Ben Taplin was born in Israel and grew up in Lakewood in a normal Yeshivish family. But when he was in high school, he started to challenge the teachers, asking why he had to think and act the way they did. He bounced around to different high schools and ended up at Waterbury Yeshiva. […]

Dear Jew in the City, What is the exact definition of an Orthodox Jew? I see that some men have peyos and some women wear pants. Some seem to be very strictly kosher while others eat dairy in non-kosher restaurants. Where is the border? Confused by Orthodox Jews   Dear Confused- To answer this question, […]

  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 […]

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 […]

Dear Jew in the City, When and why did Jewish boys and men start wearing yarmulkes, and are there any circumstances when a yarmulke need not be worn? M.L. Dear M.L., The practice of wearing a yarmulke (kippah in Hebrew) is an ancient tradition that has its roots as a “middas chasiddus” (an act of piety) before […]

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 […]