Thank you!

I don’t want to go into too much detail, because it’s been a massive Schlamassel lately, but it’s taken me close to a year to develop feelings for a Goya which I have been carefully observing. Among other things, I do feel guilty for „going too far“, but, to me, the pros outweigh cons (the feelings of guilt), because I’m mostly scared of the consequences. I now wonder how I can tell my family and I fear their reaction. I wouldn’t tell them if I didn’t mean to pursue a relationship with this woman. What reaction can I expect? Does anyone have a similar experience?

My oldest is in 3rd grade and is an avid reader, which generally I'm happy with, but it does come with its own challenges. When he was younger, it was easy to flip through the short books quickly to make sure that they were appropriate, but I don't have the time to sit down and pre-read every novel he wants to read when he can easily go through 3-5 in a week.

I do use common sense media to look up books as best I can, but they don't have everything. I was hoping to get some input and suggestions on series that other people and their children have enjoyed.

For reference, my wife and I are Baalei Teshuva. We live in an out of town community, and identify as center to left wing Yeshivish. My primary concerns in books are romantic relationships, bad language, and modern identity politics.

Things he likes so far: (In no particular order)

• A Series of Unfortunate Events
• Dragon Masters
• The Ranger's Apprentice
• Animorphs
• Five Kingdoms
• Magic Tree House
• Spiderwick Chronicles
• I Survived
• Kwame's Magic Quest
• Zoe & Sassafrass

He's seems mostly into fantasy and some science fiction. He really doesn't like mystery as a genre. I'm trying to think of more classic series that I can direct him towards. I'm wondering what people's thoughts are one The Chronicles of Narnia? I know the books are full of xtian allegory, but to the best of my knowledge, none of that is explicit. If anyone knows more about Redwall, that would also be helpful.

Thanks so much!

Every time I see videos of a bunch of Orthodox folks it's Orthodox men (partying, dancing , parading the Torah, singing, learning, hanging out with each other).

Is this just a matter of selection bias where videos of women are not posted and stuff is separated? For every party (for example Sabbath day, Purim) with a bunch of guys, are the women having fun too? (I know that kids can be part of it).

Just curious (in good faith) about the experience of women as the men seem to be having so much fun.....

Shavua Tov! <3

TLDR is I knocked up and then got a civil wedding with my non practicing Orthodox girlfriend. On the same day that my now wife told me she was pregnant, she also told me that she was converting to Catholicism (I was a lapsed Catholic until very recently) and keeping the baby no matter what I decided to do. (If you want more details, I have posted about that situation on this sub reddit before).

I get along well with all of my wife's immediate family (with the exception of her dad). I asked my Brother in Law (we get along great he is an IDF vet and I was in the US Army durring GWOT) if gift giving for Hanukkah was a thing in their family. He said yes as long as they are practical, meaningful and heartfelt.

I want the gifts to be a suprise, don't want to bug my in laws and my wife has "converts zelotry" (something that is apparently really common with Catholic converts) and will very very very rarley answer any questions that I have about Judaism.

What types of gifts should I get for my mother in law, sister in law, brothers in law and my wife's father? I dont want to give the same types of gifts that i am used to giving for Christmas. Is making a donation to a charity in their name appropriate? What are typical types of Hanukkah gifts that are usually given? Please help me come up with ideas, I really want to do something nice for my wife's family

I am Dati Leumi, which is, as far as I'm concerned, considered a branch of Orthodox Judaism (that is, not Reform or Conservative). There is a difference between "charedi" (ultra-Orthodox) and "orthodox" terms in Hebrew. Is it so in English? If I'm talking, say, with another Jew who is a native English speaker, and tell them I'm an Orthodox Jew (as in "not Reform or Conservative"), will I be understood properly, or will they think that I am a charedi and it will cause some confusion? Because I might not follow the exact traditions that chasiddim or Litvaks or other charedi movements follow, and I could falsely portray these movements in the eyes of a person I'm talking to — which I don't want. I hope I explained it well enough and not too weird, thanks in advance to anyone who answers, and have a blessed chodesh Elul.🙏🏻💙

I was on my way home from work one night and was taking the bus home I missed my stop so I could take the train the rest of the way and ended up in a Jewish neighborhood (I am a mid 20’s black man btw) I sat on the curb of the bus to and waited for my Uber to arrive. When it did there happened to what I think was teenage boy walking across the street. I stood up walking over to my cab and he began to run away constantly looking over his shoulder at me. He was scared of me and I did nothing to him, mind you he was also 50 Ft away from me at least. Why was he so scared of me? I like to think that I am a good person, and never want to scare someone for just being present. This also happened another time when a man’s coat belt was dragging on the ground around the same area months apart, he looked scared that spoke to him before he even turned around. I am very confused and want to know where I went wrong.

TLDR; why are so many of you scared of other ethnicities, I genuinely wish to understand so I don’t come off as someone to be feared.

Shalom u’vracha,

I come from a family that has Anusim ancestry, and I’ve been learning about Judaism and striving to live according to Torah and mitzvot as best as I can.

At this stage, I’m only trying to gather information and understand the halachic background of these topics. I will only be in a position to begin any formal process in about two years, so this post is purely for learning purposes.

I’ve read about Giyur le’chumra and how it sometimes applies to those with possible Jewish descent who wish to clarify their status, but I’m still trying to understand the concept properly within a Modern Orthodox and Sephardic framework.

I’m also interested in how nusach works within Modern Orthodox communities — especially how someone with Sephardic roots might identify or align with a particular nusach or minhag.

Could anyone please share: • Reliable sources or books on the topic of Anusim and Giyur le’chumra. • How nusach and minhagim are generally approached within Modern Orthodox communities. • Suggestions for what kind of study or preparation might be meaningful in the meantime.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. My goal is to understand everything correctly and approach it with humility and sincerity.

