I’ve always been a music geek, and I don’t mean it in the new fangled we’ve-reclaimed-a-negative-in-order-to-make-a-positive sense of the word. I mean it in the old-school “loser,” “dweeb,” “dork” sense. (Is there a non-dorky way of saying “dork”?!) I always saw other kids – “cooler” kids – who were into music when I was growing up […]

Dear Jew in the City, I would like to know what your thoughts are on the recent articles about the newspaper Hamevaser’s photoshopping of female leaders out of the photo of the French Unity March in Paris the other day. By the way, I love your site and I’ve gained a lot of insight into […]

Mikvah (the Jewish ritual bath – learn more about it from our fun video) has gotten a lot of bad coverage over the years. That’s not to say that people don’t have a right to tell their stories. Everyone does. But the stories that often make the news and talk shows are given over by those who […]

“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 […]

Hi Allison, I’m reform and don’t understand why Orthodox women don’t read Torah in temple. If you have not heard Torah sung by a woman you have only heard half of the Torah!! The most important thing is that Torah is READ by someone with a love for it. I would appreciate your thoughts on this. […]