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 […]

Having run the gamut of observance herself, Faranak Margolese devoted five years to researching, interviewing, and surveying hundreds of people who left Orthodox Judaism in order to better understand the “off the derech” phenomenon. Her 2005 highly acclaimed book “Off The Derech: Why Observant Jews Leave Judaism, How To Respond To the Challenge” is perhaps […]

There is a story told about the late rabbi and physicist Aryeh Kaplan: As a teenager he began to explore Orthodox Judaism and spent a short time in yeshiva. After his brief stint, he wasn’t so convinced that observant life was for him, so he decided to leave. But he was a bit nervous as […]