Building Bridges: An Interview with Allison Josephs Allison Josephs’ website Jew in the City is all about celebrating the intersection of Orthodox Judaism and the realities and conundrums of everyday life. Browsing through this beautiful site, one encounters articles that range from the light-hearted (for instance, a recent post was titled “Why Judaism believes in […]

I never considered myself a misogynist, but several years ago, during my senior year of college as I headed to yeshiva, I began taking on a number of wonderful Jewish observances. It was at that time that I learned about shmiras eynaim, the responsibility of Jewish men and women to treat their eyes and ears as […]

Competitive gymnastics used to be off-limits for most Orthodox Jewish girls above the age of bat mitzvah. Regulation leotards, mixed with male judges and male spectators would compromise the modesty standards for many of these young women. In addition, most competitions are held on Shabbos. All of this has changed now that there is an […]

Dear Jew in the City- Why do a lot of Orthodox Jewish men have beards? Sincerely, Steve Dear Steve- Thanks for your question, which we intentionally arranged to answer following last week’s question, which was on payes (sidelocks). As we mentioned there, Leviticus 19:27 contains two prohibitions, not to round the corners of the head […]

Meet New York’s Hasidic Jewish Bagpipe Player Not every bagpipe-playing altar boy considering joining the priesthood grows up to be a Hasidic Jew — but Ian Sherman did. Ian, known today in many circles by his Hebrew name Ephraim Eliyahu, was born to a Scottish Catholic mother and an Eastern European Jewish father, and was […]