Dear Jew in the City, I know that suicide is technically prohibited in the Torah, but what about people with mental illness (like the recent passing of Robin Williams who suffered from bi-polar disorder)? Is ALL suicide prohibited equally? Does Jewish law consider mental illness a justification for suicide? How do we reconcile the Torah’s […]

Dear Jew in the City, Can you explain how the basic Biblical commandments re: such subjects as the kosher laws have been vastly elaborated and expanded on by post-Biblical rabbis? For example, the kosher laws as spelled out in the Bible (in which God simply says “don’t eat this”) have morphed into a mammothly elaborate set […]

Dear Jew in the City, So I have a question that I have been pondering a great while. I am not Jewish but I live in a city with a large Orthodox population and I happen to live in this neighborhood and I truly love it. I do however find myself at times seeing one […]

Dear Jew in the City, I am 17 years of age and like some teens, I currently have an interest in tattoos. I know under Jewish law it is forbidden to get one, but how did this come to be and why? Thanks, Katie Dear Katie: Thank you for your question. Tattooing is specifically prohibited by the […]

Dear Jew in the City- I have read your blog many times and usually I enjoy it. I am very disturbed by one post in particular: Dirty, Money Grabbing Parasitic Vermin: Anti-Semitism Is Alive And Well. I am more disturbed by the passage from Deuteronomy than by the baseball-loving Jew hater. As a Jew from Ukraine, […]

Dear Jew in the City, This might seem like a silly question, but how do Orthodox Jews go swimming? Do they have places that are separate for men and women? If women cannot swim with men then can you ever swim with your whole family or just your husband if it’s private or is that […]