Building a Jewish Life

If you’re at all like me, you spend a lot of time quietly hoping no one will notice that you’re not singing along.  via GIPHY I’m not good at songs. Or singing. But I could be better, and I’m trying. Really only because now I feel an obligation to teach my children to be the […]

“B’ezrat Hashem, we’ll be there.”  “B’ezrat Hashem, we’ll see you over Pesach.” “The party will be on Sunday, b’ezrat Hashem.” Gdwilling. That’s all it means.  Literally defined as “with Gd’s help,” b’ezrat Hashem is a common phrase sprinkled in conversation. It can technically be used anywhere in the sentence where an interjection would be appropriate. […]

Before jumping into the meat of the matter, there’s a big question: are you actually meeting with “the beit din” or just the representative of the beit din? If this is your first meeting, you will almost certainly only meet with one person, the Av Beit Din most likely. And this is what we’re going […]

The practice of saying the bracha of Modeh Ani when you first awake in the morning is one of the easiest and hardest practices to take on when you’re new to orthodoxy. It’s short, can be sung, and you can literally do it while still laying in your bed (and you generally should). But you […]

Someone asked this question, and I thought it was an excellent one! The Daf Yomi cycle is approximately 7.5 years. The current cycle was started in 2012 and will end with a Siyum HaShas in January 2020. Then that new cycle will end sometime in 2027.  You can find a convenient Daf Yomi calendar here. […]

Anywhere you want. Sorry, if you were hoping for a more detailed answer. This was an actual Google search term for my blog, and I thought it was an excellent, practical question. Like all places, the front is usually less crowded, but if this is your first visit, you probably don’t want to be front […]

No, I’m not pregnant. But “b’sha’ah tovah!” is the traditional well-wish to women who are.  Before we continue, let’s review when it’s ok to assume a woman is pregnant:  Now that we’ve covered that, what do you say to congratulate a pregnant woman? You can say “congrats!” There’s nothing “wrong” with that. But traditionally, Jews […]

If you’re an American like me, you’re used to birthdays being A Big Deal. But…they’re really not a big deal in the Jewish world. But on the flip side, you’ll now have a lot of them! Let us count them: Your English day of birth Your Hebrew day of birth The English date of your […]

Well, color me surprised. Apparently an Israeli government committee has proposed a worldwide program to interest people in Judaism and conversion. You know, since they really love the converts, conversion candidates, and patrilineal Jews they already have in Israel. #NoNotBitterWhyDoYouAsk From the article: Last week a committee appointed by Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs suggested […]

Sure, let’s jump right into a hot, emotional topic. Autopsies.  A strange revelation about myself and my Jewish journey: Jewish death practices are a big part of how I got interested in Judaism. When I was young, my mother became certified to sell burial plots. (Yes, apparently you have to get a particular education and […]