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The Growth of Dogs in the Jewish Community

I used to be known as “the girl with the 3-legged cat.” Now the poor mutilated cat has been upstaged by some dirty, poor-mannered dogs. Now, if a stranger knows anything about me, they know I have “two huge dogs.” And in New York City, of all places! If I’m at a Shabbos table, this […]

Conversion Candidates: The Child Who Doesn’t Know How to Ask

At the seder, the discussion always surrounds the rasha, the wicked child. We rarely discuss the other three children, and usually then, only to compare and contrast with the rasha. This year, I put a name to a long-standing part of myself: the child who doesn’t know how to ask the question. You can never […]

Pesach: The Red Sea Beach Diet

Tonight starts Passover. Despite being chol hamoed, I intend to have posts next week. I hope you have a chag kasher v’sameach! So. Pesach is here. Let’s assume this is your first or second Pesach (particularly speaking to those of you who haven’t converted yet), and that you’re trying to “do it all” this year. […]

What Does a Beit Din Do Besides Conversions?

Most of you are familiar with one thing batei din do in the modern world: convert people. But what else do they do? You’d be surprised. A beit din can do most of the things a secular court can, in addition to presiding over pure halachic issues. What doesn’t a beit din do? Hear criminal […]

Pesach Cleaning Got You Down?

I hope you all enjoyed my prank yesterday! That is the only successful prank I’ve ever done. I am physically incapable of playing a prank because my face gives it away every time. Enter…the anonymity of the interwebz. If you have no idea what happened, check out this explanation: What Is a Rick Roll? And no, I’m […]

Hello Again!

Well, I’m back! It’s been strange to not be blogging for the last few weeks, but the break was sorely needed (and appreciated). The break was good for me to think and really take the time to get my life re-organized. Concerning the state of conversions today, I’ve been thinking a lot about a post on […]

Blog Hiatus Until April 1

I hate to do this, but I’m going to take a couple weeks’ break from blogging. The good news is that it’s because I got a job! Even better, it’s an awesome job! But I’m having a hard time getting my schedule arranged. Too many irons in the fire, you might say: starting a new […]

Phrase of the Day: Off the Derech

Calling someone “off the derech” can mean many things, depending on who the speaker is. There are apparently many ways of categorizing someone as off the derech. But at the end of the day, it’s a judgment about someone else, which you should probably avoid when you can. It may matter to know whether someone […]

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. […]