The Manischewitz at my family’s Passover table left a bad taste in my mouth. By the time I was a teenager, I knew I didn’t want it, the jarred gelatinous fish lumps, the giant crackers or any other part of Judaism in my life anymore. Insert decade of drinking and drugs here. I searched, I […]

Dear Jew in the City- I was raised to boo Haman and celebrate our victory, but all these people were killed including women and children. What do I do with that? Thank you, E.B.   Dear E.B.- Thanks for your question but I’m not clear on what you’re asking. From context, it would seem that […]

Dear Jew in the City- I was raised to believe that eating traif was the same thing as watching a movie. How are mitzvos, minhagim and chumras weighed, in other words, how do I make sense of what is really required of me from the Torah, the rabbis or just by my particular community? Thank […]

When one person hurts another, even if she did so unintentionally, she should still apologize. That’s why I’ve decided to write this post. Because I didn’t understand the pain that some people who grew up Orthodox experienced until pretty recently, and not understanding made me not sensitive enough. During my proud secular Jewish childhood, I […]

Dear Jew in the City, I hear people in the Orthodox community sometimes talk about tznius (modesty) for a woman like it is her MOST important mitzvah. Like what she exists for. While I’m a fan of tznius, this perspective on it does not sit well with me – that our greatest goal in life […]

Dear Jew in the City,  I am troubled by the mitzvah of seir l’azazel (the scapegoat of the Yom Kippur service). We are taught to believe and hope and pray for a redemption and a third Beis HaMikdash. If these commandments were just for ancient time, why all the daily prayers for and reminders of […]