Hey everyone, I’ll start off by saying I don’t want to start any fights here but my wife and I are expecting our first child, a boy, in a few weeks, and I’m struggling with the decision about circumcision.

For context: I grew up fairly Jewish (Reform) and am circumcised myself. My wife isn’t Jewish and has left the decision up to me. (Part of me always hoped we’d have a daughter so I could avoid making this decision, but here we are 😭)

From the research I’ve done and conversations with a friends who are urologists, I’m not convinced the medical benefits of routine circumcision in the US outweigh the considerations around permanently altering my son’s body without his consent. But I also recognize that this isn’t purely a medical decision; it’s a question of Jewish tradition and identity.

We won’t be raising our son in an Orthodox household, and even among my Jewish friends, opinions seem pretty evenly split. We also live in a pretty rural part of the US, where there aren’t many other Jewish families. I wonder whether being uncircumcised might make him feel different from his peers, though I’m not sure how much weight to give that concern.

For Jewish dads who wrestled with this decision, particularly those from Reform or secular backgrounds:
- What ultimately made you decide for or against circumcision?
- How much did tradition and Jewish identity factor into your decision?
- Looking back, do you feel good about your choice?

I’m genuinely undecided and would appreciate hearing from people who have been in the same position. Not looking to start a fight or tell anyone else what to do, just trying to make a thoughtful decision for my son.
Thanks!

I'm going to New Zealand next year. I'm from Israel, and I was under the impression that while it wasn't very good there, it was better than a lot of Europe, and so on.

I had made a post in their subreddit asking about my name and if it would be okay, because I have a name that would be very weird there. At the beginning, most people thought it was Japanese but as soon I explained it was Hebrew, it all started, and I am not exactly someone they'd love since obviously I want my country to exist, my family are from Iran, where are we supposed to go? Not back there. I've heard enough stories from my family. But I didn't get into that because there's no point, they don't get it

I never even said I was from Israel but just because I'd said it was Hebrew, there were quite a few people trying to find out where I was from and saying if it was Israel, I should just stay home anyway because people there don't like it, and that apparently I was writing ragebait or something because I had a Hebrew name.

Obviously it's the internet and people behave their worst there, but are a lot of them actually like that in real life too? I really don't want to have be dealing with these people and I also have a magen David that I always wear that was my grandmother's, which I assumed would be fine to wear and now I'm not sure about that either. I know the community there is very small but if you are from there or have travelled there too, it would be good to know.

Broadly, my observation has been that communities, synagogues, and institutions that categorize themselves as non-denominational are frequently structured in a way that precludes Orthodox participation. I don't mean "not having a mechitza," I mean more basic things, like providing kosher food, providing spaces for more of shabbos, or scheduling events on Shabbos/Yom tov.

Have you observed this, and do you even think it's a problem? I can see an argument that Orthodox individuals have Orthodox institutions to rely on mostly that fits towards their standards, but I can't help but feel like "non-denominational" implies a level of inclusivity that just doesn't happen

As an Orthodox Jew looking at a glance, it feels really easy to lump in all Non-Orthodox denominations together.

I want to understand better on what makes Reform, Reconstructionist, and Renewal distinct, recognizing of course that these movements have tremendous internal variations. I think, as a measure, what would your Syngagogue lose if they became "non-denominational"?

A non jewish family member has been making me feel crazy when I say "many if not most synagogues probably have an israeli flag displayed somewhere or in some form," - which I've personally found to be true through my upbringing and adulthood experiences.

Not trying to have a debate on whether or not they should or should not be displayed, but I recognize my experience is limited to only the places I've visited and congregations to which Ive belonged (reform). So I would love to crowd source some experiences from this group.

Edit: thank you for all the responses! The situation I described in a comment where a flag was ripped down, stolen and burned was not a hypothetical, unfortunately.

Does anyone know if there are any shuls in Lakewood that follow either Yekkish or Oberlander nuscah/minhagim? Or a Yekkish minyan that might meet in a non Yekke shul?

So I am teaching Modern Jewish History at a pluralist day school that is about 1/3 Orthodox. Specifically, most of the students are part of two communities that I would classify as Open Orthodox (they have YCT Rabbis and women Rabbas and Rabbanits with shmicha from Maharat serving in clergy roles)

This is my first time teaching this topic to this age group in a setting with a large Orthodox population.

