Kiruv & Orthodox Judaism

Aish Hatorah, or Aish, as it eventually changed its name to be in order to be more hip with the youths, is an institute and movement with an overt agenda of getting Jews to be more religious than they currently are. Their tactics often result in accusations of Aish...

Rule #1 of cults, according to the international society of cults, is don't call yourself a cult. But what if others call you that? That could undermine the whole thing, the whole big plan for world domination. Here's a great strategy - beat them to the punch, and make...

A recent memory came back to me. At the age of around 14, I remember bursting into tears in front of both my parents. I didn't understand, I told them, what the point of all the Torah study I was doing that I engaged in for about 12 hours...

Mental health in the Orthodox world is a catastrophe. It's gotten marginally better in the Orthodox community in the United States, but in Israel the shitshow still reigns supreme. It starts with the absolute stigmatization of any mental health issue. Physical ailments aren't great either, but mental health ones...

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...

Around two years ago, one of my siblings was struck in a hit and run accident. They spent a day in the hospital before any of us family members even found out about it. When we did, there were a few panicked hours as we tried to figure out...

              Shimon and Shmuesster are proud to present the newest title in the "Rebbi Stories" collection. Each title lovingly written and embellished, we strive to present you with the most accurate and inspirational accounts of the lives of the gedolim past and present, in order that their story be...

This one’s a doozy. Bear with me. Also, if you have a bit of context, you’ll know this ones strike quite close to home. TL;DR at the end. Here’s how the spiel goes: Judaism is amazing. It’s enlightened. It’s changed the world for the better. Judeo Christian values are da...

As all this darkness and such was unfolding I found myself in a top rabbinical academy, studying to get Smicha and become a Kiruv rabbi myself. I had dreamt of this for years. This was the purpose of it all – to apply all those years of knowledge for the...

I’ve been working with a coach on experiencing pleasure. It’s not that I haven’t experienced it at all, but it was few and far between, and I did not enjoy my day-to-day existence. I can probably say I started experiencing joy for the first time about a year ago. My default...