chronicles of an Orthodox Jew in the modern world
I wrote this post in honour of International Holocaust Remembrance Day (January 27, 2020) in memory of Zvi's grandparents and as a tribute to the courage of every survivor to start over and rebuild our nation. This post was published on The Times of Israel.My husband’s grandfather was a Holocaust survivor. He was liberated from [...]
It’s been six months since our move to Israel, and obviously things got interesting in the last couple of months. Israel took a pretty strong stance on handling Corona, but it seems that most places around the world have since caught up and we are now all in the same boat. Over here, it’s currently [...]
Israel is taking drastic measures to combat Coronavirus. In a nutshell: Ban on gatherings of over 10 people. All schools, malls, gyms, and restaurants are closed. Workplaces are opting to work from home. And quarantined corona patients are being tracked by some device that we all knew Israel already had. Violators may face prison. It’s eerie enough as [...]
From the moment I covered my hair, I didn’t connect with it. I would look in the mirror with my wig on and couldn’t relate to myself. So I opted for hats. But with hats, I always felt hidden. Like it was a barrier between me and the rest of the world. I agonized for [...]
In 2016, I was sitting in my masters class eagerly awaiting a guest speaker that had come in to discuss Canada’s approach to foreign policy. Around that time, Canadians had swung their long-standing Conservative Harper votes to the Liberal Trudeau government. As I sat among my peers of fellow future policy advisors in what is [...]
Zvi and I love to travel. We’ve been to over a dozen countries and have never let being Orthodox stop us. Here are some tried and true tips based on our adventures. Tip #1: Find the nearest Chabad and enjoy the delicious meals they have to offer. Just try not to think about the fact [...]
I’ve been thinking a lot about names lately. Anyone who’s seen me recently can probably guess why. For the rest of you, I’m carrying around a big belly and it’s getting close! So as we’ve been entertaining names, these have been our considerations: Do we give our child a Jewish, but easy-to-pronounce, name? A Jewish, [...]
After running like a maniac I finally made it on the train at 3:20pm. I left 20 minutes after I was supposed to leave. And, as you know, on a Friday, every minute counts... I had sat in the meeting like a cool cucumber 'casually' checking my phone: 3:03 3:05 3:09. Okay that’s it. I [...]
1. September is the time of year I discover all the other Yids My organization has about 64,000 employees. I’m pretty certain I know all five orthodox Jews. So when Rosh Hashannah comes around, all the other yids (secular or otherwise) join in taking time off to celebrate the High Holidays. And I get very excited. [...]
If you're orthodox like me, I can guarantee, you've already pulled out your handy dandy Jewish calendar to the months of September/October and made the grim calculation of how many vacation days you will have left once the holiday season passes. By now you've likely also drafted that awkward email to your boss outlining the [...]
