“Who are you staying by for Shabbos?” The phrase “staying by” always gave me pause because it sounds “wrong” to my American English ear. However, it is standard in American Ashkenazi communities (which means most of Jewish America). Just to be clear, it is used instead of “staying with.” My understanding is that the Yiddish […]
The Various Meanings of Aliyah
It’s annoying that so many Hebrew words have multiple meanings in English. Most of the time, this is because multiple Hebrew spellings could have the same sound. Today, let’s talk about the English word “aliyah,” which literally means “ascent.” A. You “receive an aliyah” when you are called up to the Torah to chant the […]
UPDATED: Schoolwork v. Shabbat
It seems that many conversion candidates discover Judaism while in school, whether high school, college, grad school, professional school, whatever. When you already feel overwhelmed (hopefully) by your studies, how on earth could you become shomer Shabbat? In my case, I fell victim to that kind of thought process in college. Just like I thought I couldn’t […]
Types of Headcoverings for Women
I won’t pretend this is an exhaustive list; it won’t be. However, it will certainly be more than enough to get you started! (In the future, I’ll do a post for men too, but that requires a bit more research on my part!) This post also does not discuss the halachic issue of how much hair […]
Rambam’s 13 Principles of Faith
Every single conversion syllabus and potential beit din question list asks about Rambam’s 13 Principles of Faith. Rambam’s list attempts to distill the key ideas of Judaism. If you can not accept these principles, you cannot convert orthodox. I don’t know how the other movements stand on these principles, but I was required to know […]
The Four Holy Cities of Israel
Just about everyone in the Western world knows that Jerusalem is a city that is holy to Jews. However, there are four holy cities in Eretz Yisrael (the land of Israel)! The Four Holy Cities are Jerusalem, Tzfat (also known as Safed), Tiberius, and Hebron. Jerusalem: Jerusalem is the center of the Jewish world. We […]
Phrase of the Day: Chas v’Shalom
In short, “chas v’shalom” is a Hebrew phrase that means “G-d forbid.” The Aruch HaShulchan says that it should be literally translated as “completely disgraced.” (“Shalom,” peace, literally means complete or whole.) You will hear it peppered throughout normal speech. Here is an example: “If I fail the bar exam, chas v’shalom, at least I get to […]
Sunday is Lag B’Omer!
Lag B’Omer is the 33rd day of the Omer. (My understanding is that Sephardic Jews say Lag LaOmer, which is just a different literal translation of the preposition.) Forgive me for not giving you a detailed explanation of the Omer here. This year, Lag B’Omer is Saturday, May 22, 2011, at sundown until Sunday, May […]
Phrase of the Day: Yasher Koach
You’ll hear this Hebrew phrase a lot. You may also see/hear it as “yishar koah.” It literally wishes the person strength. “May you have strength!” In short, it means something along the lines of “Good job!” It congratulates someone who has had the merit of performing a mitzvah or some other good Jewish task. Most often, […]
Convert Questions: What’s Up with Synagogue Membership Fees??
The existence of synagogue membership fees always seems to be a major shock to the new conversion candidate. Coming from mainstream American society, voluntary donations during a religious service are the expected way for the average person to donate money to a religious organization (whether the candidate was involved in Christianity or not). Now, as […]
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