I also donโt eat kosher. I put on teffilin and say the shema israel every now and then. I do truly believe in God though. I also like the feeling of a kippah on my head. Is it offensive for me to wear a kippah? Also yes my mother is Jewish.
Are there Reform Jews who are Shomer Shabbat? Are there Reform men who wear Kippot every day? Who lay Tefillin every day? & Who wear tzitzit daily?
Thank you very much!
My wife just asked me and Iโm drawing a total blankโฆ
Jewish folks on here who keep kosher (& Shabbat), how do you travel? Do you stick to places with large Jewish populations? Travel in an RV? Kasher kitchens and pack food?
I'm a BT and my family just asked me how I plan to travel ๐ฎ. I know it isn't a necessity to travel, but I'm going into a field where at least some will be expected.
Hi everyone. I grew up entirely secular, and have been working on getting more shomer mitzvot as days go by. I'm 24, and one of the biggest issue I am having is staying off my phone/social media during Shabbat. I know it sounds like a millennial stereotype, but I live far from family and it's the only way I'm in touch with family/friends.
Anyone been in this situation and have advice?
I feel addicted to my phone and held hostage
There's currently a discussion on /r/Christianity about Buzz Aldrin doing communion on the moon. So I thought that /r/Judaism might like to know about Jewish observances in space as well.
In 2003, Ilan Ramon flew aboard the space shuttle Columbia as Israel's first astronaut. Although he wasn't religious, he felt he was representing all Jews and wanted to keep Shabbat, and only eat kosher food in space. This presented a problem, because sundown-sundown in orbit is only 90 minutes, so when exactly would Shabbat be for him? A group of rabbis got together and decided that he should keep Shabbat according to the day and time of the place he was last on Earth: Cape Kennedy, FL.
He died with the rest of his crew on February 1, 2003. May all their memories be for a blessing.
I'll be studying abroad at HUJ Rotherberg school in the coming fall and am currently signed up for SS housing. I identify as conservative. However, I am no longer SS. Should I switch out of this dorm? Part of me wants to keep it simply because my roommates would be more likely to be people I get along with, people who care about their Judaism and are on the more chill side. Part of me wants to switch due to the possibility of not being able to do things like party, or perhaps being seen as weird for being in this dorm. What is your experience here? Should I be worried about it?
Start the new year by breaking the rules. Iโm making chicken wings for breakfast.
Fuck what they say. We go our own way!
Hello, I am a student Baruch HaShem I am working and I saved up some money which I have invested in a Tallit, Torah, and will invest the rest in Tefillin and Baruch HaShem jewellery.
I am not Shabbat Shomer, my family is not observant since generations, we are financially struggling to say the least. (In fact I earn more than my mother). If HaShem is willing I will study Medecine, and I want to become Shomer Shabbat until then.
When I saw the price of everything that was needed I was chocked, Kiddush Cup, Candle holder, Havdalah setโฆ
It will bankrupt me, and I need to save money to move out. Is there any cheap way to get my hands on material? Is there any cheap market? Any online store?
I have to say that I sadly do not live in a community (yet), I stoped to work on Shabbat, so I only work on Sunday (study the rest of the week). My budget is limited, but I really want to invest in my relationship with HaShen.
Thanks in advance! Shavua Tov!
Do you know of any good resources to help plan shabbat meals and prep throughout the week?
My family (and my husband's family) is nowhere near shomer shabbes and, now that I'm interested in growing observance, I'm not really sure how to set myself up for success.
Any recommendations or resources welcomed!
Dissuading me from converting will never happen. At the end of the day I'm converting for both HaShem and to join the community, I believe HaShem will accept me in the end at my final conversion step as valid and want the community to as well...
I'm in the process of doing my conservative conversion into Judaism. I agree with Orthodoxy traditions and reasonings 99% however, I am LGBT and not able to just become straight and so an Orthodox conversion is almost impossible as I can't vow to follow an Orthodox view of Leviticus's infamous prohibition on LGBT behavior.
Being not born Jewish or any connection to it, I obviously have heard Orthodox don't accept non-Orthodox gentile converts as full Jews, or any bit of Jewish at all, even after a conversion, and thus i'll be seen as not really a Jew by most, including Israel.
If someone converts from a non-Jew into conservative, follows all the laws, prays and studies torah daily, studies Hebrew, basically lives as an "Conservadox" shabbat shomer etc and so on, they still are not full Jews according to the Orthodox? Is there any way that someone like this would be accepted as a Jew to an Orthodox, or is it 100% Orthodox conversion required no matter what or basically you are seen as dressing up/pretending to be a Jew since I wasn't born into it? Is there ever a case where a gentile converted to a Non-Orthdox view and is still accepted for minyan with Orthodox Jews?.
