People can be quick to judge Chassidic Jews. Many people only see the external trappings of members of my community, such as beards, payos, and long dresses. But I want to give you a taste of how being Chassidic is much more than our cultural facade — it’s being able to connect to the Super […]
Dear Jew in the City, According to verses in Vayikra, how do we understand men and women having a different value? Sincerely, MM Dear MM, Thanks for your question. What you’re talking about is parshas Bechukosai, the last parsha in sefer Vayikra (the book of Leviticus). Most of the parsha is dedicated to the […]
Editor’s Note: This article discusses witchcraft, which is one of the three cardinal sins in Judaism. Tu B’Shvat and witches are an unlikely pair but the two have roots that go farther back than one may think. Interest in witchcraft has been rising in the last few decades, particularly among women, millennials, and minorities. There already was […]
While media representation and public opinion of mikvah has been sullied over the years (check out our mikvah video), Naomi Rosenbach, a PhD student at Hofstra, got to thinking about how Jewish women are experiencing the mikvah in real life and what factors might impact their experience. She decided the only way to know for sure was […]
Last week, I answered a question about the difference between Chasidim and Orthodox Jews. Around the same time as I received that question, I was forwarded an email with a lot of questions on that very topic. I had hoped to consolidate both emails into a single Q&A but it became far too long, and […]
When Jew in The City asked me to write a story for Holocaust Remembrance Day, one person instantly came to mind: my dear, beloved, Bubbe Tina Weisz, OBM. Bubbe Tina survived the horrors of the Holocaust, raised an incredible family and became a beacon of faith and a pillar in her community. “Our community was […]
