I have always considered myself an open-minded, non-judgmental person. As a kid, although we were not particularly religious, my parents were strict that that my sisters and I had to marry someone Jewish (for the sake of Jewish continuity), but they were  always very clear that it did not matter what color or ethnicity the […]

Recently, as I daven (pray), there is something that continues to leap out at me. Each time I say a bracha (blessing), I think about the fact that it begins by addressing God in the second-person, Baruch ATAH (Blessed are YOU). As I utter those first two words I am speaking to God, rather than about Him, […]

Last week in Israel, there was a gathering of Charedi rabbis who banned college for women outside of of the “Beis Yaakov” system. Being that I am neither Charedi, nor Israeli, this news did not feel very impactful to me. The Orthodox rabbis that I go to (I’d describe them as “centrist” or “right-wing Modern […]

*Author’s name has been changed to protect anonymity. When I finally came to terms with the fact that I was going to have to go through with a get (Jewish divorce), I did some research and quickly learned that there isn’t a lot of information out there apart from some awful films and some sites which […]

The Shabbos Project: an initiative which began in South Africa a year and a half ago and aims to encourage every Jew in the world observe one shabbos together, has gotten quite a bit of buzz. But how did it all begin? Not how you’d expect! Dan Ariely – a behavioral psychologist whose Wall Street Journal […]

There was a video going around yesterday – people warned me that it was gruesome – but I was en route to a speaking engagement and wasn’t really paying attention. Before I boarded the plane, I quickly checked Facebook and the video started playing on my feed. I saw a car ram into people. A […]