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…
Tag: shabbos
21 necessary evils of the frum community
They say that government and taxes are two necessary evils whether we like it or not. The frum community also has a lot of necessary evils and I just wanted to touch upon a few of them today. I’m sure…
Shabbat shalom vs. Good Shabbos
I like to consider myself a Jewish profiler. I remember when everyone was going nuts over racial profiling in airports. I used to do a little profiling of my own – on the streets of my Jewish community every Saturday…
Are you a JFK-Jew (just for kiddush)
I’m not sure popular the term JFK-Jew is but it means Just For Kiddush. For the record I have never been a Just for Kiddush kind of guy, unless you count the kavannah of having in mind that I’m only…
What??? They served milchigs on shabbos!!!
I bet you didn’t know that one of the worst things for a families reputation is to serve milchigs (Dairy) on shabbos. I also bet you didn’t know that serving milchigs on shabbos is something that automatically reduces your yeshivish rank…
Shabbos Goy Union on strike after tap water banned on shabbat
The Benei Brak Shabbos Goy Union is out on strike after a controversial ruling by a rabbi yesterday. Now that tap water is banned on shabbat, many union members fear that they will have to do a lot more work…
Frummy spotted at San Francisco egalitarian minyan
I noticed that the supposed mens section side of the tri-chitza (triple section mechitza) was kind of mixed so I sat in the back next to some ragged looking fellow with a scraggly beard, puffy winter coat and a knitted…
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…
Company creates the first kosher condom
There is little that amazes me anymore, news stories, products and scandals I would have jumped on 3 years ago – rarely cause me to lift an eyebrow anymore. Yes, I’ve been desensitized, I have been exposed to such frum…
Dvar Torah Shoftim: (Mis)Direction
We find in this week’s parsha one of the most poorly understood verses in the entire Torah. In fact, it’s so misunderstood that it makes heretics smile with satisfaction and the people who watch the heretics smile wonder why they…
The flagship shul of the American Kiruv Industry
I was bored in shul this past Friday night, so I decided to do a statistical analysis of the people in attendance. I first counted out 120 men, then started breaking it down a bit more, I noticed very few…
Dvar Torah Re’eh: Temporal Temple Sandwich
Moses begins this week’s parsha with an emphasis on the Temple and its centrality — both physically and figuratively — in the future of Jewish life in the Land of Israel.
Dvar Torah Eikev: I Think, Therefore I Love
This week will be my seventh wedding anniversary, so I figured I’d discuss something related to love.
Chesed Week: Help build the Crown Heights eruv
Crown Heights is one of the last major frum communities to not have a wall built around it so people can carry on shabbos, it’s a shame too, because with the amount of beautiful single girls running around, I’m sure…
Chesed Week: Shabbat.com
Until a few years ago, I didn’t realize that most people didn’t have the skills or know how to invite themselves over for a shabbos meal. I had always figured that if you grew up frum, hooking up shabbos invites…
The Strangest Jewish paraphernelia
When it come down to it, us Orthodox Jews have some pretty strange devices and items to help us ease the pain that comes with adhering to some stuff that the rest of the Jewish population may look with wonder…
RE: Are there any hot girls reading this?
Dear Heshy, I read your blog regularly and I just wanted to ask you a question concerning the supposedly shallow post about your friends looking to date attractive girls. I’m in my late 20’s and I feel that I’m about…
What’s the strangest butt-dial you’ve ever received?
Every once in a while I get a message from someone who obviously dialed me by accident while their cell phone sat in their pocket, commonly known as a butt-dial, many people receive these long messages of white noise or…
Texting on shabbos becoming more common
The following article was sent to me at least a dozen times today because the author Steve Lipman mentioned Frum Satire andif that many people were interested I figured you folks might be interested in the piece as well, see…
Hi you don’t know me – can I come for shabbos?
I was chatting with a blog reader the other day over Gchat and I was telling him that I could hook up with folks to stay with for shabbos in the city he’s living near in upstate New York. I…
Why is this night different from all other nights?
I always found the questions we’re supposed to ask on Pesach kind of annoying. Would children really ask all of those same old questions year after year if they weren’t taught to ask them in school? Would they really say…
I’m not done with my conversion, but I won’t be your shabbos goy!
Guest post by Eclectic Trixie I answered the phone Friday afternoon thinking it was going to be a shabbos dinner invite. It was my neighbor down the street calling who puts together some of the tastiest shabbos dinners in the…
Do shuls have a responsibility to be friendly?
I’m a sucker for shuls that are warm and welcoming and I absolutely hate when a shul is filled with cold people who use excuses as to why not one person said good shabbos to me or invited me for…
Shabbos in Los Angeles was good
After writing the following facebook status “I have been living in California for over a year and have only gone to LA once” I got to thinking about taking a trip down to LA. The last time I went to…
I’m sick of prayers for the sick.
The highlight of a shabbat morning service in most shuls is the prayer for the sick that takes place between the shi’shi and shevi’i aliyah. I find this most interesting, since alas, on Shabbat we are not supposed to make…