Jewish Blogs

100 Rabbis Protest Recognition of Non-Orthodox Rabbis

Over 100 rabbis participated Tuesday in an “emergency gathering” following the State’s decision to recognize rabbis of Conservative and Reform movements as official rabbis and give them the same funding as Orthodox rabbis, who are appointed by the Chief Rabbinate.The gathering was called by Israel’s Chief Sephardic Rabbi Shlomo Amar, who received Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef’s support.In addition ...

10 Things You Should Know About Belle Moskowitz

1. Born in Harlem in 1877, Belle Moskowitz (née Lindner) enjoyed a successful career as a reformer, settlement worker, and labor mediator before becoming a force in Democratic politics in the 1920s. A close advisor to New York governor and presidential candidate Alfred E. Smith, by the 1928 elections she was the most powerful woman in the Democratic Party.2. Belle’s ...

Stuff Jewish People Like

So I was under the influence last Saturday night when I had an epiphany, I’ve never had an “under the influence” related epiphany, mostly because I rarely become under any influence, besides that of a very good speaker. So I’m hanging with my Mexican Jew friend and we are talking about conversions and I think of the fact that Gerim ...

Make Your Own Wall Decals From Fabric!

Today I am not at the computer, I am celebrating and observing the first day of Pesach! Of course that doesn’t mean that I’ll be abandoning the blog, I’ve got a whole series of posts lined up that will automatically post even though I’m enjoying the holiday!This is not my project (You’ll forgive me right? I’m a little pressed for ...

Passover on the Farm

How many kids growing up in Baltimore City in the 1950s celebrated Passover on a dairy farm? How many little girls hunted for the afikomen in a house that had once been home to slaveholders? How many children heard the sounds of cows mooing when they opened the door for Elijah? Not too many, I reckon, but for the first 15 years ...

Best of the Week

It has definitely been a strange, strange week. Mid-week Passover seders really can throw you off. Besides staying up to ungodly hours in the night, when the chag is finally over, all you want to do is go outside, be active, and get ready for the beginning of the week. The problem is that the week has already begun. I ...

Surviving the Seder – Guide to the Very Perplexed

Years ago, Maxwell House Coffees used to give out free Haggadahs at all the grocery stores, a nice way of reminding people that Maxwell House Coffees are Kosher for Passover. Those Haggadahs were actually quite nice (with charming illustrations) and were really helpful, with clear translations, a picture of the Seder plate layout, and easy instructions in English. In addition, ...

10 Things I Hate About Being Frum

Now that Deborah Feldman has the limelight, I know a post like this may get overlooked, so I can finally come out of the closet and talk about my own issues with being frum and why I have contemplated going off the derech so many times. Going off the derech seems to easy to me, 3 day weekends, the all ...

Stuff I like about Israel

Benji Lovitt is one of my favorite Israeli Bloggers. Every year on Yom Haatzmaut he writes a long post titled things he likes about Israel and they are numbered for the birthday of Israel. This year Israel turns 62. I wouldn’t have realized it is Yom Haatzmaut today if not for a chat I was having with a fan last ...

The Loaded Tattoo

Today on Truth, Praise & Help, Renee Ghert-Zand expressed her displeasure at two Israeli men who decided to honor their Holocaust survivor matriarch with a tattoo of her Auschwitz number on their forearms. She, like many Jews, has trouble with tattoos and finds Holocaust remembrance tattoos particularly offensive. While I am also a little uncomfortable with the idea of remembering ...

Petition asks RCA to allow women to leave the kitchen

I was recently asked to sign a petition allowing women to officially leave the kitchen. I was shocked that the kitchen rules were still on the books. I had assumed that the laws pertaining to women being forced to stay in the kitchen were abolished years ago, but they weren’t. In fact, the RCA is holding a conference this weekend ...

Fun and Sculptural Modeling Clay Artwork That The Kids Can Make Themselves!

After the heaviness of the previous post, I thought something cheerful might be nice. And thanks to my almost eight year old daughter (and her teacher) I have this interesting project to share with you! I should say that I’m normally not in favor of these “paint by number” type of school projects where every student does the same project, ...