Boker Tov (or whatever time it is where you are),
I wanted to ask this both as an invitation to exchange stories, and to have a little heart-to-heart with you all. I currently live in a part of the world where a Jewish community is basically non-existent, so I often find this sub is the closest I have (and thank you all for that!).
I'm feeling very torn at the moment, as I'm in the process of beginning my Reform conversion journey. I sometimes mention this here, so sorry if I'm repeating myself, but my family before the Holocaust were secular Galitzianers, and after the Shoah, our Jewish heritage was hidden - I didn't find out until my dad took us on a trip to Israel when I was a teenager. I see conversion an extremely important aspiration of my life, a non-negotiable, if you will, in bringing emunah and our culture back into my family.
My partner has been supportive of the idea, but he himself has no interest in converting (or any religion, for that matter - he believes in God but not in any institutionalised context, and he has no ethnic or cultural link to Judaism whatsoever), plus, he's from a very Catholic country where there's a lot of ignorance and latent prejudice in relation to Judaism. He's been very sweet, telling me he'd actually love to have little Jewish kids, but I'm also very conscious it's fairly easy to make declarations and more challenging to then actually have to live in a Shomer Shabbat household if you don't have any connection to it yourself.
We've been together 8 years and I'm in my mid to late twenties. I've been feeling on and off anxious in the last months that as I start my conversion in this coming year when we move to a nearby country, into a city with a robust (but still small) Jewish population, this will inevitably create distance between us. I also sometimes think about whether I'd like to be with someone Jewish so that I'm not making a Jewish household all by myself, which strikes me as a very lonely experience. I feel very guilty and torn about these thoughts.
How did your conversion affect your relationship with a non-Jewish partner who had no interest in converting? Do you have any similar experiences?
In orthodox, you can trace any halakha to specific pesukim or commentary thereon. In conservative, there is less written but they are written on the rabbinical council website. Is there a different set of principles for deriving halkha for reform Judaism? Does it relate to a rejection of the oral law? Would be interested in understanding better from reform practictioners who are studied in torah.
What are the rules of keeping kosher, a kosher kitchen, shomer shabbat, fasting, davening, teffillin, etc.
I'm also interested in some of the minhagim which relate to more modern sensitivities such, as attitudes towards homosexuals, and egalitarianism (women reading from torah). Are these biblically derived, is it more of a picking and choosing of which rules are worth following, or if simply a difference in interpretation, what is the source?
Thank you!
Note: I do not mean to sound disrespectful and I am hoping that by getting answers from reform people I will increase my level of respect for the practices of this relatively new style of Judaism.
Hi all,
I am the parent to a 4 year-old boy and lately I have been thinking about what to do for Chanukah/Hanukkah and Judaism more broadly.
Iโm interested to know what others in similar situations to my own do, and where I could go to for ideas. Are there other subreddits I should visit?
By way of background:
I grew up in an irreligious (in terms of belief) but culturally traditional Jewish household. We had Shabbat dinner most weeks (but were not shomer Shabbat), celebrated most of the festivals in some way (often with a very large extended family) and went to shule a handful of times a year. Israel was an important part of our Jewish identity, as was traditional ashkenazi foods. I attended a Jewish school where most people were very similar. I have more observant relatives and felt comfortable enough in their house and shule.
As long as I can remember I have been agnostic. Probably atheist if push came to shove. I donโt know if there is a G-d and frankly the question doesnโt interest me. I donโt feel any need for G-d in my life. If the G-d of the Old Testament is real, then frankly I have severe doubts over His morals. I suspect most of not all of my family agree to an extent but we donโt discuss it. We probably should.
I like the kind of Judaism I grew up in. I like the tradition and the connection that gives you to your family, your ancestors and the broader Jewish community in your city and the world. It may be an imagined community but it is a community.
However, I donโt know how/what to teach my son about Judaism. To date, being Jewish is almost never mentioned but that was mainly because he was very young. It feels dishonest to talk about G-d when I donโt believe in G-d. Iโm also not sure how to talk to an innocent 4 year-old about festivals where much of the story revolves around โthey tried to kill usโ.
There must be lots of people in a situation like me. Iโd really like to hear from you.
I was raised slightly observant (e.g., mostly kosher; wasn't shomer shabbat but still had shabbat dinners and prayers every Friday; observed most major holidays; Jewish summer camp, etc.)
