Jew in the City

This week, a documentary called The Darkest Light, about singer and spiritual leader Shlomo Carlebach’s sexual abuse of women premiered. In the last couple of weeks, the Jewish community has debated the merit or mistake of bringing streamer Clavicular (a known abuser of women and alleged rapist) on a public trip to Israel.

Today, on the eve of Tisha B’av, I’m consideri...

A marquee advertising Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” recently declared: “Before there were the Jews, there was… The Odyssey.” The slogan has sparked backlash, and for good reason. It isn’t historically accurate.

While “The Odyssey” was composed centuries later, its story is traditionally set around 1200 BCE, in the aftermath of the Trojan War. By that time, the Isra...

Dear Jew in the City,

Why do Orthodox Jews have to wait until certain times to pray?

Sincerely,

Mark

Dear Mark,

Thanks for your question – and I know exactly why you’re asking: because of the bill to make Daylight Savings Time permanent. As many have noted, this would make it difficult – if not impossible – for Orthodox Jews to pray...

Thanks for your question. There are a lot of ways I could answer this. For example:

How do we pray? In Hebrew (unless one is unable to do so). How do we pray? Standing. Many of us sway (called shuckeling). How do we pray? With great ...

Millions of Bravo viewers first met Barbie Pascual on Below Deck, where she made an unexpected confession: “I know my soul is Jewish.” At the time, she hadn’t yet formally begun converting to Orthodox Judaism.

By the time Pascual returned to the franchise most recently on Below Deck Down Under, that journey had become a central part of her life. She share...