Some Jewish kids go to Narnia and the White Witch is endlessly frustrated because she wants to make it always winter but never Hanukkah, but she doesn’t follow the Hebrew calendar so she can’t accurately predict when it’s supposed to be.
I was going to scroll past this but then I stopped to think about it and now I just have to ask:
would Elijah show up in this version of the story to give the kids swords and wine?
“But why won’t you give me a weapon?” asked Lucy. “I’m sure I could fight if I needed to.”
“Because you have not yet reached the age of bat mitzvah,” said the prophet. “I would not place such responsibility upon you before our laws count you as ready.”
Announcing Jew in the City’s 2015 Orthodox Jewish All Stars!!
Baroness Rosalind Altmann, U.K. minister of pensions; Ahmed Zayat, owner of American Pharoah, the first Triple Crown-winning thoroughbred racehorse in thirty-seven years; and Ilana Wernick, Emmy winning co-executive producer of the hit TV series Modern Family, are among 10 individuals who have been named 2015 Orthodox Jewish All- Stars by Jew in the City, the organization dedicated to re-branding Orthodox Judaism to the world through digital media.
This diverse and accomplished group also includes Jeremy England, a 33- year- old physicist and professor at MIT who some in the scientific community refer to as ‘the next Darwin’ on account of his brilliant mathematical theories and explanations of the origins of life; Lawrence Burian, general counsel, secretary, and executive vice president for The Madison Square Garden Company; Zahava Reisman, founder of Sarah Chloe Jewelry, who has built a devoted following of the Hollywood elite in six short years; Gregory Zuckerman, an award-winning business reporter for the Wall Street Journal; Gail Hoffman, the treasurer of Columbia University; Norm Eisen, who served as the United States Ambassador to the Czech Republic from 2011-2014; and Rabbi Elimelech Goldberg, a 2014 CNN Hero who created Kids Kicking Cancer (in which he combines therapy and martial arts to help children fighting disease).
At U.S. Ping-Pong Open, Orthodox Estee Ackerman Ranks 6th
Keeping up with 13 year old Estee Ackerman takes work. After being named one of our Orthodox Jewish All Stars last year (here) she has only gained momentum. Estee is now ranked 6th for Cadet girls (15 years and under) for table tennis in the United States. She got this ranking after competing in the winter U.S. Nationals. The winter is a rough time for a teenage ping-pong champ, because training often takes a backseat to schoolwork. The U.S. Open, however, takes place during the summer – leaving Estee endless hours to train. It’s a good thing too, for the Open is made up of 100 events with 1100 people from 35 different countries.
Shabbos Chazon: Why John Lennon’s “Imagine” Is Messianic
Who was famous for imagining a perfected world – a world of peace and universal brotherhood? Why none other than John Lennon of the Beatles – a famous atheist! “Imagine” is considered the anthem for atheists, yet once you get past the parts about “no religion,” look at what this “atheist” wants to us imagine:
Howard Stern’s Daughter Became Orthodox ; Wells of Miriam
Like most people on planet earth, I’ve known who Howard Stern is for years, though, I’ve never really listened to his show or watched more than an occasional clip of “America’s Got Talent.” Then my friend Mayim Bialik was interviewed on his radio show last year and, of course, I had to hear it. What struck me most about their conversation was Mayim explaining Jewish ideas to Howard – like mikvah and modesty – publicizing these mitzvos to millions of his listeners. Howard challenged Mayim, wanting to know why she covers up so much – unlike most actresses in Hollywood – and Mayim explained that her body belongs to her, not Hollywood. Apparently, Howard was so struck by this idea that the next morning when he started his show he referenced it.
Howard Stern didn’t cross my mind again until a couple months ago, when I stumbled upon a poet whose work is featured in the LA Jewish Journal. A line in one of her poems jumped out at me “Why in the world why in the heavens when God says find a mate, Adam never stops to say, You, God. Us. ” It was so profound, I wanted to hear more. So I started clicking through to read more of her work and as I read, I got to an article which explained who her dad was. I was fascinated! Howard Stern’s daughter became an Orthodox Jew?! I reached out to her, we had a wonderful coffee meeting and told her I’d love to share her story and her art with the world.
How One Orthodox Jewish Mom Told Her Kids About Birds & Bees
Worrying doesn’t just run in the women of my family – it does marathons. And after hearing about a child abuse case in a pre-school California in the early 80’s, my mother was terrified of all the horrible ways my sisters and I could be kidnapped, killed, and molested (though not necessarily in that order). So she decided she ought to bring up “bad touching” pronto. But before she could address “bad touching,” she thought it only right to tell us kids – we were five and six at the time – about how good touching worked. So she sat us down on our family room couch one evening, gave us the basics, fielded a couple follow up questions, and without any pomp or circumstance, we had had “the talk.”
Why Do Some Rabbis Claim To Know The Reason For Suffering?
Dear Jew in the City,A terrible tragedy befell the Jewish people this week when seven innocent children were killed in a fire in Brooklyn. As we mourn and attempt to comfort each other through this great sorrow I have heard that there are rabbis who claim to “know” the reason these precious souls were taken from us. From time to time you’ll hear that a rabbi or leader in the Jewish community publicly assigns blame to certain groups or actions after a tragedy occurs. Is this an appropriate way to think and talk in terms of Torah philosophy?-Troubled
Dear Troubled-Thanks for your question. I too am troubled by the people who claim to know the workings of God (as are the several rabbis and rebbetzins I consulted with about this topic), especially since prophecy ended two thousand years ago.
There is an example from Tanach (the Jewish Bible) of people who claim to know why suffering occurs: In the book of Job, when Job loses his family, his property and becomes sick, his friends come over to tell him he is to blame.
When Do You Mention Shabbos Observance in A Job Interview?
Dear Jew in the City,When during an interview/hiring process should you bring up keeping Shabbos/Jewish holiday absence questions? At the time of offer? At the initial interview? What would a good response be to the question, “Are you available nights and weekends if we need you to come in?” Wondering how people handle this.– J
Dear J,Your question couldn’t be more timely as the U.S. Supreme Court just heard a case a couple weeks ago directly on this topic. Unfortunately, if the case comes out the wrong way, religious job applicants will be put in an incredibly difficult position with no good options, and the door to discrimination against religious job applicants—and in particular observant Jews—could be flung wide open.
But before I get to the legal issue, I’m going to first address your questions from a practical perspective…