I fell out of it later in life and spent most of my late teens and nearly all of my twenties being non-observant. Recent events have wanted me to connect more with my faith. I have a much stronger appreciation for Judaism culturally and in regard to the benefits it provides to the family and society than my angsty past, but I still feel a disconnect spiritually. While I certainly believe in a creator, it's hard for me to believe in a Jewish creator. Because of this, I've found it difficult to want to follow many of the rules despite this growing appreciation for Judaism.
I want to foster a deeper appreciation of my faith, spiritually and philosophically, and I think this will also lead to a stronger desire to be more observant.
Does anyone have any books or resources they can recommend to me? Thank you.
Hey all,
I see how making challah friday gets hectic, and we're not even shomer shabbat. Do any of you make your challot the day before? Do you keep them in the oven (obviously off) until friday evening?
Trying to plan ahead to reduce friday busy-ness
Thanks!
So I'm looking into colleges to apply to and something that is important to me is having a school with a good Jewish community. I find myself somewhere in between Conservative and Orthodox so having an active Orthodox community would be nice especially to have a consistent minyan for Shabbat (I'm Shomer Shabbat btw). Looking at colleges on the east coast and in cities, but want to stay open-minded.
Edit:
Currently, my list includes: JTS/Columbia, NYU, John Hopkins, University of Maryland, American University, GW University, Brandeis, Boston University, and UCLA.
To prevent the sub from being crowded out by current events & related issues, we're putting up this megathread to which you can post articles/essays/comment threads relating to the current conflict in Israel / Gaza.
Please remember RULE 6, report and don't respond!
Mental Health resources/tips for those who feel stressed:
- Get off of social media/reddit/the news
- Bake/eat some babka (kudos to u/meatcube)
- Crisis text line is here for you! And free!
- The OU has some religious ideas
- Prepare for Shabbat, even if you aren't shomer Shabbat or even Jewish.
Where you put on a dress/skirt and realize you haven't shaved your legs and deciding whether it's worth it to shave because you're not Shomer Shabbat or just put on some leggings.
And the deciding takes so long that you find yourself sitting on the edge of the bathtub at 9am loudly screaming that you'll take just 5 more minutes, as your wife coralls your children into the car.
No? Just me?
So I attend a get togethers at my synagogue and every Monday night they have a 20s/30s get together where thereโs free snack, then a rabbi from the rotation (Rabbi A) gives a speech, then free pizza and then another singular rabbi (Letโs call him Rabbi B) gives a class on a singular subject for a few weeks by taking excepts from the Torah and other rabbinical sources . Two months ago it femininity/masculinity and now itโs Musar.
The issue is that the way the Rabbi goes about his Musar classes only leaves me in a depressing mood at the end because heโs capping it off with a talk about how we as Jews are barely scratching the surface of our real potential and a long winded indictment of materialism and the material world. He also uses extreme examples of great rabbis exhibiting the soul traits to show how much there is to achieve.
Iโve struggled a lot with being comfortable with who I am and my place in the world as a person in general. I still deal with a lot of insecurity about not being good enough for any social situation. I take comfort in the stupid stuff in life like fandoms, pop music, and all of that stuff because itโs a distraction from the serious stuff in my life thatโs typically demanded of me, Iโm Shomer Shabbat but I lack a lot of skill in davening so I typically just pick and choose what prayers I know down pat and listen to the rest. But itโs Rabbi Bโs classes where Iโm feeling hard on myself for no reason. Even the recent class on Gratitude made me feel inadequate.
I also find myself disagreeing on Rabbi Bโs decisions to inject personal views and opinions into his classes and sermons. The big things are the idea that specialized efforts/programs/initiatives are not needed for certain groups (Iโm interning at an Asian American nonprofit) and the fact that he feels the need to inject his comments about asking for pronouns (during a sermon about saying how words matter no less). I do not think Rabbi B is a bad person but he rubs me the wrong so much so that I wouldnโt want to get to know him as more than a rabbi (if that makes sense)
And I included this because Iโm wondering maybe Iโm projecting my feelings of him to the Musar class or the Musar class is not conducive to where I need my mental health to be at this moment and I should just leave the get together after the free pizza. I have friends who stuck around for the whole thing and Iโm worried they are going to ask why I started leaving early
Trying to be shomer shabbos, and I live within an Eruv. I'm curious if inflating and using an umbrella constitutes work? It would seem like tying shoes on Shabbat (temporary knot) that you are creating a temporary structure that will be deconstructed and thus be permissible. Curious to know opinions on this!
