Jewish Blogs

Yom Kippur pickup lines

I don’t know about you, but while I am clopping numerous Al Chaits all I can think about is how I am going to be able to clop the chest of that hottie across the mechitza and it’s so God and his co-conspirator the yetzer harah to put the craziest thoughts of the past years inducing sexual experiences into my ...

Yom Kippur at Occupy Wall Street

Yesterday, hundreds of young Jews were on a 25-hour hunger strike at Occupy Wall Street. Okay, so it was actually a Yom Kippur fast.What was so meaningful about Friday night’s “Occupy Wall Street” Kol Nidrei services in front of Brown Brothers Harriman on Broadway at Liberty Plaza was how it stood in stark contrast to an earlier episode at Occupy ...

Yom Kippur and the Shawshank Redemption

We were finishing up teaching our course on the “Liturgy of the Days of Awe” today and observed at the close to our class that we talked about many dramatic aspects of the worship of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but not that much about theological concepts like repentance or atonement, nor especially about transformation. That’s because in particular we ...

Yom Kippur 2012: Maintaining Focus

We begin the prayer services for Yom Kippur with one of the strangest announcement:“Anu matirin l’hispalel im ha’avaryanim” — “We sanction prayer with the transgressors.”Some probably glance around the shul, looking for the old guys with their white satin skullcaps sitting next to their middle-aged sons with their white satin skullcaps, joined by the grandsons with yet a third white ...

Yom Haatzmaut Addition for Your Daily Prayerbook

For Yom Haatzmaut, Israel Independence Day, here is how you may legitimately add to your siddur using a “liturgical loophole.”The Artscroll Siddur has personal prayers for livelihood and for forgiveness that “during the silent Shemoneh Esrei one may insert” into the paragraph of shema koleinu (p. 108 in shacharit in some editions).If you use that siddur, or any prayerbook, and if you ...

Yo momma is so frum

This might be the making of another series, but let’s start with just one. Some of these were taken off of my facebook status. No matter which way you cut it, these will be corny, but it’s fun and I am sure you all can come up with some really good ones.Read More: @ frumsatire.netTags: yo momma is so frum, your momma is ...

Yiddish poetry: It’s not just for men!

Most people believe that Yiddish literature and poetry was written solely by men. In reality, there were hundreds of female Yiddish writers and poets, all of whom had their own distinct biographies and writing styles.Edith Kaplan Bregman was one of these women. She was born in a Russian shtetl in 1899 to a Hasidic family, immigrating to New York when she was ...

Yiddish Everywhere and Late Night TV Goes For the Jewish Triple Play

I’ve always maintained that if an alien from Outer Space arrived in the United States and spent just a short period of time here, he would conclude that Jews make up much more than the measly 2% of the population that we actually do. Jewish people are influential in many areas of society and somehow Jewish themes and words seem ...

Yet to come: Orgasm Inc. and the invention of female sexual dysfuntion

Last night I saw Orgasm Inc., a documentary film by Liz Canner about the medicalization of female sexual pleasure and the race to find a cure for so-called “female sexual dysfunction.” Orgasm Inc. was produced by Chicken and Egg Pictures, a hybrid film fund and production company that provides money and mentorship to women filmmakers making socially conscious films.Chicken and Egg’s co-founder Judith ...

Yeshivish Jokes

Tales from the yeshiva:By Avi StavskyShimi’s parents were discussing his future, now that he finished yeshiva.“Maybe we should send him to college for a while?” says his mother. “He needs to learn something of the outside world. All he knows is yeshiva life.”“Well I don’t think that’s a great idea, Miriam. What he if gets exposed to all kinds of ...

Yeshiva U. Professor Brian Daves says the Jewish Vote “Doesn’t matter”

Talk about bewildering enigmas. Here is a report from the Brown Daily Herald that Yeshiva U. Professor Brian Daves says the Jewish Vote “Doesn’t matter” in deciding presidential elections (Political scientist: Jewish vote not crucial By Katherine Sola).Next thing you know, he’ll be claiming that Jews don’t control the press or the economy. Sheesh!Read More: @ tzvee.blogspot.comReaders found more information by ...

Yeshiva Memories: The Girls

In my second year of high school an amazing thing happened, Rochester got its very own girl’s school and us yeshiva boys were ecstatic. We couldn’t believe our luck, there were actually going to be frum eligible teenage girls running around available for the taking, none of us knew what we were in for, but we figured it couldn’t be ...