One of Us In November of 2017, my wife and I watched the movie “One of Us.” The Netflix documentary highlighted the stories of four people who were trying to leave the insular hasidic communities in the New York area and joined the Footsteps organization. The stories were touching, saddening, and confusing. The images I […]
Baruch C. Cohen, a Los Angeles civil litigation attorney, has taken a special interest in creating awareness in the community about the dangers of chillul Hashem, which literally means a “desecration of God’s name” and is used when a Jew does something that bring shames to Judaism. “I appear in court, state and federal, and […]
Dear Rebbetzin Chaya- Mazal Tov! I’m engaged. My parents are totally freaking out that this wedding will not be what they are used to. How can I get them into the idea of a traditional Jewish wedding? What parts are most important and what parts are either skippable or can happen quietly so they aren’t […]
Netflix’s ‘Shtisel’ Is Binge-Worthy TV on a Strict Form of Judaism What makes the Israeli series “Shtisel,” such groundbreaking television is that the characters are the black-hatted, side-curled men and bewigged women of ultra-Orthodox Judaism, a group that is known in Hebrew by the umbrella term Haredim and includes Hasidim. It is an insular subculture […]
Once Jussie Smollett was arrested for falsely reporting a crime, it got me wondering if there is any Jewish wisdom we can look to for guidance.
Inheritance can be complicated in any family. Emotions run high in the aftermath of grief, and there is sometimes a lot at stake. This dynamic used to be even more fraught in Jewish families, as the Torah technically does not allow for a woman to inherit from her parents. We spoke to Rabbi Shlomo Weissman, an […]
