Jewish Blogs

Interview with Patricia Vile, Founder and President of Volunteer Expeditions

Hurricane Katrina, one of the most destructive and costliest natural disasters in U.S. history, slammed into New Orleans on this day in 2005. Exactly seven years later Hurricane Isaac is pounding Louisiana with heavy winds and rain, reviving the nightmare of Katrina.While much progress has been made—so far the rebuilt levees are holding—New Orleans is still struggling to recover. Help ...

Interview with Mary Glickman: Enthralling Author, Charming Mensch (Part I)

Mary Glickman is a writer, public relations professional, and fundraiser who has worked with Jewish charities and organizations. Glickman writes about the Southern-Jewish experience in her bestselling, debut novel Home in the Morning, as well as in her latest book, One More River, which earned her the 2011 National Jewish Book Award Finalist in Fiction. We were able to catch a moment with this ...

Internet Asifa Organizer Allegedly Beat his Own Yeshiva Students

Failed Messiah has a story about Rabbi Gottlieb, one of the main organizers of the Asifa, being involved in child abuse at a yeshiva he used to work for in Lakewood. While the charges are alleged, I’m sure someone with a sick mind like the guy behind Failed Messiah will blow it out of proportion and bring down the entire ...

International Women’s Day and Purim: Finding the Connection

International Women’s Day has been observed since the early 1900s. This year is only the fifth time the date has aligned with Purim and the fist since since the establishment of the Jewish Women’s Archive, so we obviously had to address the significance. (For those who are curious, the date aligned previously in 1917, 1936, 1955, and 1974)International Women’s Day ...

Inspiration: Bamboo!

I thought I knew what bamboo looked like. Boy was I off the mark! Look at this! Is it possible that someone went around the whole Chai Park Zoo in Haifa and colored green stripes on the bamboo? That’s what it sure looked like to me! I’m showing you this photo to make an important point. All you have to ...

Inspiration: A Walk Down The Street

Yesterday I was on my way somewhere, and had the pleasure of walking down a particular street packed with wonderful sights. Of course, I happen to know this, which is why I had my camera on hand in order to share some of this inspiration with you. Sometimes creativity is just about taking it all in!Read More: @ creativejewishmom.comTags: inspiration down the ...

Insights in Pirkei Avot: Which World is Greater?

Which world is preferable: this world or the next? R. Yaakov’s first quote grnats primacy to the World to Come while viewing this world as preparatory. However, his subsequent quotation presents a more ambivalent portrait with each world containing different advantages.Rabbenu Yonah explains the advantage of this world as follows: “During a short moment of this world, a person can ...

Insights in Pirkei Avot: Humility and Torah Study

We already encountered the humility theme in Avot 4:4 as well as in earlier mishnayot; what does R. Meir add? Perhaps the phrase “before every man” extends the scope of humility. Commenting on this mishna, Rambam states that we should defer to every person and not only to the wise and noble. This coheres with Rambam’s viewing extreme humility as an ideal (Hilkhot ...

Infusing Our Schools With Ahavat Yisrael

I have what may be described as a more “diverse” background than many other Rabbis who serve as principals of Orthodox Day Schools. I am a Baal Teshuvah who grew up in the Reform movement, briefly flirted (as an 18 year old) with Reconstructionism, started studying at the Conservative Rabbinical School in Los Angeles (where I did earn an education ...

Indian Woman Fires Jerusalem Rabbis

An Indian woman, owner of the a restaurant here, has stood up against the dictates of the powerful Jewish rabbinate and decided to give up the kashrut certification for her restaurant after she was forced to buy vegetables in specific stores.Lehava Silman Herman, 50, who runs Ichak Dana Indian restaurant in Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda market gave up kashrut certification for ...

Indian Tefillin

Once in a while someone sends me the link to a blog that entertains enough for me to feel competent in posting one of their posts on this here site. To be honest, I’m not much in the writing mood and this week may be one of guest posts and videos, but fear not – I promise it will be ...

In Which British Royalty Reminds Me Of High School

I went to an Orthodox Jewish high school with a strict dress code. Long skirts, high necked shirts, sleeves to your elbow, and a somewhat flexible policy about writing on shirts. Boys had to wear collared shirts. The idea was to preserve modesty, but we lady-students saw the dress code of a challenge, not a safety rail. What does it really mean that a skirt ...