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: orthodoxy
Is it cholent or stew?
My wife and I had a debate this shabbos over whether or not the brown matter taken out of the crock pot at lunch was cholent or stew. It had potatoes, meat, bones, and beans in it, it had a…
Baal Teshuvas are a danger to the Orthodox community
I’ve said before, but I just read something so disturbing that I think I need to reiterate the fact that the BT movement is destroying our community from within. I’m not just talking about polluting the pure blood yichus and…
I am Orthodox
As much as I want to believe that I can move past labels and stereotypes within the Jewish community, there’s no way around the fact that I am Orthodox. Sure, I miss z’man krias shema on a daily basis, don’t…
Is it fair to judge Orthodoxy by scandal?
This past shabbos, the Rabbi spoke about how “frum scandal” is the new yetzer harah, he spoke about how the frum scandal is used an excuse by people who don’t want to grow in their yiddishkeit. He’s absolutely right in…
Get out of your comfort zone
There’s a certain comfort I get from being uncomfortable when I walk into shul on shabbos morning in the middle of laining, the rabbi is sitting up front, the entire shul can see me go to the other end to…
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 offensive things in Orthodox Judaism
Like any skeptical guy I like to troll all of the off the derech sites to justify missing z’manim and not full submitting my emunah to Judaism. I also like to focus on the negative parts of frum Judaism to…
Jewish Pluralism Means Orthodoxy Too
I stole this from Patrick Aleph of Punk Torah: I have a friend who is an Orthodox rabbi. OK, several. But one in particular has a great philosophy: it is fun to be Jewish. I like that. And people like…
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…
Are you a non-practicing Orthodox Jew?
I was so tired yesterday when I finally got back home from the sheva brachos in NY that I hopped in bed at 3:30 and slept for 16 hours straight. I now got the gist of what some of my…
Does mixed seating at shul really hurt your kavannah?
Originally posted on Dov Bear By Chometz Ben Yayin No. I don’t pray to a cross, and no, I’m not an angry davener. Let me explain. I live on the upper west side. I have for more than ten years.…
Bay Area Orthodox Jews are definitely not mainstream
It’s not uncommon that I’m the only FFB at the table. It’s also not uncommon when I try and explain that Bay Area Judaism is unlike that of anywhere else. The orthodoxy is not mainstream by most anyone’s standards and…
The Orthodox 40 year old virgin
I think I may have been the only one in the theater watching the Steve Carell movie 40 Year Old Virgin thinking about how the Orthodox version wouldn’t be so funny. According to halacha, Jewish men and women aren’t supposed…
Convincing my friend to go off the derech
I recently encouraged a friend of mine to go off the derech, I’m sure I’m not the only one, but unlike many of my peers I feel that religion is not for everyone and for this individual I believed it…
Interesting Rabba Sara Hurwitz interview
The debate can go on forever, I myself see the good and the bad, but I think the good far outweighs the bad.
Want to know more about orthodoxy? Read Chaim Potok!
I started reading The Promise over shabbos and I must say it’s one of the best novels about orthodox Judaism I’ve ever read, it is the sequel to the more famous The Chosen and it really digs deep into issues…
Why frum Jews don’t hold of the government
For the most part, frum Jews tend to be really honest people, but that honesty ends when it comes to the government. I used to work as an auditor for the State of New York in the summer, I would…
Do you believe in the mesorah
A couple weeks ago I came to the brilliant epiphany that the Mesorah is the fact we have a Mesorah, meaning the tradition is to teach us that somehow over 80 generations or so we have managed to keep in…
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…
What will the next frum community crisis be?
First we had the kids at risk crisis, then the bugs in the water crisis, then there were bugs in everything healthy, green and leafy crisis, the Indian hair sheitle crisis, the shidduch crisis, the visiting day crisis, the yeshiva…
Dear Heshy: I was perturbed by your Far Rockaway articles
So I got a complaint via email today and I wish I received more of these. Most of the critics just make simple comments or write hateful things on my facebook wall, I am inclined to agree with most of…
Non-Orthodox Jews guide to Orthodoxy
Forgive me because I forgot who sent it to me, but someone sent me the cover of Rabbi David Baum’s book the Non-Orthodox Jews’ Guide to Orthodoxy and I was struck by how frum the couple who was supposed to…
Proof that orthodox Jews in the shtetl were smarter than today
I have proof that the frum Jews of yore were smarter than they are today, of course my proof is faulty, because things were different back then. Back then, there was no internet or secular society to pollute the minds…
Are you lazydox?
Are you lazydox? Everyone goes through weird stages with their Jewish practice, I myself haven’t been on my game lately, I haven’t been getting up for shachris, have been forgetting to say mincha and have been lacking the kavannah I…