My fiancee and I were planning on getting married in the summer of 2020, and obviously that did not happen. We postponed our wedding to Fall 2021, but it looks like there's a good chance our 200 person wedding that we originally planned is not going to happen then either. Our alternative plan is to have just our immediate families and a few of our closest friends come celebrate with us (all completely outside). Our families live out of town, so they'd be the only ones traveling, and we'd only invite a few friends that live near us. The issue is that none of our friends who we'd invite are Jewish. We don't really have any Jewish friends in our city, and we don't want to ask any of our Jewish friends to travel for this tiny event. What should we do about our Ketubah? I don't want to find a random person on Craigslist or whatever to sign my Ketubah, but I feel weird about having a gentile's name on it also. What's my best option here?
I don't want to step on anybody's toes here, but the amount of non-dad jokes here in this subreddit really annoys me. First of all, dad jokes CAN be NSFW, it clearly says so in the sub rules. Secondly, it doesn't automatically make it a dad joke if it's from a conversation between you and your child. Most importantly, the jokes that your CHILDREN tell YOU are not dad jokes. The point of a dad joke is that it's so cheesy only a dad who's trying to be funny would make such a joke. That's it. They are stupid plays on words, lame puns and so on. There has to be a clever pun or wordplay for it to be considered a dad joke.
Again, to all the fellow dads, I apologise if I'm sounding too harsh. But I just needed to get it off my chest.
Before I get started, I want to repeat: This is not an antisemitic post and I am saying this earnestly (though it is somewhat of a crackpot theory insofar as the evidence is somewhat deliberately absurd, and this is more for fun than because I actually think this is intentional). I would appreciate no Jewish jokes or antisemitic responses. I am Jewish myself which is why this occurred to me and why I know some of the necessary information to say this.
So, my theory is as follows: Boyfriend is Jewish. One thing we know about the story is that Boyfriend is repeatedly trying to "get freaky" with Girlfriend, on Friday night. Why Friday night? Why not Tuesday or Sunday or any other day? Well, maybe he's Jewish! According to halakha (Jewish law, particularly as defined in The Talmud), the appropriate time for lovemaking is specifically Friday night, after eating Shabbat dinner. This is for a few reasons, but most notably that is the holiest time of the week and is the time where the divine energies released in sex are most able to connect to the divine energies of God. So then, it makes total sense that Boyfriend keeps trying (and failing) to get a quiet spot with Girlfriend on Friday in particular as opposed to other days of the week.
You'll also note that Boyfriend is always wearing a hat. This is also a matter of halakha. Devout Jewish males will generally have their head covered at all times (technically this is only necessary when eating and praying as far as I know but particularly observant Jews will often always wear a head covering). Typically this is done with a kippah AKA yarmulke, but any kind of hat will do. This explains why Boyfriend is never seen without his trademark baseball cap. It's not just style after all!
In addition, during Week 5 we may see Boyfriend wearing a parka. This is the extent of his changes for the Christmas week. Everyone else (Girlfriend, Daddy Dearest, and especially Mommy Mearest) has had their designs change in a way that is distinctly Christmas-themed, but Boyfriend only dons the practical in the form of a winter coat. It is sensible that a non-Christian who doesn't celebrate Christmas would also be the one to choose not to wear distinctly Christmas-themed clothing.
This adds an interesting extra bent to the various rap battles. Why is Boyfriend so determined to get these battles done? He has to win them quickly before the sun goes down! If he doesn't finish the fight and get the speakers turned off before Sha
... keep reading on reddit โกI've been going to a shul for over 2 yrs. I can't move to within walking distance. It's just not possible.
I can, however, set up my car so I can be shomer Shabbat and park overnight within walking distance. I can even have a hot meal for Shabbat lunch thanks to a 26hr thermos. I can also rotate staying at people's houses and maybe Airbnbs.
I've learned to read Hebrew (classes 5 days a week for an entire year) and I'm kosher.
I've done 2 intro to Judaism classes, I have gone to weekly Parsha classes almost the entire 2 yrs. I added a weekly Midrash class a few months ago. I've also gone to Shabbat morning services almost every week barring covid and sickness. Also, holidays and other classes/events. I'm considered a member of the community.
My question is, am I being unrealistic to think that should be enough to open a file with a beit din?
Is the fact that I will be camping in my car even the beit dein's business? I mean, what is the line for privacy to avoid embarrassing someone?
I'm literally doing everything in my power to be observant and if I'm observant then why is how I'm observant more important when there's really nothing wrong with it?
Best case scenario is in 3 yrs I can buy a house within walking distance, but I'm a single woman and that would be the difference between being able to have kids or not. I'm all for being patient, after all, I've waited over 2 yrs, although, if I'd thought if this solution before, I would have done it. I just worry I am putting myself in a situation where I can't have kids because the beit din will say my situation isn't good enough.
