If you read kiruv books you will notice some reoccurring themes. The most famous have to do with the complexity of citrus and how it couldn’t have been made by anyone but God, and those folks who missed their flights…
Tag: jews
New sefer on Hilchos Prison
With more and more Orthodox Jews going to prison these days (obviously it’s due to antisemitism and those who are moser) one has to wonder about the strange halachic conundrums that must come up. How does one know what time…
How about some Kiddush Hashem
I was just reading an article about the first Big Ten player to wear a yarmulke during a game, I was instantly filled with a sense of pride over what I viewed to be a tremendous kiddush Hashem. Aaron Liberman…
Interfaith families use Christmas as a time for chinuch
As Interfaith families are welcomes by more and more Jewish communities, many wonder what to do about Christmas and erev Christmas. Does it just remain the holiday where kids wonder why they always go to one side of the family…
Schmuck Dynasty
Hat Tip Jspace
Just because you call yourself Orthodox doesn’t mean that you are
It seems that the plague that has affected other streams of Judaism has finally hit the Orthodox community, that plague is what I call misuse of affiliations. Orthodoxy is much more about image than anything else and if you want…
Black Friday proves that Jews aren’t cheap
Stereotypes are usually fairly true in some respects, I would be more likely to call Jews savvy than cheap. Dans Deals basically sums up the Jew for you, we aren’t cheap, we just know how to score the best deals,…
Eating Chinese Food on Christmas is not frum
I didn’t know from this Chinese Food Christmas minhag until I first met non-religious Jews. All I can remember from the Christmas of my youth is asking our doorman if we could take candy canes off of our lobbies tree,…
Knockout game may be racist, but God forbid we say it is
I’ve been noticing the disturbing trend that many frum folks on Facebook are trying to prevent themselves from being labeled a racist by skirting around the “racial element” of The Knockout Game. There’s this obvious fear in being too forthcoming…
Why do they hate us?
Sent to me and asked to remain anonymous I’m not sure why they hate us, I hear tons of excuses all the time. I wish we looked different so at least I’d be able to tell my children that the…
Rationalist Judaism makes no sense
I’ve decided that I’m not a fan of rationalist Judaism, most because as much as you try to prove and debate the “facts” supporting a Judaic way of life, it still makes no sense. I’m not really sure how one…
What are the most important issues facing Orthodoxy?
As a sociologist of the frum community, I’m on a constant quest to figure our strange little community out. In the process of this, I’ve ruffled a few feathers, stirred a few pots, and pissed off some of those folks…
Frum Inconsistencies: Don’t Judge Judaism by the Jews
One of the toughest things I’ve had to do recently is to try and explain frum inconsistencies to people who couldn’t get a grip on reality. The reality that Orthodox Jews are not perfect and in fact they are inherently…
What do you think of public menorahs?
My wife I were out in San Jose last night and there happened to be this Holiday carnival going on last night. We squeezed our way through this invasion of Mexicans to find some decent San Jose territory to walk…
Is this Antisemitic or just the facts we don’t want to hear?
This is a video about the growing problem of Charedi extremism in Israel, it’s an acknowledged problem by most orthodox Jews, but have you ever wondered what it looks like to the outside world? The Jewish reaction to this video…
Tikkun Olam is not Jewish Value
Hey Hesh, Huge fan here and I have a question that’s been bothering me ever since I started reading your blog. I’m sure that if anyone can answer the following question you can. I’ve noticed that Orthodox Jews tend to…
Typical Jewish Liberal apartment advertisement in San Francisco
I’m a member if this Bay Area Jewish list serve that sends me ads a few times a day and most often they are seeking roommates or apartments. It just so happens to be that many of them are quite…
Are Ahavas Yisroel and Ahavas Torah compatible?
On the way to Yosemite recently I was listening to some old Mordechai Ben David stuff, one of those “gay” (sorry there’s no other word that describes it as good) English songs for frummies came on about all the suffering…
F#$% the Jews!
The following is one of the best comedy clips making fun of Jews I’ve seen in a while, of course it’s more complimentary to the Jews than it is to Catholics and Scientology, but it’s worth a gander.
Kate the Wasp goes to meet Hasidic Jews
There’s nothing like a Wasp trying talk to Chassidim. The best line is “They have so much concentration, not like their in a camp” Gotta love the Boro Parl stare!
Hangin’ with the Jewish homeless of LA
I was walking quickly down Pico Boulevard in LA this past Friday for a lunch date with Rabbi and confidant Eliyahu Fink when I happened upon a middle aged man with a card board sign that read “tzedakah”, I stopped,…
Are the Charedim destroying Israel?
Back in the day I predicted that the goal of Charedim with their laws in the name of tznius was to eventually ban women from leaving the home, never did I think it would actually come true. Yet, not a…
Are we making Rubashkin into some sort of hero?
There’s another video devoted to the “tragedy” of Rubashkin and the sadness that his family is going through. It seems in my mind that he’s being made into some sort of hero, there is no longer a focus on the…
Anti-Christ vs. Schmeckles
Be a Responsible Parent Guest post by Rafi People say I’m a responsible parent. I’m not exactly sure who these people are, but what I am exactly sure of is that my wife is not one of them. She thinks…
New Nike commercial features orthodox Jews
hat tip Eliyahu Fink