Growing up, I didn’t have a strong religious background. I never would have expected to become an Orthodox Jew.  Being non-affiliated was a choice my grandfather made that trickled down to my immediate family. Other Latino families had Catholic memorabilia donned all over their walls, but we didn’t. I was curious about God, and I […]

Even though I grew up in a Hindu household and was exposed to other polytheistic religions throughout my childhood, I always found myself praying to one God. This innate pull toward one God foreshadowed my eventual conversion to Orthodox Judaism. I was introduced to Judaism during my training as an auxiliary police officer for the […]

Last week, a Sephardic member of our shul (synagogue) asked me which Middle Eastern country my family comes from. “None,” I explained, “We’re Ashkanazi.” “Really?” he exclaimed, “I was certain you were Sephardic.” After this encounter, I got to thinking: despite being completely Ashkanazi, with both sides of my family hailing from Ukraine, Russia and […]

Dear Jew in the City- I’ve been wondering why matrilineal descent is how people are considered to be born Jewish. Do you have an explanation for it? Sincerely, Cameron Dear Cameron- Thanks for your question. Overly simplified, matrilineal descent means that “religion follows the mother.” A lot of people mistakenly think that, Biblically speaking, we […]

Nissim Black, the Orthodox Jewish rapper who has made a new life for himself and found new musical inspiration in Israel was recently interviewed by Sheinelle Jones on The Today Show. Raised in a non-Jewish household, Black started rapping as a teen and eventually found Orthodox Judaism as not just an outlet, but the answers […]

While mikvahs are used by Jewish women all the time for the observance of Family Purity, they are also the special place where a non-Jew completes his conversion, as Rus did in the megillah we read every Shavuos. One of Hashem’s names is Mikvah Yisrael, not only because mikvah means hope and God is our […]