Also, I have set up my car very nicely. I have a mattress and everything I need to observe Shabbat in a joyful way. Especially since I will actually be with the community more than I am now. The only thing I'm not entirely sure about would be lighting Shabbat candles. I don't want to risk a fire. I have a light I can leave on so I can eat and read and I have an eye mask to sleep. I also have a rechargeable fan I can turn on before hand. I can turn my dome lights off and my car is old so there are no autolocks. I can also open up my back windows and moon roof without power. They are latched. So there's no temptation to use electricity to make myself more comfortable. I'll also have window covers for privacy.
I think people may think I'll be sad and miserable out in my car, but I'm actually really excited about it since it means I can finally be shomer Shabbat and I l
... keep reading on reddit โกI'm a MO single woman in my early 20s in the tri-state area. I'm a little more open-minded than most, but still love Hashem, learning Torah, Shabbat, Kosher, etc. It really means a lot to me!
I really try to keep halacha to the best of my ability, but we're all human. It is impossible for someone to keep 100% of halacha every single second. I also strongly believe in understanding your physical compatibility with someone before marriage. I'm also a touchy feely person, enjoy physical connection, and I've accepted this flaw in myself. How is it natural to go from 0-100 on the wedding night? I just think you can't... But at the same time there is so much more to a relationship than that! I want to find my best friend and be compatible emotionally, psychologically, spiritually, etc.
I'm finding that I'm not taken seriously in the more religious circles where most people are virgins and expect you to be a virgin too. Most of the men who enjoy learning Torah are not sex-positive. I can understand that because it's a contradiction and against halacha (no judgement please, it's hurtful). They don't want to date non-virgins. Some BTs understand, but then expect that sex-positive was your past. However, it's my present and future.
But on the other hand, men who are sex-positive and more open-minded just aren't as serious religiously. Even if some are SS/SK, many don't have a love for Torah and enjoy learning it.
I feel so uncomfortable going to a shadchan because the institutions I attended, values important to me and observances I keep, all place me more to the right. But I keep feeling like that's not me and I feel like I'm being fake. I guess I can say not shomer negiah, but that's very different than sex-positive.
On the dating apps, if you mention remotely anything about sex-positive it paints you in a certain light. It attracts lots of unsolicited requests unfortunately. Then most men looking for a long term relationship don't take you seriously either. Also, it's easy to start a relationship that's basically only about sex. If you say not shomer, I feel like it has the same problem as above. There's a wide range of what the can mean from holding hands to doing everything, but actual sex. Saying nothing or open-minded again paints me as very right-wing because of what I stated above.
I have also just told some people early on that I'm sex-positive over the message platform on some apps. But again I was told it makes men see you in a certain way and not
... keep reading on reddit โกDo your worst!
They were cooked in Greece.
I'm surprised it hasn't decade.
Don't you know a good pun is its own reword?
Two muffins are in an oven, one muffin looks at the other and says "is it just me, or is it hot in here?"
Then the other muffin says "AHH, TALKING MUFFIN!!!"
Hi so I am an expectant parent and I am Jewish. My husband is agnostic but his family is devout southern baptist. We agreed to raising our kids Jewish because I am religious and heโs not and regardless bc Iโm Jewish the kids will be Jewish thatโs just how it works.
My worry is that he wants to include the kids in his familyโs traditions (like Christmas and Easter and occasionally take them to church if we are at his parents mainly for his parents) but I donโt want to until they are old enough to understand itโs not their religion that and his church is judged to the extreme like telling people they are going to hell to their faces for not being christian. I went to a Jewish only school until I was 8 so I was pretty immersed in Jewish culture (like I didnโt know the words to jingle bells until moving to secular school) so my parents donโt really have any advice for me.
I know what it was like growing up feeling like I wanted to reject being Jewish bc of the teasing and not fitting in and that there just arenโt a lot of Jews in general. We are living in a rural area and although I want to be shomer Shabbat I canโt be bc the closest temple is an 1 and a half drive away.
I just donโt know how to raise our kids Jewish in a way that they will love being Jewish despite the super Christian influence around us and the lack of a Jewish community around us.
I love being Jewish but I get to a kid how Christmas might be a lot more fun than sitting through a 5 hour Passover Seder.
Does anyone who is Jewish or a part of another minority religion have any advice for me bc this is honestly really concerning me.
For context I'm a Refuse Driver (Garbage man) & today I was on food waste. After I'd tipped I was checking the wagon for any defects when I spotted a lone pea balanced on the lifts.
I said "hey look, an escaPEA"
No one near me but it didn't half make me laugh for a good hour or so!
Edit: I can't believe how much this has blown up. Thank you everyone I've had a blast reading through the replies ๐
It really does, I swear!
