Jewish Blogs

What We Believe

I’ve done an informal poll — I admit, it’s very informal — among Jews I know: What do we believe? A pretty fundamental question, right? And yet there is no consensus of belief, even regarding the most bedrock principles of faith.What’s more, this belief discrepancy doesn’t exist just between our religion’s big three wings (between Reform, Conservative, Orthodox); it exists ...

What the Olympics Taught Me About Shidduchim

I know that this may be one of the first British blog posts on frumsatire but here goes. Despite the common belief that we all drink tea at 4pm on Sunday afternoon, have met the queen personally and roughly attend the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace at least once a week, there is a lot in common between ...

What Taylor Swift Can Teach Us About Accepting Apologies

I bought Taylor Swift’s new album on Monday night and have been listening to it on repeat since then. (Be quiet, haters. It’s really good!) I’ve been a Swiftie since the first time I heard one of her songs on the radio, which was, fittingly, while driving into Nashville for the first time. You may recall that my second ever ...

What role does a close and supportive family play in Judaism?

Question:What role does a close and supportive family play in Judaism? Is it in the spirit of Torah for a child to settle in Eretz Yisrael if the parents who stay behind will feel resentful and unappreciated?Answer:Family is unquestionably a Jewish value. The whole concept of Am Yisrael developing into a nation only began when there were families. When Yaakov and his children descended ...

What mourning taught me

My father A”H passed away in early June. It wasn’t sudden-sudden, but it was sudden enough. He wasn’t young, but he was certainly not old enough. We loved him and we let him know it, and that we were going to be okay, and he shouldn’t worry about us as he approached his end . . . but that probably ...

What makes a marriage?

A couple weeks ago, while visiting my parents over the holidays, I overheard something very disturbing. As I made my way from the dining room (occupied by the younger generation) back to the kitchen for a second helping of Indian takeout, I overheard my mother say to the table, “You know, I’m not opposed to arranged marriage.”A dollop of lamb ...

What Lessons Did You Learn and What Blessings Did You Count After the Hurricane

There are two blessings to choose from upon witnessing extraordinary natural phenomena—including extremely strong winds.Those two blessings (of which only one may be said on each occasion) are:Baruch Atah Ado-nai Elo-hei-nu Melech haolam, osay ma’asei bereisheet.Translation: Blessed are You, L‑rd our G‑d, King of the universe, Maker of the works of creation.Baruch Atah Ado-noi Elo-hei-nu Melech haolam, shekocho ugevurato malei ...

What Jon Stewart Fails to Understand

Last week Jon Stewart ran a segment on “The Daily Show” that got a lot of buzz, and a large number of Facebook posts and e-mail forwards. On the segment entitled “Faith/Off- Easter vs. Passover” Stewart compares the fun quotient of Passover versus Easter, and beseeches his Jewish brethren to step up their collective game in order to make Passover ...

What is the proper balance of trusting Hashem and being responsible?

Question:What is the proper balance of trusting Hashem and being responsible? According to the book, “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” most things are preventable and can be controlled, as long as you are smart, think ahead, and prepare for different situations. I trust Hashem, but I have so much to work on when it comes to my own ...

What is the most neutral of yarmulkes

In typical Heshy fashion I had a pretty intense argument this past shabbos about which yarmulke is the most politically neutral of all. For those of you who don’t know, yarmulkes are the number one way that other Jews will judge you, I have written extensively on the subject, but it could always be expounded on some more and since ...

What is the Jewish Population of Laptopistan?

David Sax wrote a funny profile in the Times of Atlas Cafe, a laptop hangout in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, which as we all know is a Jewish neighborhood. He calls the locale, Laptopistand and explains why in vivid and charming detail. So we assume by the location that the Jewish population of the this domain is quite high.At least one citizen, ...

What is the Jewish “Happily Ever After?”

HBI eZine editor Michelle Cove’s latest book, Seeking Happily Ever After, was profiled at Feministing. I’ve seen news about the book in a couple of places, and there is a documentary film (here’s the trailer of the same name that Cove co-made). Using interviews, the book discusses what it means to be single today, what kinds of pressures normalize couplehood as the ...