Sex and Halacha: A Disturbing Look at the Sources

December 16, 2013

In the tractate Hagigah of the Babylonian Talmud, Rabbi Ilai the Elder states that if a man sees that his sexual desire is overcoming him, he should dress all in black, go to a town where no one will recognize him, and then he can do what his heart desires. It’s a proposal that sounds […]

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Top zingers from this year’s Comedy for Koby

December 13, 2013

Comedy for Koby rolled into Jerusalem this week and my wife and I were there, along with our three kids, who we treated to their first live comedy show as a Hanukah gift. (Think of it as guffaws instead of gelt.) After what I’d done last year, though, I wasn’t sure if the comedians would be […]

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Circumcision, No Fine: On Why Mandating Religious Behavior Backfires

December 5, 2013

I’m circumcised. My two sons are circumcised. Pretty much every other male I know is, too (not that I check). But a ruling last week by the Supreme Rabbinical Court for Appeals in Jerusalem that essentially mandates circumcision by law, with a severe financial penalty for parents who choose not to participate in this most […]

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Hair No More

November 26, 2013

The queue (well, more of an amorphous, fast talking crowd) was already 30 girls long when my daughter Merav arrived at the Malcha shopping mall in Jerusalem. The girls – teenagers and young adults mostly – were from all kinds of different backgrounds, from completely secular to haredi. But they all had one thing in […]

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Mindfulness Saved the Wedding

November 19, 2013

When my wife and I were invited to an intimate wedding on the beach this week, we thought – that should be lovely. A make shift chuppah set up at sunset with just the endless blue stretching from the sands of Nitzanim as a backdrop; a barbecue and bonfire with a bride, groom, a few guests and […]

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A Visit to the Gazelle Valley in Jerusalem

November 11, 2013

We are avid attendees of the annual “Houses from Within” festival in Jerusalem, which took place this past weekend. Except that, instead of going inside, we have a habit of getting the scoop on structures and places from the outside. The festival’s aim is to open up the doors to locations that are usually private. These […]

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Musical “Ah Jerusalem” Debuts at the Tower of David Museum

October 21, 2013

It sounds like the set up to an only-in-Jerusalem joke: What do you get if you put a love-struck King Solomon, an evil Crusader with a heart of gold, and a chain smoking Golda Meir all in the same room? If you add in a few catchy song and dance numbers and a heaping dose […]

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Religious Rock and Rap from the “Other” Botzer

October 14, 2013

For over 30 years, the name “Botzer” has been synonymous with the founder of the Livnot U’Lehibanot (“To Build and be Built”) work-study program that began in the Old City of Safed. So it was a bit perplexing when posters began appearing around Jerusalem advertising the performance of “Botzer” at the Yellow Submarine music club. Was the ever-energetic […]

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Must the Mayor of Jerusalem Speak English?

October 9, 2013

It was meant to be a relatively simple, if snarky post to Facebook. I’d received an email in English that Jerusalem mayoral candidate Moshe Lion would be speaking at the OU Center, a venue that caters nearly 100% to English speakers…but not in English, rather in “easy Hebrew.” I found this rather ironic and commented […]

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No pretensions: Israeli indie folk darling Maya Isacowitz returns for series of sold out shows in Israel

September 30, 2013

Maya Isacowitz came roaring back into town, putting on a sold-out show last week at Jerusalem’s Yellow Submarine club that lived up to the expectations many had for the pint-sized redhead Israeli indie/folk singer-songwriter, who last performed in the capital nearly a year ago. Isacowitz’s absence was not due to any falling out with the […]

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