While there have been a spate of stories detailing the lives of those who left Jewish observance, people often wonder, where are the memoirs for those who have returned? Enter award-winning author and humorist Judy Gruen, a passionate ba’alas teshuva whose memoir The Skeptic and the Rabbi: Falling in Love with Faith presents her personal journey, complete with laughs, tears, […]

In 2007, I founded Jew in the City with the mission of breaking down stereotypes about religious Jews and offering a humorous, meaningful look into Orthodox Judaism. I was raised with numerous negative ideas about Orthodox Jews, but in my teens, when I actually started meeting them in real life, they were so different than […]

Last July, five teenagers in Florida taunted a 31 year old man named Jamel Dunn, who was drowning in a pond near his family’s home. Instead of offering some sort of aid, they laughed as they told him that he was going to die and that they wouldn’t help. As if that wasn’t horrific enough, […]

Recently, in a school in Israel, a child was hit by a rebbe for “misbehaving.” According Kikar Shabbos News, this older teacher struck the student quite hard and has a history of similar acts of violence against children. The boys’ parents called the police and a complaint was filed against the teacher. It was an awful […]

After 97 years of having female contestants parade around in next to nothing, to be commented on and literally judged, Miss America (formerly known as a beauty pageant) is throwing in the towel when it comes to swimsuits. Gretchen Carlson, the chairwoman of the Miss America board of directors, announced this on Good Morning America today. […]

Of course I believe in Hashem, but he’s the Boogey Man waiting to strike me down.  These horrifying words were uttered by an attendee at the first Makom shabbaton several years ago during dinner. Where did such an abhorrent idea come from? How could a person possibly have a relationship with God if she felt […]