Dear Jew in the City, The month of Elul is a beautiful concept, but can be hard to relate to. What do I do actionably in Elul? What should we be trying to accomplish pre-teshuva? Best, Matt Dear Matt- Thanks for your question. First, let’s examine what Elul is. You might not realize how much […]
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 […]
With last week’s release of the 5th installment of Disney’s popular Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, the world once again is fascinated by the corsairs, privateers, and marauders of the golden age of piracy. While there has been talk of Jewish Pirates, few realize that most of these pirates were observant Jews! Professor Steven […]
This week’s big new big budget movie release Assassin’s Creed brings the popular action-adventure video game to the screen. In it, a man played by Michael Fassbender uses new technology to uncover his “genetic memories” of a previous life as a skillful challenger to an oppressive, evil organization. While this story is fantasy, every culture […]
Just as you have to pass by the thorn to get to the beauty of the rose, so follows the process of teshuva during the month of Elul.
Allison Josephs’ (aka Jew in the City’s) family – especially her father – freaked out when she started to become more observant in her teens. At a recent Torah dedication, her father explains what motivated him and her mom (at almost 50 years old) to join her. (Both of her sisters became Orthodox too.)
