God is connected to everyone who reaches out to Him, as the Midrash (Eliyahu Rabbah, 9) teaches, “I call heaven and earth to witness that whether Jew or Gentile, man or woman, slave or maidservant, everything is according to their actions that the divine spirit rests on them.” Every place the Torah and Talmud discuss holiness […]

Recently, I received an inquiry from someone who was researching transgender issues in halacha. The first thing I told them, before suggesting some sources, was that this issue is far above my pay grade. I am not qualified to comment on the permissibility of any course of action and I can make no recommendations. All […]

The SNL writer who called Barron Trump a “homeschool shooter” was just permanently suspended over her remarks, and as a kid I remember hearing how Chelsea Clinton was mocked on Saturday Night Live for being an awkward teen. Thankfully, in both cases, people on both sides of the aisle spoke out, saying that making fun […]

In my late teens, I started keeping kosher and quickly discovered that for many Orthodox Jewish travelers, pots, pans, frozen meats and cheeses are automatic suitcase stuffers for every trip. While living a life of Torah and mitzvos gives me much meaning and pleasure, and I recognize that anything good in life comes with tradeoffs, […]

  Film Review: Keep Quiet “Keep Quiet” is a fascinating documentary featuring Csanad Szegedi, a prominent, unabashedly anti-Semitic leader of controversial extremist groups whose political career derails when it emerges that his own family was Jewish not so long ago — even falling victim to the same Holocaust he and his cronies have denied.  Abruptly […]

In 2013 Angelina Jolie penned an impassioned Op-Ed about her risk of breast cancer and treatment plan. Jolie’s grandmother, mother and aunt all died from breast and ovarian cancers and like her relatives, she carried a mutated BRCA gene – a gene that everyone (male and female) carries, but when mutated, increases the risk of […]