Jewish Blogs

Fine you’re a matchmaker!

My. G-d. What have I gotten myself into? Nervous as you can possibly imagine, I called this shadchan (“she is NOT a shadchan”) on the insistence of my friend’s mother (“Oh please, don’t call me Mrs. Bornstein! Just call me Rebbetzin Mrs. Bornstein!”), and had been listening for the past ten minutes straight as the highly-acclaimed holder of the keys ...

Finding Women’s Empowerment in Jewish Literacy

I’ve been thinking a lot about literacy lately. Maybe it’s because I’m working for a children’s book company this summer or maybe it’s because I am now open to seeing the holes in my own literacy. Of course, when I think of literacy, I tend to associate it with Judaism because that is where many of my holes originate. I ...

Finding the Jews

In many ways, our move from the city to the country mirrored an earlier shift in my life – one in which I went from the yeshiva to prep school when I was in the seventh grade. My Orthodox father and non-religious mother had fought bitterly over my religious education. If my father had had his way, I would have ...

Finding Our Voice When We’ve Stretched Too Far

The question of this post is directed at brave and inquiring minds which let go of attachments to material and professional accomplishments and replace them with goals more eternal. It is among people such as these that I think this question would most likely arise. It is not a particularly convenient question, as it requires courage and honesty to ask. ...

Finding a Seat When You’re a Guest in a Shul

On a Shabbos a few years ago, I was davening out of my neighborhood. As we walked into the Shul on Friday night, my host told me that we can sit anywhere, except in the aisle seats, because the more involved members of the Shul sat in those seats. In the shul where I daven, we have Makom Kevuahs (reserved ...

Film: Love and Free Will Challenge Fate in the Adjustment Bureau

We did not have any conceptions about the film “The Adjustment Bureau” when we saw it on Cedar Lane in Teaneck this week. We only knew that friends thought it was a good flick.It turns out that we loved the film. The concept of religion it projected was 100% from what we call the “scribal archetype” – religion here was ...

Fill Your Home With Light: Simple Hanukkah Candle Holder Jars!

I really don’t think these could be any sweeter, or simpler! In just a few minutes you can whip up some festive Hanukkah candle holders to light up your home after the flames of the Chanukiah have waned. Hanukkah is a wonderful time to spend with family and friends, and I just love creating a warm environment with candle light.Honestly ...

Fighting to Protect your Country is Against the Torah!

Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach has come out strongly against the decision of Israel’s supreme court to strike down the Tal law (which allowed Yeshiva students to avoid army duty.)He declared that the decision was a “terrible gzeira that strikes a blow at the heart of Judaism… a gzeira that uproots religion.”Yes, it goes against every bit of Judaism.After all, in ancient times no men fought in Shaul, ...

Fighting Fire With Water

Maybe you received it too. The e-mail was forwarded to me by no fewer than three people, and in each case I was among hundreds of recipients. The photographs in the communication were prefaced by the all-caps pronouncement “THIS MUST BE SEEN AND PASSED AROUND THE WORLD. PLEASE DO SO.” They depicted a throng of Muslim men bowing or kneeling ...

Feldman Hate Campaign Used to Sell More Books

They say that any press is good press and in the case of Deborah Feldman that couldn’t be more truthful. Ever since her book, Unorthodox, hit the stores there has been a heated debate among the very community she seeks to distance herself from and until now, no one has done any research into why and how the hateful campaign ...

Feldheim Publishers in Israel in Deep Trouble

Reuven wrote to tell us “Oy Vey” that Arutz Sheva reports, “Feldheim Books In Israel in Danger of Collapse. Feldheim Publishing in Israel, which caters to the hareidi religious community, is in danger of collapse and may be bought out.”Book publishing is so over. Nobody buys physical books. The underlying story for Jewish books is that vanity authors are keeping ...

Farmer D, Et Tu?

It was a sad day for Savannah’s single ladies when hot Jewish agronomist Daron “Farmer D” Joffe relocated to Atlanta a few years ago. Sure, true sycophants can still get their hands dirty in his signature compost blend, but it’s just not the same. So what a delight to see his cute punim pop up on the VH-1 reality show ...