Among the most ridiculous things I see in Orthodox shuls are the fights over the right to various honors such as aliyot (call to the Torah), davening for the congregation, or reciting the Torah or Haftorah portion. I see rabbis who talk about leaving a shul because they’re not given the right ...

I love the writing Lilit Marcus, who’s revived Jewcy.com. She comments: "I know that a large part of the reason I am so insecure about my religious identity is because of men I’ve dated and their judgments on my Jewishness. When I was dating a modern Orthodox guy, he considered me &...

Here’s the second part of my interview with author Solomon Schimmel. Listen to the interview here. Read reviews of the book "The Tenacity of Unreasonable Beliefs: Fundamentalism and the Fear of Truth" here. Solomon: "To the extent that I am ethical and moral, I don’t want ...

That was the subject header for a mass email sent out Thursday afternoon by Bnai David-Judea rabbi Yosef Kanefsky: While historians will continue to debate that question (or not), there’s one thing we can know for sure. By taking the whole second half of December as a religious holiday, our Ch...

Joe emails: The infighting among Orthodox shuls in L.A. is really an embarrassment. Young Israel of North Beverly Hills is a total train wreck and a textbook example of what happens when ego is mixed with money and control issues. Shaarey Zedek in the Valley is splintering faster than a corked bat, ...

During the third meal of the Sabbath (when the sun is going down Saturday evening), traditional Jews sing the 23rd Psalm in Hebrew (along with Yedid Nefesh and the Grace After Meals). Now picture an Orthodox shul where everyone’s enjoying their meal and their conversation. The rabbis starts th...

Pico/Robertson is home to three big Modern Orthodox shuls — Young Israel of Century City (YICC), Beth Jacob (BJ) and Bnai David Judea (BDJ). An Orthodox friend calls: "Who is the number one shul in Los Angeles for technical adherence in chumrot in davening and Torah reading etc? I think i...

Donny emails: Hi Luke! I am an Orthodox convert. I was never involved with Jesus and Christianity. It’s only after converting that I started appreciating what he had to say to the Jews of his time. Based on what I read in Luke 1:68-75, i cannot believe tha he was Messiah (even less the third p...

The National Council of Synagogue Youth (NCSY) held a Purim party Thursday night at an Orthodox shul in Pico/Robertson. There were four security guards on hand and they couldn’t keep the kids under control. They were racing around the shul opening doors (to let in their friends who weren’...