While we have previously discussed why Orthodox Jewish men wear yarmulkes (kippahs), and why many also wear hats, not all hats and yarmulkes look the same, and the differences in appearance can be puzzling to outsiders (and frankly even to Orthodox Jews in other groups!) Please use our handy visual guide to understanding Orthodox Jewish […]

I once asked my mother, when I was a young girl, why she fasted on Yom Kippur. She isn’t particularly religious, doesn’t believe in all the Bible stories and questions the existence of God as depicted in traditional Judeo-Christian texts and ideologies. My young brain simply assumed that anyone who fasted on the holiest day […]

I was turning the pages of a popular Jewish periodical when I got to the book review section. I inhaled deeply and thought, here we go again. The review focused on a new memoir about the author’s rejection of his Jewish religious upbringing, and how he found happiness at last in a life liberated from […]

I don’t get up-in-arms about cultural appropriation. I think sometimes a style from another culture can be worn by someone because they truly admire it. I also know that dressing up as a Hasidic Jew does not have the same negative history that blackface does for African Americans. And yet, when it is done, it […]

Netflix Synopsis: “Pressured to marry a nice Orthodox Jewish woman, Motti is thrown for a loop when he falls for classmate Laura, who his mother will never approve of.” Dear Netflix, As an avid fan and writer of romantic-comedies, and an Orthodox Jew, I found the Netflix film, The Awakening of Motti Wolkenbruch to delve […]

I Am Your Orthodox Neighbor And I Want Your Understanding I am your (Orthodox) Jewish neighbor and I bleed just like anyone else. Which is why I write this plea for understanding and not to silence or intimidate or label anyone. Jerusalem Meets Athens in New Jersey Graduates of Heichal HaTorah should be “budding Talmud […]