When you live in the frum community it always seems like there’s this great partisan divide between us and them. Us being the frum and them being the not frum, but what’s even more interesting to me is the divide…
Tag: mechitza
I used to just go to shul just for the girls
Being married has its advantages, laundry more than once a month, home cooked meals, and not having to get tested for STD’s every time my crotch starts feeling the fire, but one of the biggest disadvantages is that shul is…
10 things that don’t lead to mixed dancing
People like to claim that anything that isn’t super frum leads to mixed dancing, but I fervently disagree with this projection. Yes, having a low mechitza at a shul with a woman rabbi doing a Carlebach shabbos while high on…
Caption Contest: Ultra Orthodox Man wrapped in plastic on airplane
I hope you can come up with a good caption, because Heeb magazine took mine. It’s an ultra orthodox delivery service that vacuum seals their deliveries so they arrive fresh. Other captions: Now I don’t have to watch that pritzus…
10 Things I hate most about Modern Orthodox shuls
There’s really so much to hate about davening in Modern Orthodox shuls, once you get past the joys of the super low mechitza and interesting reading materials in the library, the sad truths hit you all at once. The low…
The stupidest idea for a post in a long time
Every once in a while when I have nothing interesting to throw in my status update on Facebook, I’ll ask if anyone has any post ideas for me. 9 times out of 10 they are super lame and give me…
Chevra Ahavas Yisroel Shul Review
Every time I hear about someone doing a Carlebach Shabbat (I think I may need a post to describe such things) or opening a Carlebach imitation shul I roll my eyes. What they usually mean to say is that a…
Rabbis in Israel force restaurant without mechitzas to close
Charedi Rabbis in Israel, backed by Agudath Israel have decided that certain restaurants without mechitza’s who serve women should lose their hashgacha. Warm Eating, is at the center of the controversy. Not only do they not have a mechitza in…
Using cell phones to look through the mechitza
There was a time not so long ago when looking over the mechitza meant merely turning your head, pretending to do a neck stretch or merely delaying your lecha dodi turn a bit, but alas those days are over. A…
Shul Review: B’nai David Los Angeles
At some point I figured I should standardize the whole shul review thing. I could have a little form, which I fill out as to how well said shul performed according to me. If I ever came up with such…
Mechitza guide of the Bay Area
One of these days I will have to do an all out guide to the Jewish situation in the Bay Area, for now you can learn about the different types of mechitzas at the Bay Area orthodox shuls. The only…
Brief history of mechitza’s
Mechitza literally means to divide, but did you know there is no where in the Torah where it says that men and women cannot pray together, in fact, many more modern families these days will even say Kiddush and certain…
The So-shul network
Mt Sinai is one of the most interesting shuls I’ve been to, besides for having loads of eligible young and cute ladies, their mechitza system forces you to stare at each other and the community is transient because the ultimate…
Best of Shul Awards
I was sitting in Adath Israel in San Francisco this past shabbos afternoon in their weekday shul and it came to me that they had the best benches I have ever sat on, it then came to me that I…
The Mission Minyan: If Orthodox and Egalitarian were possible
We walked in during pisukei d’zimra and there was already a large crowd of people gathered. I took a seat all the way to the right of the room and looked around. A few people said “Good Shabbos“, asked me…
Shabbos in San Jose
The Rabbi was yeshivish, clearly so because he used words that most of the shul didn’t understand, caught himself, and then said the English translation afterwards. My host said he was a YU guy, but I couldn’t see it. Was…
Friday night adventures at the Young Israel of Hillcrest (Queens)
If the man didn’t hand me a siddur I don’t think I would have found them, I asked him where they were and without speaking to me, or even acknowledging me he handed me a maroon artscroll siddur, of the…
Observance level has nothing do with the friendliness of a shul
Some folks express dismay that shuls aren’t as friendly as they could be, but I kind of expect shuls to be unfriendly places where people just go to daven, back in the day the shul was the center of Jewish…
Shabbos in Washington Heights
When the clock struck 4:45 pm I knew I was in trouble and silently cursed my computer for being stuck in central time from Dallas. I was running an hour late and there was no way in hell that I…
What exactly are women doing behind the mechitza?
I was thinking just the other day about women in shul, well I am always thinking about women in shul, but this was different. First of all I wasn’t even in shul, I was driving somewhere in Oklahoma, and second…
Shaare Tefillah – Dallas shul reviews
I thought I was through with Dallas, I really did, one last shabbos and I would be out of here occasionally passing through to catch some food before hitting up the trails of western Texas and New Mexico, barely staying…
Things I love about shabbos
The complimentary post to last weeks “annoying things that happen on shabbos“
Staring at girls in the balcony hurts my neck
For those of you unfamiliar with the workings of the Upper West Side singles scene – Oheb Tzedek is the shul that you must go to for Friday night, on shabbos morning you must go to the Jewish Center. It…
Funny thoughts I had this shabbos
Frummies love to say “come have a mezonos” instead of “here eat a cookie” or “how about a pretzel”. One of my fans pointed out to me that God first lined up the animals in front of Adam before creating…
Have you ever eaten on Yom Kippor?
No I didn’t break my fast, but as any person who can’t concentrate on davening will tell you, you think about the most insane things during davening. I also needed a catchy headline to take advantage of the constantly updated…