Archive for March, 2010

First she was the Mahara”t, a “manhigah hilkhatit, rukhanit, toranit.” Then she was upgraded to a “rabbah.” But now Sara Hurwitz’s title might be in question. Hailed as the first woman to be ordained as anything close to an…

I needed a job, any job, anything to pay rent and buy a box of pasta and occasionally, chicken. They needed an office girl. Someone from Crown Heights. Why Crown Heights? Maybe they considered Lubavitch girls to be louder, more…

It was a typical “night seder” in Yeshiva, the last period of a long day. I stood with one foot on the floor and the other on the footrest of my shtender, rocking back and forth as my elbows pressed…

Every time there was a guest speaker, a Rabbi from abroad perhaps, we would hear that sound.  It is strange, that  one sound could instill fear, boredom, joy and dread, depending on context.

The term-opening speech by the dean…

Movies and TV were easy for the rabbis to ban. Cell phones and Internet access, not so much. According to a new Israeli study, the large scale campaign to ban cell phones with Internet access has failed for the…

“Leig nisht dein hant in tash,” my father tells my son. It’s like my own childhood all over again. Hands in pockets were always considered wrong. It was never explained.

It’s Friday night and the three of us walk home…

One who sees his evil inclination getting the better of him should dress in black and go to a place where he isn’t known.

That’s the famous passage in the Talmud that played in my head over and over like…

I followed my mother around the side of the multi-family townhouse and almost slipped on the narrow, icy steps leading to the basement shop. Steadying myself, I entered a store that was almost certainly “off the books”. Racks of robes…

Gefilte fish is in jeopardy, and this is not some plot out of The Moshiach Times. Israel is blocking a large shipment of carp, the prime ingredient in gefilte fish, through a new 120% tarrif. U.S. representatives Anthony Weiner…

Like a stadium wave, in a domino effect, the congregation rises. A messy instrumental cacophony fills the chapel. The melodious leading notes strangely protrude nonetheless to make their sombre call. “Like as the hart, desireth the waterbrooks,” a few adult choristers…