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Throwback Thursday – The Key is Maintenance
Below is an old post I wrote from 2008 that appeared on both Little Frumhouse on the Prairie and Beyond BT. In it, I wrote about how the key to keeping baal teshuvahs engaged in orthodox observance...
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Thinking Out Loud
Despite my years of on and off blogging, I am still a relative amateur in the area of social media relations and communication. The fallout from my recent posts has really caught me off guard and made...
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Pulling our heads from the sand, one grain at a time
It’s 2010. The phone rings and I say a silent prayer that it’s not my child’s school on the caller id. Drying my hands on a dish towel, I grab the receiver, hoping for once that it will be a...
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Cell phones have plans. People don’t have plans.
My family had an interesting discussion on Shabbos this week. We were talking about a recent phrase that has become popular when talking about shidduchim. It goes something like this: “Mazel tov!...
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Politically Correct Discrimination Against Jews and Women
There is a growing awareness in the Jewish community that the new politically correct way to condemn Jews is to condemn Israel. Critiquing a country’s policies is more socially acceptable than...
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Foot Fungus and Vitamin D Deficiency – Health Concerns or Badges of Honor?
The other day I read an article in the Toronto Star profiling the Jewish cult, Lev Tahor. Court documents have been released detailing evidence of abuse charges leveled against the group by Quebec...
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Throwback Thursday – She’s ALWAYS Pregnant…
I have to giggle now at this piece I wrote in 2007. At the time, I had a 2 year old, so being pregnant and being judged for being pregnant was still fresh in my mind. My youngest is 8 years old now,...
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An Interview With Rabbi Shlomo Kay Part I
The other week a commenter on my blog, Dean Cowan, linked to a 2006 employment study done on the haredi Stamford Hill community in London. Dean referenced this study in response to my article on...
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An Interview With Rabbi Shlomo Kay Part II
Today’s post is a continuation of yesterday’s interview with Rabbi Shlomo Kay (not his real name). We continued to discuss the financial viability of the kollel lifestyle for future generations....
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An Interview With Rabbi Shlomo Kay Part III
This is the final installment of my interview with Rabbi Shlomo Kay. Here are the links to Parts I and II. I want to thank Shlomo for his insights, his time, and his editing skills. My eyes have been...
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Throwback Thursday – Uncontrollable Klal
With 2014 ringing in a New Year promising more rumblings of discontent and disagreement among various segments of Klal Yisroel, it was interesting for me to find this old post from 2008 about the...
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Mitzva Tantz Twerking
Thousands of Hasidic Jews dressed in black watch as an Ultra Orthodox Jewish rabbi dances with the bride during the Mitzva Tantz ritual Photo from The Daily Mail The Mitzva Tantz is a dance...
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Manning Up
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the concept of credentials. In any realm of life, if someone wants to be taken seriously for an opinion, it seems they must have proven expertise. In some cases,...
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Kids as Korbans
This motzei shabbos I logged onto Facebook to find two more tragic suicide stories of formerly religious young people. Sadly, this is becoming an all too common theme. Tonight I read about the young...
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When the punishment doesn’t fit the crime, the lesson gets lost in translation
Last Thursday and Friday, the Twittersphere was lit up with pleas for information about the abduction of chasidic real estate developer, Menachem (Max) Stark. Motzei Shabbos, those of us outside of...
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Staking a Claim on the Island of Misfit Toys
As a young Jewish girl, I was exposed to all the buildup of the Christmas season, but never experienced the pinnacle of the celebration. It’s the story of many secular Jews who grew up with public...
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The Mirror Has Two Faces
In recent weeks I have been noticing a running theme. It seems that many of us in the orthodox community have two faces. One is the face we show to our community. The other is the face we show to...
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Mekareving the Modern Orthodox
The other day I was reading a post by Rebecca Ross in her area of expertise – deceptive kiruv practices. Rebecca’s message is that some kiruv organizations are not up front with their mission to...
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Covering my hair to reveal my inner goddess. Just kidding.
The other day I was remembering a piece I wrote many years ago for an email listserv group. I thought it was for mail-jewish, but I couldn’t find it in the archives. It’s possible it was posted to a...
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You Struggled
“Our lives are not determined by what happens to us but by how we react to what happens, not by what life brings to us, but by the attitude we bring to life. A positive attitude causes a chain reaction...
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