What I learned in Israel…
Reminiscing briefly about my time in Israel during the conversion process….
Category: rabbi
Invisible Disabilities at the Synagogue
After finishing “‘Invisible Disability’ Kids Are Being Left Out”, I cried. It wasn’t the first time I’d read a story like this, about Jewish children with disabilities being pushed to the margins of the community, but every time, I find my heart sags in my chest and all my issues as an adult with invisible… Continue reading Invisible Disabilities at the Synagogue
I like this joke
Seriously, I like this joke no matter how many times I hear it. A Rabbi was known far and wide for his piety and faith. No matter what he put his faith in the Almighty. One day the town he lived in was warned there would be a flood. He didn’t forbid his congregation from… Continue reading I like this joke
So, what do you do for a living?
Blogger/Vlogger/Freelance writer Jew in the City, aka Allison Josephs, posed an interesting inquestion on her Facebook fan page: “What should I call myself? I have this problem where people will ask if I work and I say yes, and then they ask what I do and I say, I don’t know what to call it.… Continue reading So, what do you do for a living?
The Conversion Recession?
When the recession hit, I got laid off pretty quickly from my college tutoring gig, a job it had taken me forever to land with my fibromyalgia. Okay, I admit that I was kind of glad I wasn’t returning to the gig. Despite being part-time, the job aggravated my fibromyalgia and provided nearly none of… Continue reading The Conversion Recession?
Spend a Shabbat in Uganda
Photo by Judy Gigliotti/Be’chol Lashon “Sukkat Shalom: From Uganda to U.S. and Back” in The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles follows Rabbi Gershom Sizomu returns to lead the followers of Judaism in Uganda after being ordained in Los Angeles. (Of notable mention this time of year, Sizomu’s grandfather was arrested for building a sukkah… Continue reading Spend a Shabbat in Uganda
Talking about Assimilation
A rabbi once told me that talking about intermarriage from the pulpit was a pretty bad idea all around. Too many rabbis have done it and assumed that the audience is homogeneous, a group of Jews that does not include converts, Jewish children of interfaith couples, Jewish children with non-Jewish and intermarried relatives and even… Continue reading Talking about Assimilation
Conversion in the News Roundup: Because the "Who is a Jew?" question is now an extreme sport!
A delicious sampling of the latest news in Jewish conversion! “Shas MK: Ease Conversion for IDF Soldiers of Jewish Descent” (Israeli National News) At some point during the conversion process, I heard that things went a lot smoother if you had a Jewish father or some kind of Jewish ancestry. Too bad I couldn’t unearth… Continue reading Conversion in the News Roundup: Because the "Who is a Jew?" question is now an extreme sport!
So, you want to be Jewish?
In “My Love/Hate Relationship with G-d”, I wrote about how tumultuous and complicated my relationship with G-d has been over the years. And again, rather surprisingly I find myself in a place I didn’t expect to be with G-d. I never imagined that my relationship with G-d could get complicated AFTER I’d become Jewish. Wasn’t… Continue reading So, you want to be Jewish?
Why your free ticket to the High Holidays services isn’t so free…
Read “Services Charges” and learn about how synagogues and their congregants are handling the economic downturn.
Memoirs of a Jewminicana 