Jewish Blogs

Nothing Too Challenging For Torah

Larger than life challenges to Torah values can be met in two different ways. We can prudently retreat, placing the sanctity of what is most important to us ahead of all other needs and feelings. Alternatively, we can face these challenges with confidence and certainty that nothing can compete with Torah, that it can and will triumph over every meretricious ...

Nothing to Fear Here, It’s Just a Little Feminism

After five years of functioning within the pseudo-reality of “Big A” Academia, I often ponder questions of identity formation and self-understanding. In the process of studying the Jewish American immigrant experience and conceptualizing women as agents for sociopolitical change, I find myself asking questions about my own identity and how future scholars will define the major factors in the twenty-first ...

Note to Grocery Store Distribution Offices and Buyers

Houston is the fourth largest city in the United States. OK, we do not have an enormous Jewish population, but 45-50 thousand is large enough that it should be easy to find Passover products.If you live in the Meyerland area, you are set. Belden’s selection is fantastic, Kosher Kroger is pretty helpful, HEB had a tent in the parking lot ...

Not Too Big to Fail: God Files for Bankruptcy

Crystal Cathedral, the mega church birthplace of the televangelist show “Hour of Power,” filed for bankruptcy Monday in Southern California after struggling to emerge from debt that exceeds $43 million.In addition to a $36 million mortgage, the Orange County-based church owes $7.5 million to several hundred vendors for services ranging from advertising to the use of live animals in Easter ...

Not-the-T-Shirt of the Week: Badge of Dishonor

Last week the world went apesh*t over this t-shirt on the Urban Outfitters website, for damn good reason.The Anti-Defamation League came out with its usual “strongly-worded” chastisement of any use of a six-pointed star that could be construed as offensive, demanding an immediate apology from the so-hip-it-hurts clothing purveyor. Considering last week was Yom Ha’Shoah (that’s Holocaust Remembrance Day for ...

Not So Fast

There are a only a couple more hours left of Taanit Esther, the Fast of Esther. As per usual, this fast day has seemed to go by v e r y s l o w l y. But as soon as it’s over we’ll be on the verge of all the very exciting Purim celebrations. And when I say Purim celebrations, ...

Nora, You May Remember Nothing, But We Remember You

When Nora Ephron was young, she wanted to be Dorothy Parker.When I was young, I wanted to be Nora Ephron. I still do.“All I wanted in this world was to come to New York and be Dorothy Parker. The funny lady. The only lady at the table. The woman who made her living by her wit. Who wrote for The New ...

Nope, No Big Xmas Plans

Isn’t the holiday season wonderful? Don’t you just love the beauty of it all? Or actually don’t you secretly hate it and feel empty inside whenever you hear people singing Jingle Bells?Maybe it’s just me, but I always get the feeling that those are the only two options. You can love Christmas/Hanukkah/New Years and the sweet spirit that comes with ...

Non-Profit College Presidents at Yeshiva and Touro Take Home $Millions

We reproduce this disturbing NY Post story. Note well that Richard Joel (Yeshiva U.) and Bernard Lander (Touro U. — now deceased) munificently plundered their respective institutions. Ha ha. Richard Joel joked about how he is overpaid at a recent Teaneck lecture appearance. Ha ha, so very funny.Million-dollar prexies put profs to $hameBy YOAV GONEN Education ReporterLocal college presidents rake ...

Non-Orthodox Jews guide to Orthodoxy

Forgive me because I forgot who sent it to me, but someone sent me the cover of Rabbi David Baum’s book the Non-Orthodox Jews’ Guide to Orthodoxy and I was struck by how frum the couple who was supposed to be non-religious on the cover looked, they were looking at a charedi couple – but in all honesty they appeared ...

Non-Jews Take Ketubahs Now, Too

I have mixed feelings about ketubot. On the one hand, they’re beautiful marriage contracts. On the other hand, they’re actually prenuptial agreements that someone drew flowers on. Weird.Like the mezuzah, ketubot are apparently the next big thing among non-Jews.The Austins are part of a growing phenomenon of non-Jews incorporating the ketubah, a document with millennia-old origins and a rich artistic ...

No-Sugar Whole Wheat Fruit Cake—Delicious!

No sugar, that is sugar-free, with no added sweeteners, whole wheat fruit cake….a healthy alternative to well, you know, that regular sugar and oil laden cake that tastes good but isn’t very good for you! You are joining me on the quest for healthier eating right? You’ll feel so much better, believe me!One small disclaimer: I thought this cake was ...