JewsByChoice.Org

I received an email yesterday from my rav in America announcing a worldwide prayer/tehillim recitation on behalf of abducted Israeli soldier, Cpl. Gilad Schalit. At 11 AM (Eastern time) on Wednesday, 2 July 2008, Jews everywhere are asked to recite Psalm 121. (This translates into 8 AM on the West Coast, 4 PM [...]

In some ways, there’s never been a better time to be Orthodox.  For those who don’t fancy living in Israel, there are many thriving Diaspora communities, especially in the U.S.  (Think not only New York, Chicago, and L.A, but also Boca Raton, Las Vegas, and Atlanta).  Day schools are being built all over, and kosher [...]

Last Sunday Tamara and I were out with some friends and at some point the discussion found its way on to the subject of Kashrut. I recommended the book “How to Keep Kosher: A Comprehensive Guide to Understanding Jewish Dietary Laws ” by Lise Stern because it’s one of the best introductions on the [...]

I realize that this maybe seen as being a little off topic for this blog by some but it is a Kashrut story and we are after all, about observance, here at JBC.org.
Anyhow we can now all (ok everyone accept the Reform because we all know that they have been drinking this stuff for [...]

One topic I’ve found that is sure to mix it up at any Shabbos table (no matter what the brand of Judaism of the people sitting around it) is that of Bayit Shlishi, the Third Temple. Since 1967, Israel has (technically) had the opportunity to build the Third Temple, but for a host of reasons [...]

I know that we haven’t posted a Rabbi Ginsburg video in while and that’s my bad but fear not. Because recently ChaviJo took some initiative and decided to fly off a great question to the Rabbi.
Below is what she asked and of course the video is the Rabbis response.
Enjoy!
Hello rabbi! I am one of the [...]

Cross-posted on True Ancestor
The short answer: because I’m lazy, because the One True Wife and I had a fight and I didn’t want to travel with her, and because I’m busy.
The longer answer, packed inside the shorter one: I don’t like being part of Jewish efforts at political influence. It’s not a bad thing — [...]

Hi All,
If you haven’t checked out The Sephardi Perspective blog on the Jerusalem Post website, I highly recommend doing so. While I live in the U.S., I have been to Israel, and it is my passionate hope to make aliyah one day; as a result, I spend lots of time “in” Israel vicariously through [...]

One of the questions I was asked in my first (of three) meetings with the beit din at my conversion dealt with what I would do if I had a question regarding Jewish ritual.  “Would you look it up yourself, or would you ask a rabbi?” asked the black-coated, bearded personage on the dais.
Now, I [...]

I’ve been meaning to post this for nearly a week, but last week just escaped me. So here I am, today, to share a thoughtful nosh posted up on A Simple Jew’s blog from last week. The blog post focuses on a Q&A with Rabbi Dovid Sears about the "spiritual marketplace" mentality and the ger/ba’al [...]