Dear Jew in the City, With the Presidential Inauguration coming up, I was wondering what Judaism has to say about inaugurations, especially of a new king, and was the transition of power always smooth? Curious in Georgia Dear Curious in Georgia, Well, for starters, kings don’t have inaugurations, they have coronations, but let’s call that a […]
This week’s big new big budget movie release Assassin’s Creed brings the popular action-adventure video game to the screen. In it, a man played by Michael Fassbender uses new technology to uncover his “genetic memories” of a previous life as a skillful challenger to an oppressive, evil organization. While this story is fantasy, every culture […]
Dear Jew in the City, With Halloween coming up, I was wondering what the Jewish view on witchcraft and magic is. Is it mentioned anywhere in Jewish texts? Do you need to believe in it to be an observant Jew? The ancients might have believed in it, but we now know that magic is a […]
The book of Jonah tells the famous story of a big fish (not whale) swallowing Jonah for three days until the prophet emerged unscathed. To someone like me with more of skeptical point-of-view, this episode is hard to swallow. Jonah had fled from the land of Israel after God set for him an unpleasant task, […]
Dear Jew in the City, I did not grow up Orthodox, but became religious because of Jew in the City seeing how special the frum community and Torah observance is. My parents weren’t too happy, but I knew I was doing the right thing. Then I started going to a local class given by a […]
Dear Jew in the City, I’m troubled by the mitzvah of Sotah. Is there a way to understand it that’s less troubling? Why is only the woman shamed and there’s no such shaming for a man who is suspected? -Troubled Dear Troubled, People often have issues with the case of the sotah – the woman suspected of […]
