Kiruv & Orthodox Judaism

You’re the daughter of a King! A king! How awesome is that? Not as awesome as being a son, apparently. I’ve heard, ad nausem, all the apologetic explanations about how women are not less, they’re just DIFFERENT. How the true home is built around the Jewish woman (Look! Jewishness passes...

“The will of God is so,” explains the The Kiruv Rabbi in the most non-condescending voice he can muster. The Pimply Kid before him, plucked from the bottom of the university barrel, nodded stupidly. “And so,” continued the Rabbi, “It figures by default that the Jews are the most important people...

I have alluded to this before in other scathing posts, but it's becoming more and more clear to me, to the point that I almost see it as synonymous. People generally become religious because they have a fucked up past, and the more religious they become, the more their...

I recently crowdsourced a list of things people had been told or taught during their stint with Orthodox Judaism. None of these are my own. I couldn't make this shit up if I tried. I've organized it by topic to make it easier to digest and jump to your favorite...

If I had a dollar for every time someone told me this, I'd have enough money to start my own religion. Or at least my own congregation. Same difference, really. Everyone seems to have some magical elusive Judaism that I'm missing out on."Your Judaism is not like my Judaism.""You should...

I hate this time of year. I hate personal growth that gets scheduled on a calendar. A month where everyone goes on their best behavior, like they’re being audited by some heavenly oversight authority. I hate scripted apologies. A specific time of year wherever everyone needs to ask everyone else to...

One of my biggest struggles, even when I was still religious, was with the realization that as a person I had grown way more from therapy and self-help books than from any amount of “Torah wisdom”. This was unacceptable to me. I didn’t want it to be this way. Torah...

For a long time, I was angry at religion for its own sake. And don't get me wrong, the thing is full of irrational beliefs and oppressive ideas. But I'm coming to appreciate over time how, like almost all things, Fundamentalist Religion is really just a tool - a...

If one man can kill six million Jews, then one man can save six million Jews. That mantra, in a nutshell, summarizes the core mission of Aish Hatorah, quoted ad nauseum in conversation and propaganda posters. It also conveniently compares Noach Weinberg to Hitler, so that I don’t have to...

This one is a kiruv special, not aimed at Judaism as a whole. "Did you know the Matrix is a metaphor?That Groundhogs Day teaches us a valuable lesson?That the lead singer for Maroon 5 is Jewish? (and hawt, mmm!)What Gossip Girl can teach you about having a great Jewish marriage! If...