I was really shocked by the reaction I got when I started teaching about Moses Mendelssohn. They refuse to consider that he has any influence on anything other than Reform Judaism, constantly bring up the mostly untrue "fact" that none of his grandchildren were Jewish, and use language like "he exposed himself to secular subjects"

I was very surprised that teenagers have even heard of him, but even more surprised by this reaction. In my mind, if Mendelsohn were part of any modern denomination, it would be MoDox. He challenged neither halacha in general nor specific halachic practices and believed in Torah M'Sinai, but simply argued that traditional Jewish life is compatible with integration into the modern world. Does that not describe Modern Orthodoxy?

I'm wondering if our Modern Orthodox friends here can tell me what the specific issue with him is

Hi, I’m a non-Jew trying to learn Jewish theology from an outsider perspective. I discussed with AI and consulted online sources before; now, I would love to hear how people interpret these texts.

Again, I can’t read Hebrew and AI is full of errors. Please don’t judge me!

Also, it would be very helpful to let me know if you are speaking from Reform/Conservative/Orthodox teachings’ perspective. That would be very helpful!

Bava Metzia 59b: the story and its aftermath

Why do you think a technical dispute over the purity of an oven escalates this far, all the way to miracles and a heavenly voice? Is the oven itself important, or is the real issue something else?

When the sages reject the bat kol, do they doubt it came from God, or do they accept that it did and still refuse to follow it?

How do you understand God smiling and saying "My children have defeated me"? My own reading is that God acts a bit like a democratic leader accepting the result of a vote. Is that reasonable, or does it miss something?

The story doesn't end with the sages' victory. Rabbi Eliezer is placed under a ban, and tragedies follow. How do you read that ending? Is the Talmud criticizing the majority, or at least the way they treated him?

Deuteronomy 30:12 and Exodus 23:2

In Deuteronomy, lo bashamayim hi seems to mean the commandments are within reach. Here it becomes "heaven has no say in halakha." How do you think about that shift?

Exodus 23:2, read plainly, warns against following a majority to do evil, yet the sages derive the principle of following the majority from it. How should we understand that kind of reading?
Where is the line between legitimate midrash and bending a verse to fit a conclusion? Who decides?

Eruvin 13b compared with Bava Metzia 59b

In Eruvin, a bat kol decides between Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai and seems to be accepted. Why is a heavenly voice authoritative there but rejected in Bava Metzia?

How are these two passages usually reconciled in the commentaries, and which explanation do you find most convincing?

"These and these are the words of the living God" seems to apply to Rabbi Eliezer too, yet he ends up excommunicated. How do you hold those two ideas together?

The questions are long and I’m grateful for any answer that answers any bit of my questions.

Thank you!

I posted here a few years ago asking about whether Modern Orthodox men wear tzitzit. I grew up Yeshivish and I'm now OTD. I have a Modern Orthodox brother. I shared that I was surprised to learn from my brother that many of the men in his community do not wear tzitzit.

I was at his house last Shabbat and my nephew, who's a freshman at a prominent modern yeshiva high school, had a few friends over. They happened to be talking about tzitzit and who amongst their friends wears them. I asked the guys if they do and 3 said no and 1 said sometimes. My nephew, like his father, does not. I asked them what their fathers and brothers did. 3 said they didn't know, while one said he knew his father didn't. 1 had no brothers. 2 weren't sure what their brothers did and the last said that all of his brothers did.

So now a few years have passed since my first post, I have a few more pieces of anecdote about what the youth in the community seem to be doing. I'd like to ask again: Modern Orthodox men, do you wear tzitzit? Sometimes, always, never? For those of you who have sons, do you know if they do and is it important to you if they do or don't?

Hi all! I'd like to share with you a recent project of mine and get your feedback.

It's https://letzyiddish.com/, a website/app that teaches you Yiddish through a variety of content, focused on the best (in my opinion) classical jokes, sayings, stories, and songs.

The first thing I should say is that letzyiddish is not really for absolute beginners, as there are already Yiddish resources for such people on YouTube, Duolingo, etc. I'm assuming that the user can read Yiddish, more or less (there is transliteration for every word), and can string together a few basic sentences. The site has a unit called "topics" that covers important phrases and vocab for a bunch of common scenarios, but this is not really an intro course.

Letzyiddish is inspired by graded reader apps that have a curated selection of texts that have been annotated, together with dictionary, spaced-repetition study, audio, search, etc. I'm thinking of Du Chinese for, well, Chinese, or Readlang for Spanish, German, etc.

