Jewish Blogs

A Book by Rabbi Michael Broyde Revisited

We wrote about a book by Michael Broyde in 2011 and reposted it in 2012.Due to the recent revelations about Broyde, we repost our review again. In 2011 in short we concluded that Broyde’s book called “Innovation in Jewish Law” is not about any innovation and not about any Jewish law. It is about the atrophy of a prayer and ...

Was Shulamith Firestone Jewish?

Yes, the pioneering feminist Shulamith Firestone was at the brackets of her life an Orthodox Jew. She was brought up as an Orthodox Jew as a child, and she was buried in an Orthodox Jewish rite.During her life, the radical feminist activities that she engaged in and the critical books that she wrote were as far from the values of ...

Bidding on The World to Come on eBay

Those who read Milton Steinberg’s masterpiece novel “As a Driven Leaf” will remember that eternal life is a reward given for the fulfillment of two mitzvot (commandments), namely the honoring of one’s parents and the shooing of the mother bird from the nest before taking her eggs. However, yesterday those who wanted to taste eternal life could have simply logged ...

10 Step Guide to Becoming a Baal Teshuva

The flaming BT is one of the most interesting and talked about phenomena in the kiruv world. I’m certian that there are whole seminars devoted to the subject of people becoming too frum, too fast, and within the frum world these are known as Flamers. Donning a black hat and woolen talis kattan before one begins keeping kosher shabbos fully, ...

Soncino English Talmud Sanhedrin with Important Content

Talmudic Books has published Soncino Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin – the classic English edition of this important tractate.My son Yitz reminded me that my father, Rabbi Dr. Zev Zahavy, who passed away on May 1, 2012, used to say that Sanhedrin was his favorite Talmud tractate.Here is the book description, adapted from the Introduction:The word Sanhedrin designates the higher courts of ...

Ketchup Yenta

Oy, dahlinks, I am so farmisht.I’ve been so super busy over at the day job that it may seem like I’m neglecting my dear mishpoche over here. But I promise I’ve been fighting for the forces of good and tikkun olam best I can, farblongent schmo that I am.Let us “ketchup,” organically, of course: This week’s (Civil) Society Column encourages ...

The Nut List

Anyone who believes less than me is a heathen. Anyone who believes more than me is a nut.I’m a patchwork Jew. I’m a collection of memes and tropes and minhagim. I’ve clearly gotten more religious over time and have taken on things I never would have thought – tearing toilet paper before Shabbos? But I still identify as a moderate. ...

Moments in History: Jewish Entertainers in Film

One of my favorite jobs here at the Jewish Women’s Archive is putting together our This Week In History email. I get a (admittedly nerdy) thrill at seeing what happened at other points in history. I like the idea of imagining myself on May 2nd 100 years ago—or 50 years ago—or 25 years ago, and wondering if I would be as brave, accomplished ...

Is the Author and Spiritual Seeker Paulo Coelho Jewish?

No Paulo Coelho is not a Jew. He was brought up Catholic and attended a Jesuit school in Brazil. Coelho is not a big fan of any organized religion. He speaks with lyrical disdain and disparagement in his books about the wisdom and ritual of religions.His current publication, Manuscript Found in Accra, is set in Jerusalem before a battle. The ...

Is it Kosher? Uh, it’s Not Recommended

I found myself faced with an incredible challenge yesterday, it was a lull at work and the chef offered to pay for starbucks if I’d drive. I wish she would have said “lets get something at starbucks” and not offered to pay, because starbucks is gross. However, in order to stay true to my cheap, penny pinching, hook nosed heeb ...

Abigail Heyman: A Feminist & Photographer

While organizing our library of photography books, my partner asked me a simple yet loaded question, “out of your entire collection of books—what percentage are by women photographers?” My mind cycled through the women photographers who have influenced and inspired my own work … I paused before I answered, “not enough.”Being a photographer is hard enough, and breaking down barriers ...

The Faces of Boston Pride

They say there’s nothing like a parade—and they’re right. This weekend I marched in my first ever Pride parade, proudly carrying my JWA bag, a Keshet sign reading “another Jew for LGBTQ equality,” and my camera. The weather called for rain, but I wasn’t about to let that get me down. I packed my raincoat and channeled my inner Barbra, ...