Jewish Blogs

Jewish Ear Juice

So when I read an article in ynet about a Chinese product called Jew’s Ear Juice, I thought to myself, “Who has been stealing my ear juice and smuggling it to China?” But it turns out the drink is made from a black mushroom that looks like an ear. And in China, Judaism is seen as a synonym for success. So ear ...

Jewish Dolls for Jewish Girls

For generations Jewish girls collected and played with their Barbie Dolls. Yes, both Barbie and Ken looked quite Aryan but I don’t believe many little Jewish girls were complaining about their dolls’ non-Semitic looks. Now, all of a sudden, there is a plethora of very Jewish looking dolls on the market. I know this because I was escorted through the ...

Jewish Disability Awareness Month: What you should know

February is Black History Month. It’s also American Heart Month, International Boost Self-Esteem Month, National Snack Food Month, and Return Shopping Carts to the Supermarket Month.Yes, seriously. But for the Jewish community, this February also marks the 3rd annual Jewish Disability Awareness Month, described as “a unified effort to raise awareness and support efforts to foster inclusion of people with ...

Jewish Dating – Finding your Beshert online

You can find dozens of jewish dating sites, but is there really a difference in tradition and beliefs when it comes to love and finding one’s Bashert…Dating rules ,If there are in fact rules in dating, aren’t too different in jewish Dating. Dating is about two people coming together,trying to find the perfect match to see whether they are compatible ...

Jewish Children and Halloween: Point-Counterpoint

Tomorrow night is Halloween. Perhaps the only Jewish custom concerning Halloween is the debate as to whether it’s an appropriate celebration for Jewish children. Much has been written on both sides of the argument, but I have never addressed it here on this blog. This year, I decided to offer a point-counterpoint exchange answering the question “Is Halloween Kosher?” — ...

Jewish Calendar II #16-Mehadrin Min Hamehadrin

Chanukah is a unique holiday in that the Gemara delineates two extra levels of hiddur mitzvah (enhancing the mitzva) when lighting the candles. The basic mitzva is for the head of the household to light one candle each night for the whole family. However, there is a level of mehadrin where each family member lights a light every night. In ...

Jew Indeed

I used to work as a corporate communications manager for a company that in a previous incarnation, several decades earlier, was said to have had some business ties to the Nazi party. When my position was eliminated, ostensibly due to massive budget cuts, I left the building, stood all alone in the parking lot, looked up to the executive floors ...

Jew and the Carrot: Gil Marks Talks about his new Encyclopedia of Jewish Food

It’s hard not to be awed by the new “Encyclopedia of Jewish Food” by Gil Marks. With over 650 entries about almost every Jewish food imaginable and 300 recipes, the elaborate book spans the mundane (almonds, spinach) to the foreign (manti, a Bukharan Purim dumpling). Marks fills his reference guide with history, stories and interesting asides from Jewish communities around ...

Jesus, We Can Finally Talk About Jesus

I’ve always said that the only times Jewish people mention Jesus are when they stub their toe, miss the bus, or tell you about their theater tickets to a certain Andrew Lloyd Webber rock opera. Two new books will change that. Rabbi Shmuley Boteach’s Kosher Jesus and The Jewish Annotated New Testament (edited by Marc Z. Brettler and Amy-Jill Levine). The former discusses the ...

Jesus, Israel, and Volcanoes

The massive volcano eruption in Iceland is strange to think of as a tragedy, but it is. There hasn’t been any official death toll to speak of, or property damages, but you know that it’s coming — thousands of airline workers are going to lose their jobs. And the wake of destruction looks, well, like the Land of Mordor.Read More: @ ...

Jesus and Talmudic Rabbis Set Examples for the Skinny Dipping Congressman Yoder

KEVIN YODER, a congressman from Kansas, apologized last week for swimming nude in the Sea of Galilee last summer during a trip with his wife and other members of Congress, who apparently were clothed. Actually, he apologized for “any embarrassment I have caused for my colleagues and constituents.”I don’t understand the apology at all. His colleagues were with him, and ...

JDate and the pitfalls of Jewish, feminist online dating

Just last week, your grandmother was at Dr. Finklestein’s office for her regular teeth cleaning and Sarah, the dental hygenist, told her all about her nephew who just met the nicest Jewish girl on JDate. Can you believe it? JDate! You know, you should really try JDate. You’re not getting any younger, you know.Read More: @ jwablog.jwa.orgTags: feminist online dating, JDate, Jewish pitfalls, online datingYou ...