While we have previously discussed why Orthodox Jewish men wear yarmulkes (kippahs), and why many also wear hats, not all hats and yarmulkes look the same, and the differences in appearance can be puzzling to outsiders (and frankly even to Orthodox Jews in other groups!) Please use our handy visual guide to understanding Orthodox Jewish […]
I once asked my mother, when I was a young girl, why she fasted on Yom Kippur. She isn’t particularly religious, doesn’t believe in all the Bible stories and questions the existence of God as depicted in traditional Judeo-Christian texts and ideologies. My young brain simply assumed that anyone who fasted on the holiest day […]
Bat-El Gatterer is a Taekwondo athlete who got her start in the sport because it was the only available after school program in her town that fit into her mother’s work schedule. Bat-El’s observance doesn’t slow her down: “Once, in Germany, I walked three hours in the snow [on Shabbos]. And when I get to […]
Hi JITC- I grew up religious but haven’t kept Shabbos in ten years. How do I know that there is a World to Come if no one has ever returned? Keeping Shabbos does not make me feel better or more holy, why is it important for me to keep it? Thanks, N.T. Dear N.T.- Thanks […]
‘Secular Jews Need to Stick Up for Us’: Fighting Anti-Semitism, Orthodox Search for Jewish Solidarity The gap between Orthodox and non-Orthodox Jews has surfaced in light of the recent wave of violent assaults against Orthodox Jews in Jersey City, Brooklyn and Monsey in New York’s Rockland County. “Especially in American Jewry, there is ignorance when […]
July 8th was a brisk, sunny day in the wilderness near Vancouver, Canada. Our family celebrated my wife’s birthday with a mountain bike adventure through the gorgeous Stanley Park. As we careened down the bike paths, I captured the highlights with my Canon camera. Regretfully, I attempted the “stupid dad trick” of shooting video while […]
