August 2016

How Tech Innovation Both Defines and Challenges Our Identity

Back in August, when I last posted for this blog, I was on my way to visit the URJ Six ...

From Looking Jewish to Being Jewish

Cultural anthropologists call it ‘going native’. You find yourself in the field as a participant observer of your host culture ...

The Perfect High Holy Day Sermon You Will Never Hear

Too often rabbis say either what we think people need to hear or what we feel obligated to share.

How Facebook Can Make Museums More Social (And Why Jewish Organizations Should Pay Attention)

I’ve been active on Facebook since 2004. Right before I started college, Brandeis University was added to the then-still-exclusive site, ...

“I Thou” Parenting

My middle kid, Shir, just turned four. This morning, I came into his room to find him naked and tantrumming ...

The Modesty Wars

My favorite pastime in the summer is going to my local town pool. There I can sit in the sun, ...

Extremism Works Both Ways

I spend most of my days and nights highlighting problem areas in Orthodox communities as well as viable solutions, with ...

The Mitzvah of Marrow Donation

In March of 2013, I volunteered to swab people’s cheeks for a bone marrow registry drive at a National Council ...

Conversion: A Black Jewish Can-Do Story

How one woman went from having no idea what Shabbat was to celebrating it every week.

The One Thing We Need to Stop Saying to Our Kids at their Bar or Bat Mitzvah

Celebrating a bar or bat mitzvah is a unique and special time in the life of a child, family and community. ...