When my father was almost 50 years old, he became an Orthodox Jew. My mother, two years his junior, did too, but she always had a positive association with religious Jews and Judaism. Her “Bubbe” and “Zeide” were frum, spoke only Yiddish, learned Torah, and had long seders. Her love of the alter heim, its food […]
Even though eight-year-old Laila and her family are from New York, they never had much experience with Orthodox Jews until Laila was diagnosed with cancer. Laila’s mother recalls that when treatment began, that changed in an instant. “Memorial Sloan-Kettering gave us more direct exposure to Orthodox Jews. They have a big presence at there.” Laila’s […]
How This Film About Modern Orthodox Women Turned Into a Surprise Hit The film “The Women’s Balcony” has no fancy camerawork, no huge twist, no laugh-out-loud moments, no sex and no violence (although there is some yelling — it is, after all, a movie about Israelis). Yet the movie is a breakout hit in its […]
Since I was a little kid, I’ve been trained in the art of prayer. I learned from a really young age that praying is what we do in any occasion. When the heart is full of gratitude, there is prayer. When the soul is full of pain, there is prayer. When it seems pointless to talk things […]
Long ago, when I was a very young child, I came to know a teenage girl named Henny Lustig. From my deeply naive perspective, she seemed vibrant and alive in a way I had never before encountered. She was enthralled by the world around her and the people populating it. It wasn’t hard to get caught up […]
Dear Jew in the city, I have been an avid reader of your website for a while now and always watch your videos. I am a huge fan! I have been slowly becoming more religious over time but one question has been troubling me. If we have free will, why do we pray to G-d […]
