Dear Jew in the City,  I am troubled by the mitzvah of seir l’azazel (the scapegoat of the Yom Kippur service). We are taught to believe and hope and pray for a redemption and a third Beis HaMikdash. If these commandments were just for ancient time, why all the daily prayers for and reminders of […]

Dear Jew in the City, I heard recently that an Orthodox rabbi said that Israeli soldiers are allowed to rape women in war. Is this true? If is, it is horribly upsetting! How could that be part of Judaism? Thank you, D.L. Dear D.L., You’re referring to something that the new candidate for chief rabbi […]

Dear Jew in the City, With all the horrific shootings going on recently, it got me thinking about racism in the Jewish world. I’ve heard people claim there are racist sources in the Torah and Talmud. I hope that’s not true. Can you clarify? Do Orthodox Jews who are racist have sources to back up […]

Dear Jew in the City, As I get older, it gets hard to stay up all night long on Shavuos to learn. So am I obligated to? And where does this idea come from? Sincerely, So Tired   Dear So Tired, Shavuos is in many ways an atypical holiday. There are three Festivals in the […]

Dear Jew in the City, What’s the deal with kitniyos? Especially being that we know now it’s not chametz, and some Jews eat it and some don’t… Sincerely, Rice on Pesach Dear Rice, Kitniyos (or kitniyot) is typically translated as “legumes” and the Ashkenazi practice is not to eat them on Passover. This isn’t because we used to […]

  Dear Jew in the City, I heard that the Torah says that a woman must marry her rapist and that a father can sell his daughter into slavery? How can we possibly accept such horrible ideas in the modern world? Sincerely, Biblical Inequality   Dear Inequality, That’s a great question. It is true that […]