Dear JITC- Can a tzaddik make a mistake? Thanks, Shevy Dear Shevy- Of course! We see that our greatest, most righteous leaders were capable of errors of various kinds! This can include both factual errors and errors in judgment. Just a few examples include: Avraham and Sarah disagreed about how to handle the situation involving […]

Dear Jew in the City- I just don’t feel Jewishly inspired. What can I do? Thank you, Jackson Dear Jackson- Thanks for your question, though I don’t think it necessarily plays to my strengths. There are people who have more spiritual inclinations towards religion and people who have more rationalist inclinations towards religion. (These are […]

Dear Jew in the City- Why do Orthodox Jewish women shave their heads? Thank you, Kylie Dear Kylie- Thanks for your question. To say that Orthodox Jewish women shave their heads is a huge generalization, and not a particularly accurate one. What the majority of Orthodox women do is cover their hair. The parameters of […]

Hi JITC- What is the point of inviting these guests to our sukkah? Thanks, Max Dear Max- Thanks for your question. I see from the subject line of your message that “these guests” refers not to your corporeal yom tov guests but to the Ushpizin. “Ushpizin” is an Aramaic word that means guests. Aramaic is […]

Dear Jew in the City- Why do we read the book of Koheles on Sukkos? Sincerely, Ariella Dear Ariella- Thanks for your question. Tanach, the Jewish Bible, includes five megillos (scrolls), which are read on various occasions. The most famous (and obvious) of these is the book of Esther, which tells the story of Purim […]

Dear JITC- The Yom Kippur prayers perplex me. What if we didn’t do the aveira we apologize for, and what if know that we’re going to do it again? Thanks, B.B. Dear B.B.- Thanks for your question. The first part doesn’t really bother me too much for two reasons. The first reason is because it’s […]