About punktorah

Once upon a time, a group of people decided to start an online synagogue called OneShul. This independent minyan consisted of two buddies in Atlanta (a graphic designer and his weirdly Type-A musician friend) and all their friends that they … Read More

Bein ha-Metzarim is the period between the 17th of Tammuz and Tisha B’Av. It’s a time of mourning for the loss of the Temples and the exile of the Jews from Israel. And during this time, you’re not supposed to … Read More

Day three of a tour with my band Can!!Can, and I’m in a Walmart in Auburn, Alabama getting hit on by hot Jewish girls. It’s not that I’m attractive, really. It’s the fact that I wear kippot almost everywhere I … Read More

It’s pretty cool to have a day job that involves writing and editing a siddur. But to be honest, at the end of the day, I really just looked forward to blasting my stereo on the way home from the office … Read More

I really don’t like siddurim. They’re heavy, complicated, over-thought, out-of-touch, hardcover nightmares that stalk me in my dreams. I sit in my synagogue looking at this thing. Granted, it’s Reconstructionist, which is like the Socialist Manifesto of Judaism, but it’s … Read More

I have a strong urge to make St. Patrick’s Day a Jewish event, because my name is Patrick, and for the past twenty years or so, people around me have acted like St. Patrick’s Day was like my second birthday. … Read More

"I have been thinking a lot about Judaism, and I’m kind of pissed at it right now." This IM from my friend Sarah* was strangely startling. She spent the morning before this conversation stoned off her ass. She had a … Read More