Ynet did it again. This isn't the second time I've noticed the blatant anti-religious fervor that an Israeli newspaper is purposely trying to spread. This is the 328975623th time. I used to actually enjoy reading Ynet. It was one of the central papers; sitting somewhere between JPost and Haaretz (in English, anyway). Their credibility has... Continue Reading →
Fanning hatred on the 9th of Av.
Can someone explain to me how publishing an article about which Israeli demographic hates which other Israeli demographic is supposed to be appropriate for Tisha B'Av? Why so negative, Ynet? Why stir the pot of hatred and conflict and darkness? As a Jew who studied for years and years about Jewish history, as a student... Continue Reading →
Something fishy…
What's wrong/funny/ironic/totally normal (depending on your point of view) about this picture?
Another brit, another Jew.
Yesterday we participated in what must be the oldest Jewish ritual, decended straight from (poor) Abraham. I do not envy Sarah, by the way, who had to deal with the healing of not only an 8-day-old with a bruised penis, but a moody teenager and her senior-citizen husband. Yes, the brit mila. Ritually slicing and... Continue Reading →
Once in 28 years.
I'm the type to get excited by the rare traditions in Judiasm. The kind I never heard about in my two decades of formal Jewish education. So waking up at 5:45 this morning to join a minyan on a Tzur Hadassah roof top didn't really bother me, even after a late night of cooking and... Continue Reading →
Birkat Kohanim at the kotel.
I had never seen it, and my dad is of the priestly persuasion, so the three of us went down to the kotel in the Old City yesterday to hear/see/be present at the ginormous Birkat Kohanim for chol hamoed Sukkot. Birkat Kohanim - known as 'duchaning' in Ashkenaz circles - is like a representation of... Continue Reading →
And a happy 'queer rite of Jews' to you.
Because I already have posted my past homemade sukkot, New York and ghetto Israeli style, I figured I'd post my first own semi-respectable Tzur Hadassah sukka: Spacious because we have a decent-sized mirpeset. Sturdy, because we have paychecks that can buy metal poles. And fun, because I did a search for 'sukkot' on Google Images... Continue Reading →
A covenant, a conversion, a first.
For me, there aren't daily Israeli-firsts anymore; it's more like periods of firsts washing up on the shore. I pick them up and hold them to my ear and listen to the waves of meaning they try to offer. At least, some of the time. I participated as a support/witness for a friend undergoing conversion... Continue Reading →
In appreciation of צהר, or small windows.
I attended a secular wedding last night; if it wasn't my first Israeli secular wedding, then I have only been to one or two before this. The secular Israeli wedding is something I don't fully grasp. A Jewish wedding is so chock full of beautiful, wacky and wild traditions, why not have that be a... Continue Reading →