The site is built with AI assistance, but the curation of content is my own, as is the layout, the recordings, etc. Crucially, no texts have been written by AI --- they all come from old Yiddish sources (often over a century!), and AI was used to annotate. The recordings are in my own Russian/Chabad accent, which is fairly close to the YIVO standard.

Even if you don't speak Yiddish and are just interested in the jokes and expressions, I invite you to have a look. I always thought of myself as a collector of classic Yiddish jokes, but I discovered many new ones in the creation of this site.

Hi everyone,

I am 28yr old, raised in a Reconstructionist synagogue and I am looking at colleges in Cleveland and I have heard there is a large Jewish population. I have also heard that Cleveland is great for late 20's single adults. All of this has made Cleveland one of the top places on my list to move. My extended family has also become interested in Cleveland and I have 2 young nieces that my family would like to raise around other Jewish children. I heard recently that Cleveland is now mostly older orthodox Jews and that there are very few children and that any children there are, are orthodox. I am wondering if that is true and what the Jewish community is like in Cleveland, both for a 20 something adult woman and for raising a family.

Thank you!

For Jews by Choice, what is your Hebrew name and what was the thought process behind why you chose it? Just curious!

Hi,

I’m an Orthodox Jew thinking of relocating my family to the 5 towns. I understand it’s mainly orthodox and that’s one of the reasons I’m looking to move there specifically.

My question is what’s the difference between the towns in terms of social life, community life, orthodoxy, and aesthetics?

I need help deciding which town I should look at.

Thanks everyone in advance

At least one Rabbi, Rabbi Ephraim ben Shimshon, seemed to have a rather literal interpretation of this line from Jacob's Blessing and believed that Benjamin, and presumably his descendants, would or could turn themselves into wolves.

Another explanation: Benjamin was a “predatory wolf,” sometimes preying upon people. When it was time for him to change into a wolf, as it says, “Benjamin is a predatory wolf,” as long as he was with his father, he could rely upon a physician, and in that merit he did not change into a wolf. For thus it says, “And he shall leave his father and die” (Gen. 44:22)—namely, that when he separates from his father, and turns into a wolf with travelers, whoever finds him will kill him.

Since we are approaching Halloween, this seems to be an appropriate time to talk about the weirder and wilder parts of Judaism, since we were no more immune to a belief in magic and superstition than other people, that existed and for the most part seemingly disappeared in the sense that most Jews today really don't know much about them and if they do don't follow them at all, and I think this true across the Halacha observant spectrum from Ultra-Orthodox to Secular Jews, while the supernatural traditions in other religions, especially other ethnoreligions like Shinto, remain more prominent. So what led to the wilder and weirder parts of Judaism falling into the background and becoming irrelevant in your opinion?

We run a small non-profit in Toronto taking donations of unwanted Judaica to pass onto folks who want to rehome it. This small ceramic object came in our most recent batch of donations, and we have no idea what it could be.

It's about three inches square, clearly handpainted, with a metal frame surrounding an opening on one corner. The bracha (עַל נְטִילַת יָדַיִם) implies a connection to handwashing, but we can't figure out what purpose it's supposed to serve. Cup stand? Just a pretty thing? Please help - we've stumped multiple rabbis.

I decided that it's time. We need a place to rate our inflight kosher meals, and provide heads up when airlines are especially good (or otherwise) with Jewish passengers.

Hopefully, rating the best meals well will entice the majority of caterers (who we all love complaining about) to up their game and give us edible, sensitivity-friendly plane food, especially on long haul flights.

I'm very glad that my first posts on the site are largely positive, including, IMO, the very top tier of kosher food available in the sky!

Please join and contribute at koshertravel.app - it's 100% free and I have no intention of pay-walling it, ever. It's a service that will rely on contribution, and I hope that people will both contribute and benefit!

Is this too whorish for my son’s frum wedding?

On the map it's really way far out there in the far east

So I was thinking over Shabbat that I should really start my own sect where the dress code is jeans and a t-shirt because I feel like I’d get a lot of pull especially in warmer climates. I know those guys splinter off all the time but do they usually come back after a generation or are they all toldot-aharoning it to this day? Just trying to figure out the odds before I dive in.

Any other tips like what my gang should be extra machmir on lmk. Obviously we’ll run our own kashrut racket.

Thanks in advanve