While the entire frum community is in up in arms over whether or not women can wear tefillin without hurting their chances at a good shidduch, I have moved on and am alarmed at the possible fallout from this weakening…
Tag: Modern orthodox
Are you pro-choice?
SAR is the first Modern Orthodox high school in New York to allow girls to put on tefillin and of course it’s created a huge debate on the internet between people who believe it’s a woman’s right to choose and…
10 ways to know you’re in a Modern Orthodox shul without going into shul
Anyone with a kindergarten level of Jewish education can tell they’re in a modern orthodox shul, the mechitza, the seating style, the siddurim, the flags, there are literally dozens of ways to tell. However, being able to tell you’re in…
Finally, a chillul Hashem caused by modern orthodox people
In a rare moment of achdus, Ultra-Orthodox and non-Orthodox Jews rejoiced at the news that a Modern Orthodox group had finally made a chillul hashem. Apparently, the Yeshiva of Flatbush class trip took a detour when the students and chaperone…
Gun Control and Orthodox Woman Rabbis: Both slippery slopes
Gun control is one of the few debates that are not even worth having, chances are that you’ve made up your mind based on your own little file full of statistics, studies, and facts to support whatever side you’re on.…
Yom Ha’atzmaut the day to judge your fellow Jew
Yom Ha’aztmaut is one of the few times a year when you can actually judge, disparage, and stereotype your fellow Jews and be right about it. On all other days of the year, we tend to judge folks by the…
10 evil things that some shuls do
Evil is a word reserved for things I truly dislike, things I think that will bring klal yisroel down if we continue to practice. Evil is reserved for sex abusers, jarred gefilte fish, and Niturei Karta parades. I guess hate…
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…
What do you call people who are not modern and not yeshivish?
Whether you like it or not, the Jewish community runs on labels. We need to have labels in order to know what community to live in, what schools to send our children to and what restaurants to eat at. Without…
Yeshivish vs. Modern Orthodox Rosh Hashanah davening
By most people’s standards I belong to modern orthodoxy, some may throw me into post denominational neo-chossid type of groups, but I just can’t seem to stand Modern Orthodox High Holiday services. Thank God the chazzan had a yeshivish nusach…
Why on earth does shabbos davening take 3 hours?
People were literally freaking out yesterday, you see, the regular old Modern Orthodox shul in San Francisco ended shabbos morning davening at 11:15 instead of the MO regulation time of 12pm. It seemed that the opinion swayed toward “what’s the…
Off the derech people are miserable
I don’t know anyone who’s happy and off the derech. If they were so happy, why would they keep having to tell us religious Jews how silly we are, couldn’t they just be happy with their decision and leave us…
Do we really need to teach modern orthodox folks about sex?
That was my thought when I read the following line from the Forward’s Sisterhood blog about Sex Toys and Talmud. “Dr. Jennie Rosenfeld is equally at home teaching a page of Talmud and showing women how to use a vibrator.”…
Modern Orthodox Chumras
By definition the Modern Orthodox does not make chumras (stringencies) for itself. Generally, modern orthodoxy is about being an observant Jew without all of the social and communal obligations that have been invented over the years to separate from secular…
Off the derech community affiliations
One of the things I like most about folks who are off the derech is seeing the differences between their views and how they label themselves depending on their backgrounds. As the unofficial frum community sociologist, I like tp study…
The longer your shul takes to put away the Torah, the less frum
I was in Berkeley a couple shabbosim ago and thought about how much time it took for them to take out and put away the Torah. They take it out, walk it around and everyone kisses it,the women put it…
Calculate your level of Jewish observance here
Frumster was the inventor of categorizing different frumkeit levels, they came up with the idea that every person within the frum community could categorize their hashkafos with a little drop down menu. Apparently telling someone that you are modern orthodox…
70 modern orthodox things
I’m kind of having fun with these lists and as many of you know I’m not one to settle for just 1 list, when I make lists I make them for every sect of Jew and ironically this is the…
The difference between modern orthodox and Charedim
Found this cool little graph on the Ex Gadol Hador blog
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…
Washington Heights versus the Upper West Side
Whenever you talk to singles contemplating on moving out of their communities to a “singles community” you hear them debate about whether they want to move to the Upper West Side (aka UWS) or Washington Heights (aka The Heights) These…
Midrash + Metaphor
As a follow-up to last week’s post and subsequent focus of argument, I was trying to think of a Dvar Torah that is so blatantly absurd in literal form that even the most right-wing, closed minded individual will be compelled…
Awkward Shomer Negiah Moments: Marriage proposals without touching
So I’m searching on You Tube for any interesting Maccabeats response videos and I found this one of this dude proposing to his girlfriend and it may be one of the most awkward shomer negiah moments I have ever witnessed.
Frumkeit Flambeaux Backfires Bat Mitzvahs
There’s nothing quite like Louisiana Jews. Actually, there’s nothing quite like Louisiana – with its odd mix of cultures, races, and old-world mysticism. If you want to play with avodah zara, take a tour of the French Quarter and the…
Chabad House opens on Yeshiva Univeristy Campus
The latest addition to the successful chabad on campus phenomenon is creating quite a bit of a stir in the modern orthodox community. Critics are calling on chabad to pull out of its latest venture, a chabad house on the…