A Christian teenager wrote me about the problems he has with his parents because he wants to become Jewish. Here is his letter and my answer with my advice on the subject. Non-Orthodox Conversions: Are They Valid?” Some Fundamentals. What conversions are valid? Other requirements. Isn’t ...
In addition to movies and historical figures, exploring different cultural backgrounds can yieldadiverserange ofinfluences for crafting mobster names.Incorporating elements from Italian, Irish, Russian, or Jewish ancestry can enrich your characters by adding depth and complexity that highlight their distinc...
he gloats about his extermination of the men and boys of one of the Jewish tribes of Yathrib, the confiscation of their property, and the enslavement of their women and children; he authorizes himself to take as many wives as he likes, permits himself to marry the wife of his adopted son...
“The Arameans are a Semitic people who attribute their past to Aram, the son of Shem who was son of Noah. We are also related to the patriarchs and matriarchs of the Jewish nation, as Abraham, Rivka, Leah, Rachel – all of them are mentioned in the Bible as Aramean. Stay updated ...
His plaint is about as convincing as Hitler’s insistence that, in some equally imponderable way, international Jewish business interests conspired to defeat Germany in World War I and then impose the ruinous Versailles Treaty. In America today, we are long past George Santayana’s cautionary ...
Finally, as the above quotation suggests, this is a book about Jewish characters. But aside from names and an occasional remark, they feel cleansed of Jewishness. (Speaking of names, Florence Fabricant is a well-known food writer for theNew York Times; is Feldman giving her a friendly wink...
I loved the analysis of the Jewish home; the clever look at the creation story, as well as debunking the myths about it; and modern Jewish history, which provides the etymology of classic Yiddish terms like “oy” and “feh.” Even more educational are the quizzes at the end of the ...
interfaith forum about the Israel-Palestine conflict, it was one Israeli after another that insisted to anyone using the term, “we are not Zionists. We are Israelis. We don’t refer to ourselves as Zionists, also because we have achieved the goal of the establishment of the Jewish State....
Another story is from Alaska, where in 1941, there was an idea of bringing Jewish refugees from Europe during the war. “Map of Territorial Alternatives” has an imaginary character. At first, I thought only of territorial options, and I drew them as ice cubes; like icebergs, they are flo...
into the ocean, there is only one thing that can happen to you, you die. Don’t get me wrong, this does not equate to the fiery hell that comes after the great white throne, but there is certainly judgment that comes while you are here on earth; some people think of this as karma...