Conversion

Putting God On The Geirut List

I recently had the privilege of serving on a Beit Din (Rabbinic Court) for an individual who was converting to ...

Coming Out & Inviting In

In honor of  National Coming Out Day , Keshet will be sharing and celebrating coming out stories throughout the month ...

Why Gwyneth Paltrow’s Conversion to Judaism Will Confuse People

We rabbis often lament about how many issues divide our people. We pray differently, we keep kosher differently, we talk ...

Immerse Yourself

There’s nothing like old friends. They connect us with our past, remind us of the continuity of our life, embrace ...

What Do You Call a Questioning Convert? Rabbi.

“Why did you convert?” I have been asked this question many times before, sometimes out of deep interest and sometimes ...

Jewish and Transgender: The Forward Series

 Last week, Chelsea Manning, formerly known as Private first class Bradley Manning, made headlines. Her announcement that she would be living ...

Patrilineal Descent: Why This Rabbi Feels No Angst

This past week, two of my Rabbis Without Borders colleagues have shared their perspectives and struggles with the religious identities ...

Leading by Example

Earlier this week, Stefanie Pervos Bregman, the editor of Living Jewishly, wrote about engaging 20- and 30- somethings in the Jewish world, ...

Why Choose Judaism?

But why would they choose Judaism?This is a question I hear often. In my work helping to celebrate the racial and ...

Wandering Mother, Wondering Daughter: Part 1

“Jew town,” Mom directed the autorickshaw driver.“Where in Jew town?” he asked in Malayalam.“The big church,” Mom responded, because she ...

Orthodox Black Rapper Celebrates life out of the Closet

“Last Shabbos, because of me more people were talking about gay rights around the the Shabbes table, and it’s a ...

The blessings of a mixed multitude

A few weeks before I began rabbinical school, I took a vacation and went to visit my in-laws where they ...