Nowadays, the Tombs of ancient Israelite Patriarchs are inside the mosque in Hebron, now a West Bank. Tombs are guarded by Arabs and Arabic signs/letters are written over it.

I wonder... Are you fine with it or against it?

I’m 22 and work in Midtown at a Bank. These past few weeks, literally every other day I see religious Jews in full attire going around asking people if they’re Jewish.

I’ve been approached a handful of times and either ignore it or say “I’m good”.

Like today I take a quieter street near my office to get to my lunch spot, and of course the SINGLE other person on the street besides the construction workers is a Jewish guy in a Fedora (or Shtreimel but doubt). And he approaches me asking that same question.

For context, I have 3 Russian grandparents and a Jewish grandfather on my Dad’s side. I am an Orthodox Christian and culturally identify as Russian/American. However, anyone close to me including my Jewish coworkers and my Jewish friends knows I’m part Jewish. I have absolutely no shame in it and always bonded with Jewish college peers over that too.

However, I don’t quite get this tendency to go around asking random finance workers/civilians if they’re Jewish. I have thick eyebrows and look a bit like my grandpa, but nothing about me or the other people they approach screams “I’m Jewish” like a Kippah or curly hair. Like mine is hay straight and I have ocean blue eyes with pretty pale skin.

I know it’s some sort of outreach attempt for prayers around holidays, but is that it? Or are they hoping you become a regular synagogue goer? Just curious if anyone who knows more could provide some insight about this and the purpose.

I am ethnically Jewish but was not raised in it at all. I don’t know the first thing about being Jewish besides my experience being raised Christian. 2 of my grandparents were holocaust survivors and the way they dealt with it was becoming as American and non Jewish as possible. My boyfriend was raised Jewish but has little interest in it now. I’m pregnant with our first and I want our son to have a strong connection to his roots. I’m looking at Jewish boy names and my boyfriend is just not interested in raising our baby Jewish at all. What are some good resources in rediscovering Jewish identity? I was raised with absolutely zero Jewish influence. My parents were evangelical Christian. And does anyone have any experience navigating a mixed relationship with my boyfriend not being interested?

I work in the Jewish community and I've noticed the systems are kind of a mess. I want to try building something that helps different places manage their members, registrations, that sort of thing.

so I was wondering: what software do you use? ShulCloud, or something else? And what would you improve or change about it?

Historically, Jewish players have been spectacularly successful at chess, dominating the game far beyond what demographic proportions would predict. Despite making up a tiny fraction of the global population, about half of all undisputed World Chess Champions and roughly 40% to 50% of the highest-ranked historical players have been Jewish or of Jewish descent.

Culturally, chess integrated beautifully into Ashkenazi communities due to an emphasis on deep analytical study, strategy, and intellectual merit as a path toward professional advancement.

🧵 The Giants of the Board: A Mini-Thread on Great Jewish Chess Players:

Wilhelm Steinitz (1836–1900): The Austrian-Jewish legend who became the first official World Chess Champion in 1886 and fundamentally invented modern, positional chess theory.

Emanuel Lasker (1868–1941): A brilliant mathematician who succeeded Steinitz and held the World Championship title for a record-breaking 27 consecutive years, relying heavily on psychological warfare.

Mikhail Botvinnik (1911–1995): The "Patriarch" of the Soviet Chess School who dominated mid-20th-century chess, bringing a rigorous, scientific regime to opening preparation.

Mikhail Tal (1936–1992): Known as the "Magician from Riga," Tal remains beloved as the most dazzling, aggressive, and imaginative attacking player in chess history.

Bobby Fischer (1943–2008): Born to a Jewish mother (and biological Jewish father, Paul Nemenyi), Fischer single-handedly shattered the Soviet chess monopoly in 1972 and is widely considered one of the greatest natural geniuses to ever play.

Garry Kasparov (Rubinstein) (1963–Present): Born to a Jewish father, Kasparov held the world No. 1 ranking for a record 255 months and is regarded by many as the definitive Greatest of All Time (GOAT).

Judit Polgár (1976–Present): Pioneered by her father's intense educational experiment, she shattered gender barriers to become the greatest female chess player of all time, peaking in the top 10 players globally.

Honorable Mentions:

Levon Aronian (Aronov) (1982–Present): A former blitz world champion. His highest classical ranking was No. 2 position in the March 2014 FIDE world chess rankings with a rating of 2830, becoming the fourth highest-rated player in history.

Ian Nepomniachtchi (1990-Present): 2024 World Blitz Chess co-champion, alongside Magnus Carlsen. He is also a two-time Russian chess champion. He is one of very few players in history to have won two consecutive Candidates Tournaments. He is currently Russia's highest ranked active chess player.

Boris Gelfand (1968-Present): A six-time World Championship candidate (1991, 1994–95, 2002, 2007, 2011, 2013), he won the Chess World Cup 2009 and the 2011 Candidates Tournament, making him challenger for the World Chess Championship 2012.

