Dear Jew in the City, What does it really mean to do teshuvah and how do we do it properly? Sincerely, Noah Dear Noah, Thanks for your very timely question. Taking a page from the sage Hillel, I’ll explain teshuvah “on one foot.” When my oldest child was young, he had a toy car that […]
“I’m really glad I’m a part of this.” In Adam Sandler’s new Netflix film, You’re So Not Invited To My Bat Mitzvah, for me the line that summed up the essence of the film, was when protagonist Stacy Friedman declared at the end, “I’m really glad I’m a part of this.” What is the “this?” When […]
When it comes to a Jewish burial, things move quickly. When a person dies, the family or community try to bury the person the same day so the neshama can rest peacefully as soon as possible. Death is never something that can be predicted — obviously. While sometimes a person is sick and the family knows […]
Antisemitism is chilling no matter where you are in the world. Yet, when news broke out of an Orthodox Jewish family not being allowed to book a vacation by a German company, it hit a little differently. Germany was home to the mastermind of the Holocaust, the epicenter of evil. That evil started small. Seemingly […]
When a mezuzah is horrifically ripped out of its place on the side of the doorframe, it’s pretty hard to say that it wasn’t an antisemitic attack. Unfortunately though, that’s what’s going on in Los Angeles right now. At 5:27 a.m. on Shabbos morning, the police received a report of three men riding in a […]
Dear Jew in the City, I saw that the Shema was trending recently. Can you tell me a little bit about this prayer? Sincerely, Jonah Thanks for your question, Jonah. There’s a lot to say about Shema. For starters, did you know that it’s a mitzvah? I don’t mean that it’s a mitzvah to recite […]
