Some basics of Jewish names Most Jewish people have Jewish names, which they use in religious contexts, although they do not necessarily go by them in public. Some Jewish names like mine (David) are universal enough, but others do not roll off the gentile tongue so easily. Jewish names are typically of Jewish languages: primarily… Continue reading Wherefore ‘ben Alexander’?
In composing my ethical will, I usually find myself resistant to including entries that should, according to my sensibilities, be self-evident. That's not to say that I personally exemplify any of these self-evidently positive traits; rather, it is to say that I wish I did. On the other hand, my ethical will is, by default,… Continue reading Ethical will: Loving-kindness
Jewish wedding: No rabbi? No problem! Did you know that according to traditional Jewish law, no rabbi is necessary for the performance of a Jewish wedding? That's right: Jews don't need rabbis to get married. Okay, so what are the essentials? The groom gives the bride something of at least a certain minimum value (usually… Continue reading When the rabbi’s wife died
there you are stretching upwards and sideways squirming wriggling everywhere going nowhere even the walls are beyond you are trapped in a narrow cup going nowhere but down down down and out eventually but we do have a bit of time together, don't we? stay with me for Shabbat, won't you? I hope you won't… Continue reading Together, or: Eventually
When I discovered Orthodox Judaism at the age of eighteen, I experienced it as the meaningful vision for religious Judaism that I had never thought to imagine. Through many of the years that followed, even when I wasn't a practicing Jew, I aspired only to Orthodoxy. I judged myself and others by the standards and… Continue reading Keyboard Judaism
Would I have embraced the path of religious skepticism to this extent if I had remained in the USA instead of making my home in Israel? I'm inclined to think not, and it troubles me. After the secular Jewish upbringing of my youth, I inadvertently discovered Orthodox Judaism as a college freshman in Cleveland, OH,… Continue reading Israel, the secular elephant
The Skeptic's Kaddish 🇮🇱 
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