I was invited to a big pool party hosted by a Modern Orthodox woman in a couple weeks. It's just going to be women at the party, and no men will be at home, if that makes a difference. I was raised a Conservative Jew, and it's still my identity. Dressing modestly was only for synagogue. My friends and I all wore bikinis when we were younger, and it's all I still wear for swimming. Do MO women wear bikinis, especially if there are no men around? I have some bikinis that have more coverage and support than others, so I would wear one of those. I have a cropped rashguard that I could wear for more coverage, but my lower belly and legs would still be exposed. Would I have to get a different kind of swimsuit, and if so, what kind? I could bring my swimwear with me and put on what follows what others are wearing, or just wear a beachy kind of dress and not swim at all.

Hi everyone, I'm a theatre costume designer currently working on a production about young Hasidic women in a Midrasha, set in 1996 in Zefat (northern Israel).
I'm looking for sources and reference photos to help me figure out how they used to dress, the midrasha dress codes, if and how some would show their personal style etc... This has proven to be quite difficult, and I was wondering if i could get some help here, if someone has an idea of a good source with images. I am Jewish but not hasidic, so I'm not versed in the details and subtleties of this world and wouldn't want to make any obvious mistakes..
Much appreciated!

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks taught many things. But perhaps the one we need most now is this: Human beings are not helpless before history. We have agency.

That was one of the deepest messages of Rabbi Sacks’s Judaism. Faith was never an escape from the world. It was a call to responsibility. We are not only shaped by forces outside us: politics, trauma, markets, ideologies, fear. We are also choosers, builders and repairers.

That is why Rabbi Sacks still speaks so powerfully to this moment.

by Jeffrey Levine

https://www.jns.org/opinion/jeffrey-e-levine/rabbi-jonathan-sacks-and-good-society

Just published a podcast episode with Moshe Koppel about his books Meta-Halakha and Judaism Straight Up. We discussed his mathematical concept of sophistication, how it can be used to understand the depth of religion, what benefits religion provides society, authorship detection, and finding meaning in an age of AI.

Is it appropriate to go to a bar mitzvah party if I can't make it to the service?

Context: We were invited to two bar mitzvahs in the same weekend. The services are at the same time (obviously) on Saturday morning at different synagogues, but the parties are on different days.

The latest episode of Ask Haviv Anything is a conversation with his dad, who was born and grew up in the United States, on the difference between American and Israeli Jews. The central thesis is that Protestantism effected Judaism in the United States and that made Judaism/Jewishness feel more like a choice in the United States than it did in United States, and Canada, which is why Reform predominates here and nowhere else in the Diaspora.

I have some doubts about this thesis. I think that Sam Aranow's argument that Reform Judaism became predominate in the United States because it is how American Jews always practice Judaism even before Reform Judaism existed makes more sense. There simply weren't enough Jews in the Americas for a fully Orthodoxy Jewish life until the great influx of Jews from the Pale of Settlement in the late 19th and early 20th century. So even before Reform Judaism existed, you got something similar in what is now the United States/Canada.

They also really don't talk about American racial issues enough. Since the big thing in the United States is where you feel on the white or non-white scale and Jews were generally seen at least as white enough even if there were at least some suspicions, Judaism/Jewishness could be more of a pure religious identity in the United States than it would be elsewhere.

Hey folks, I need a sanity check here.

I came into possession of a printed copy of JewBelong's High Holidays booklet. The gifter is not Jewish, but was invited to attend a RH party in their neighborhood hosted by what I assume are non-denominational or Reform Jews. The gifter knows I'm Jewish, so they did the "Oh hey, you might be interested in this!" thing.

Honestly I didn't have a ton of interest at this moment, so I quickly peeked in it to make sure it was kosher to just dump in the recycling, i.e. no printed Holy names. Being a Jewish organization, I assumed that they would use the usual יי.

Instead, they used יהוה. WITH niqqud (?!). For something that's meant to be downloaded and printed and most likely discarded after use.

WTF? Am I missing something?

Related question for any rabbis lurking: can I just give this back to the gifter and say to them, "Thanks! Looked through it. I don't want to know what you do with it from here so please don't tell me." Or should I make sure this gets to the geniza? I think I might get some funny looks dropping it off!

I’ve recently joined a congregation that unfortunately, is in a pretty dire financial position. It’s operating with a substantial shortfall and will likely close based on its situation, probably within a few years time.

I’m hoping to hear from people here who may have experienced similar situations…

Of course, I’m heartbroken about it, but I understand this is happening all across the country and changing demographics and cultural shifts are playing out where I happen to be.

I feel guilty because I’ve already thought about looking at other synagogues in my area.

I’m currently giving as much as I can financially, so giving more money isn’t an option for me.

Like I said, I would really like to hear from people who went through this and how you dealt with it.