Punch The Other Cheek

Posted on: May 16th, 2012

The problem with turning the other cheek is: it doesn’t work. Not with bullies. Not even with Catholic school bullies. Because bullies don’t consult the “Good Book” before they do bad things.

The Diaspora Has Failed!

Posted on: May 16th, 2012

All of the directors and presidents of the Jewish organizations and federations and committees and leagues and unions who didn't and still don't call upon their members to pack up and go, they all should be replaced with braver souls. With the scourge of intermarriage decimating our ranks, all of the rabbis who didn't and still don't urge their congregations to go en mass to Israel should read through the Torah once again.

JBlog Roundup: Love and Marriage and Hate and Divorce and Blintzes

Posted on: May 16th, 2012

You want strange news? I’ll give you strange news: According to a complaint filed in Federal Court, Nancy Genovese, a mother of three, was arrested for taking a picture of the decorative shell of a helicopter on display in full public view near the entrance of the Gabreski Airport in Suffolk County, New York. While [...]

JBlog Roundup: The Lessons of Nude Unicycling

Posted on: May 15th, 2012

I admit, I like a bizarre news story like the next gal. So I definitely had to click to read this item from the AP: “Police say a man named Joseph Glynn Farley was arrested in a Southeast Texas city for riding his unicycle in the nude, distracting drivers and creating a hazard.” Right away, [...]

Suspended For Being Too Jewish?

Posted on: May 15th, 2012

My earliest thought of Judaism came in Catholic school, when I cussed out my grade three teacher for being an anti-Semite. I was no Biblical expert at the age of nine, but even my cursory understanding of the Bible told me that Christians had a heck of a lot in common with Jews.

Luckily, Avraham Wasn’t a Complainer

Posted on: May 15th, 2012

Avraham Avinu packed up his belongings without saying a word and hastened to the Land, even though it was loaded with savage heathens, prostitutes, idol worship, murderers, and rapists, even though there wasn’t one synagogue, kosher butcher, or luxury villa to be found.

Money? I’m Giving it Away!

Posted on: May 14th, 2012

Years ago, I was taught by secular Jewish friend that giving away money was disrespectful to money. It devalued money to give it away. And, for years, I agreed. Until I tried it.

Being Gay and Orthodox Gets Really Complicated

Posted on: May 14th, 2012

Our recent discussions in the Jewish media of gay marriages and the conflict between being a faithful Jew and being gay reminded me of a really old joke. A matchmaker comes up to a yeshiva guy, takes him aside and says, “Have I got a shidduch for you!” “Who?” “Princes Margaret.” “What?” Trust me, she’s [...]

Dear Not a Jew -> Jew

Posted on: May 14th, 2012

Some people will tell you that if you put on tefillin in Brooklyn, you’ve reached the pinnacle of the Jewish journey, but it isn’t true. Other people will tell you we have to stay in exile until Mashiach arrives. But that isn’t true either. Hashem isn’t waiting for Mashiach. Before our very eyes, Hashem has brought millions of Jews back to Israel on His own, without waiting for Mashiach to do all the work.

Why Help Build America When We Can Help Build the Land of the Jews?

Posted on: May 11th, 2012

It is no secret that American Jewry is being decimated by assimilation. The longer the Jewish community remains in America the more the assimilation will grow. So I ask – what’s the point in working to strengthen something that is destined to dwindle out and end? The exile is a curse which is not supposed to continue forever.