“Lashon hara is geshmake,” (“Gossip is tasty,”) my rabbi announced to my seminary class years ago. My first inclination was to think, “Oh, no Rabbi, you too?!” But then I realized that God created our world so that gossip would be delicious to most people. Of course there are those who simply have no taste for […]

“I’d like to be more religious, but having a career is very important to me. If I became Orthodox, I wouldn’t be allowed to work,” Rachel explained to me over the phone. “Really?” I responded. “Which commandment in the Torah states, ‘thou shall not work if you’re a woman?’” Rachel, of course, had no source to […]

Faith in God, like loving one’s spouse – is not a static thing. It ebbs. It flows. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. And it requires work and commitment to make it last. God’s presence in the world is hidden – it’s meant to be hidden, in part, so that we have free will. As […]

The other day on twitter, I got a promoted tweet from Pepsi that said: “Got a fav #quote? One that gets you going? Tweet to us…if we #loveit we’ll RT and spread the #inspiration #LiveForNow :)” From this tweet I learned two things: number one – the English language has been ruined – possibly forever, and number […]

I spent much of my childhood wishing that I had Holocaust survivors in my family. Now before you completely judge me for having such an insane wish, hear me out. I was raised to be a proud Jew, but did not have much of a foundation for that pride. Our minimal observance occurred only when […]