JewsByChoice.Org

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I had coffee years ago with a friend who was slowly moving toward Orthodox observance in her life.  She had been content for some time attending a shul where the rabbi called himself and his community “post-denominational.”  In time, however, she began to desire more uniform communal ritual and observance.  She approached the rabbi at [...]

Depending on who you talk to, Birkot HaShachar can mean either all of the morning prayers before the Psalm section known as Pesukei D’Zimra, variously defined chunks of that section, or a single group of 15 blessings for awaking, rising, being a Jew, being free, etc.  However you slice it, this section of the prayer [...]

Note: please click the post header (directly above) if you can not see the embedded video to the left of this text.
As I mentioned in an earlier post , Rabbi Jonathan Ginsburg (who I have dubbed the YouTube Rabbi) has generously agreed to begin taking monthly halachah/observance questions from JewsByChoice.org [...]

The logical place to begin looking at the Shacharit prayers is with the waking moments of the morning. As Jews, we believe that everything we do, every action we undertake, is not only an opportunity to remember G-d, but to bring holiness in to the world. There is nothing mundane, nothing inconsequential. [...]

After a long hiatus brought on by the absolute insanity which is the life of an American Jew by Choice between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, I am happy to be here posting again on JBC.org, and I have to give my props to Avi for the great job on the new format. It [...]

Hanukkah begins tomorrow night, the 25th of Kislev, which this year corresponds to December 4. As most of you reading this are undoubtedly aware, the holiday lasts for eight days, and each evening we light an additional candle in the Hanukkiah, the special 8-branched menora (+1 for the shamash). We eat foods fried [...]

I thought I would take a break from denominational disputations to write a bit about one of my favorite Jewish spiritual practices - laying tefillin. If you are not sure what that means, go study here. As a Jewish male, I am obligated to put them on each weekday morning, and since I [...]

Given some reading I have done lately, and the degree to which I have enjoyed recent conversations I have had with friends about this topic, I thought it might be interesting to write about why, despite the fact that I am a member of a Reform/Reconstructionist shul, I am NOT a Reform Jew.
The Reform Movement [...]