Conversion “Converts who request funding should probably be explicit about the costs and their own contribution to the process” Author Drew Kaplan Date 6 September 2016 Some people were bewildered that there was anything other than minor administrative costs associated...
Divorce, Halakhah “…we can now better appreciate why certain rabbis have attempted to find solutions within Jewish law to the contemporary agunah problem” Author Drew Kaplan Date 15 August 2016 I have been told that the Beth Din of America operates on the principle...
Marriage “…I don’t think that the reasons offered by medieval authorities operating in a completely different environment can determine what modern women will regard as “deal-breakers” when it comes to marriage” Author Drew Kaplan Date 11 July 2016 Since people’s psychology has changed over the centuries, I don’t think that the reasons...
Haredim/Haredi-ism, Judaism “But how can you be a light if almost no one can see you?” Author Drew Kaplan Date 27 June 2016 …Orthodox answer is “to keep the commandments.” That suffices, we are reassured, because when...
Divorce “Nothing should scandalize us more than a so-called religious person keeping his wife captive as a means of revenge” Author Drew Kaplan Date 23 May 2016 In matters of divorce, my feeling is that when either husband or wife wants...
Shabbat “There can be no doubt of the fact that the Sabbath is a, or perhaps the, central institution of biblical and rabbinical religion” Author Drew Kaplan Date 19 May 2016 There can be no doubt of the fact that the Sabbath is a, or...
Passover “The Haggadah is not the story of the exodus from Egypt” Author Drew Kaplan Date 21 April 2016 The Haggadah is not the story of the exodus from Egypt. Far from it....
Hasidim, Holidays “Many Jews celebrate Purim, but not the chassidic Purim. The chassidic Purim is unique in its richness and multiplicity” Author Drew Kaplan Date 23 March 2016 Many Jews celebrate Purim, but not the chassidic Purim. The chassidic Purim is unique...
Judaism “…don’t believe anyone who says that you must have an all-or-nothing relationship with the dominant culture and its expressions” Author Drew Kaplan Date 1 February 2016 Television, social media, rock and roll and hip-hop music and movies are, unquestionably, tempting...
Kashrut “In Customer Service 101, it seems that the customer is always right. In kosher dining, it too often seems that the customer is always wrong” Author Drew Kaplan Date 21 January 2016 In Customer Service 101, it seems that the customer is always right. In kosher...