary as everyone makes it sound. Really, truly… preparing for Pesach is not that hard. If you don’t have children and regularly sorta-clean your house, you should be able to clean for it in an hour or two. (Kashering the kitchen may or may not take significantly […]