Reform Woman Decries Big Aish Deception

Aish HaTorah is the largest ultra-Orthodox "outreach" movement outside of Chabad. But unlike Chabad, Big Aish does not reveal that it is an ultra-Orthodox proselytizing organization. Preferably, Big Aish does not want you to know that ... [Read more]

That Noise in the Background

Maybe you’re in a crowded restaurant, deep in conversation, when you gradually start to realize that there’s a song you like penetrating the din. Or you're browsing at the mall to a piped-in soundtrack that refuses to be consigned to the ... [Read more]

Jewcy Zeitgeist: MJ to Release More Music, Big Bad Dino Found, and Statue of Liberty Open to Visitors

Here are today's top stories in no particular order: A military helicopter crash has killed 26 Pakistani soldiers after the aircraft faced technical problems on board. Thirteen others are dead in Pakistan after a suspected U.S. drone ... [Read more]

What Flavor of New Jew Are You?

At a glance, there really aren't that many "movements" in Judaism. Orthodox, reform, reconstructionist and conservative. That's pretty much it. Sure, there are some variations on this, but compared to the Christian world, Jews like to ... [Read more]

'Yes Men' Say 'No Thanks' to Jerusalem Film Festival

For those of you who bought tickets to the Jerusalem Film Festival, you might want to know that the docket now contains one less film. The Yes Men Fix the World, about a group called the Yes Men who "impersonate big-time criminals in order to ... [Read more]

When Is A Mosque Just A Mosque?

I've been in Israel for a couple of weeks on a fellowship (more on that to come), and before coming back home to New York I decided to do a quick three day stopover in Istanbul. While friends in Tel Aviv told me Istanbul was a great getaway for a ... [Read more]

What is British Jewish Politics?

Politics is an inescapable part of human existence. It concerns the way that people organise themselves, in particular how they act within institutions and units of governance. Above all, politics concerns the way humans interact with power. It ... [Read more]

The Flaw of Orthodox Kiruv (Outreach) on One Foot

The flaw of Big Kiruv is ultimately the same one that has ravaged traditional Judaism for centuries. It is why we left in the first place. It is why today, most Jews are not Orthodox, and will never be Orthodox, despite Liberal Jewry's rapid ... [Read more]

License to Carry: The State of Eruvim in America Today

San Francisco now has its first eruv thanks to congregation Adath Israel. Eruvs are important to observant Jews who adhere to the halakhic prohibition against the 39 acts of work on Shabbat, which prevents them from being able to carry anything ... [Read more]

Iran's Hard and Uncertain Road

The courage and determination of the protestors in Iran are inspiring, and the brutality of the regime’s response is revolting.  The reminder that, as Fareed Zakaria recently put it, “What you know about Iran is wrong” could not be more ... [Read more]

A Not-So-Sweet Cookie Story

In my childhood, Shabbat never felt complete without Stella D'Oro cookies. For the uninitiated, these are dry cookies whose chief (or only) advantage is that they are parve (dairy free) and therefore can be eaten for dessert after a meat ... [Read more]

Noah vs Cousin Moishe, Part III

This is the third installment in the saga of Noah, a secular Jew who is happily engaged to a non-Jewish woman, and his baal teshuvah cousin Moishe. Moishe emailed Noah to express his displeasure with Noah's choice of a bride, and Noah wrote back ... [Read more]

Unkosher Sex: Ultra-Religious Go Online in Search of Extramarital Affairs

What does it mean to religiously attend church, temple or synagogue, live in a community where G-d’s laws are first and foremost, and then deliberately go on the internet in order to break one of the most sacred of commandments: Thou shall ... [Read more]

Building a Bulletproof Vest of Brotherhood

The news of the shooting at the United States Holocaust Museum yesterday reached me as I was en route to the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York to rehearse for that evening's program -- Freedom Songs -- a celebration of the shared ... [Read more]

Parashah Behalotecha: Constructive Kvetching

One of my favorite SNL characters is "Debbie Downer," who was played by Rachel Dratch during her tenure on the show. Debbie Downer, for those unfamiliar with the skits, always ruined people's birthdays and happy celebrations by bringing ... [Read more]

16th and the Parkway, Philadelphia, PA

Even if you have never been to Philadelphia, chances are that you've heard about some part of it- The Love Statue, City Hall, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the world famous Franklin Institute, or any of a number of other well known places. ... [Read more]

Too Hard to Hondle

So I married a goy. It's fashionable these days, right?  And anyway, it hardly matters, 'cause I'm a terrible Jew in most respects: I don't speak any Hebrew, I was never Bat Mitzvahed, I don't know my high holidays from my Lohmann's, and I never ... [Read more]

Introducing Tablet Magazine

As a former Jewcer, I'm pleased to call your attention to Tablet Magazine, the new and newsier incarnation of Nextbook. We launched at midnight last night after four not-so-grueling months of redesign and reconceptualization. (Just to preempt any ... [Read more]

American Mizrahi

Considering the religious allusion in the title of Inbar Bakal’s debut album and the fact that this child of Yemenite and Iraqi parents was raised in a traditional househould that had little in common with the faux Southern Californian ... [Read more]

Borges and the Jews

If I am not one of Thy repetitions or errata...-J.L.B., "The Secret Miracle" Throughout his life, Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) was overwhelmed by a strange feeling of unworthiness. He was, he claimed, unworthy of ... [Read more]