I know I don’t have to and I don’t judge women who don’t. When I was studying in seminary in Israel for the year during college (I took a year off after my freshman year), a girl in class asked my rabbi if baggy snow pants are OK to ski in. He said, “Yes.” (Though, it […]
I used to be simplistic in my religious thinking. I didn’t mean to be, I just didn’t know any better. I had spent so many years of my childhood asking deep questions about the meaning of life, the purpose of existence, and generally searching for Truth that when I finally stumbled upon Torah and mitzvos […]
“Love your neighbor as you love yourself,” the foundation of Judaism and the basis of the Golden Rule is not too hard to imagine in a vacuum or even in real life if you’re neighbor’s a nice guy. But what if your neighbor is your political opponent? How could could you possibly love your political […]
The SNL writer who called Barron Trump a “homeschool shooter” was just permanently suspended over her remarks, and as a kid I remember hearing how Chelsea Clinton was mocked on Saturday Night Live for being an awkward teen. Thankfully, in both cases, people on both sides of the aisle spoke out, saying that making fun […]
In my late teens, I started keeping kosher and quickly discovered that for many Orthodox Jewish travelers, pots, pans, frozen meats and cheeses are automatic suitcase stuffers for every trip. While living a life of Torah and mitzvos gives me much meaning and pleasure, and I recognize that anything good in life comes with tradeoffs, […]
A few years ago, when my son (then 5) and my daughter (then 8) were playing “mitzvah pirates” – a game they invented where they sailed the seven seas in order to help people – my son took one look at my daughter and told her, “Girls can’t be pirates.” (In his world of “pirates,” […]