Tizku l’mitzvot.

Are there any Breslov communities/shuls in Australia? Been surfing the web and I can't find any

Using completely made up names here...

If someone's full/legal/secular name is, say, Daniel Benjamin [Surname] and their father is David Refael [Surname]... would their Hebrew name be:

• Daniel ben David
• Daniel Binyamin ben David
• Daniel Binyamin ben David Refael

I see sometimes "middle names" are included and other times they are not and have never fully understood this. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

Hello everyone. I hope this is appropriate to ask here.

As a non-religious person I had a question about the specifics of serving kosher wine, specifically Not Mevushal wine.

I understand the broad principles behind the Mevushal / Not Mevushal designations.

Am I right in my assumption that the bottle (while double sealed with the capsule and cork) can be transported and handled by a gentile - from shipping to transport to storage to holding the bottle itself - without violating the kosher status?

It’s only when opening and pouring (and of course consuming) the wine that has to be handled only by an Observant Jew, correct?

Thanks for any insight you can give me! All the best.

Hello! I am curious about the bible study habits of Orthodox folks and have a few questions for you:

1. Do you read through the Torah each year?
2. Do you also read through the Nevi'im and the Ketuvim each year?
3. Do you follow some standard Torah portion? Or use any Torah portions? Or do you cut them up and read commentary in a different way....
4. Are you reading it in Hebrew only?
   1. If so, is Hebrew your native language or you can read/understand Hebrew as a native language if it's not your first? Or do you read it also in your native language.....
5. Are you also reading the sages in some sort of standard way alongside it? Or are you reading it by itself...
6. Is there Halakhah on how/when/who/where you read?
   1. ie. Do Orthodox women do this too?
   2. ie. read it only in certain locations/times of day with certain methods
7. Do you get personal insights that positively affect your life? Or are you looking to the sages for insight only....if the former, do you write them down in a journal or something? or talk to others about them?

Thanks much to any Orthodox Jews who are willing/able to answer any of the above <3 I woke up this morning thinking about this....

We are a charitable Jewish senior center and we like producing social media videos that highlight the center. All of our content comes together with music.

During these few weeks of Tammuz, leadership does not want to incorporate instruments in our content. Acapella is totally acceptable. But lots of our content has a narrator we want the audience to listen to. I'm finding lots of Jewish Acapella and chabad music has vocalized lyrics in the acapela songs and it's distracting to the viewer to try and focus on the spoken narration while the background music has audible lyrics too.

Anyone have any good tracks we can borrow for short clips that have Jewish Acapella but no lyrics amongst the audio track?

Many thanks for the suggestions

Hey everyone! I'm a conversion student and have been trying hard to take on tzniut. I'm very keen to get a shabbos robe since it seems super convenient and comfy to have one to throw on.

It seems that most dresses that work as a shabbos robe are not actually called shabbos robes so I'm struggling to find one.

Also, I live in a small-ish Jewish community in regional Australia so I'm trying to find online options in lieu of a brick and mortar tzniut friendly store.

Thanks!

Can a ger choose more than one Hebrew name after converting, or is there a limit?

Thanks!

My dads side is Jewish but my dad wasn’t really around often because he worked, so i didn’t receive a Jewish education. My moms side isn’t Jewish. I read this essentially means I’m zera Israel and basically just half Jewish. I intend on making a full conversion but i read that chabad doesn’t do conversions? Is that true? In that case would i have to find a different temple?

I was raised very secular but have been learning more recently about the religion just out of curiosity and the whole prayer thing boggles my mind.

Firstly, for people who do all the prayers every day learn it all? Ik this is a stupid question since you of course do do it every single day, and when I think about the amount of song lyrics I have memorised it probably adds up to quite a lot too, but from my non-religious pov, it actually seems a superpower. idk, it just baffles me (in a 'wow' way).

Secondly, how do you keep track of what elements go into the prayer on different days/occasions? Because from what l've seen about prayers in general, not just daily ones, but the meal-related ones and other ones said in shul etc, just all of them, is that they're made up of so many little ordered components that fluctuate so frequently, and sometimes in such small details, depending on so many other factors (sorry if i'm making no sense, i told you i was secular😭 but please say you know what I’m talking about😔). like is it just all there in your heads? do you have some kind of calendar? do you ever forget and have to look it up?

Also, how old do kids start saying all these prayers? Like obviously once they reach bar(/bat?) mitzvah age they’re obligated to, but I imagine they must start sooner? But at the same time, they’re obviously not doing all this at the age of 3? So like, how does a child build up from being an illiterate 3-year-old to being ready for all of it, seeing as they’re still so pretty one at the stage where it becomes their duty. AND especially if Hebrew isn’t their native language? Obviously they usually go to Jewish schools, so I’m assuming they have help there, but I’m still so confused how they learn it all? do they just learn a bit more each year😭? maybe it’s all just easier than it sounds??😭😭

Also, Orthodox Jews (of course not all) really go to shul services THREE times a day? I just can’t wrap my head around how that could be possible? And also, shul or not, do the prayers fit in quickly and seemly to your day, or does it take up a lot of time?

Also, related to the shul question, how much of an obligation is it for men to pray with a minyan? Because it can’t be an absolute obligation, because 1. how on earth would that be realistic and 2. men pray alone all the time? So my question is how necessary is it (like from a scale from dressing up on Purim to keeping kosher)? and how do men who don’t go to all 3 per day decide when / when not to? will some commit to only regularly doing, for example, only shacharit with a minyan, and have their own tailored prayer plan like that?

Also, how long is the time span that each of the daily prayers must be done within? Is it hard to schedule around them or not? especially since they change around?

I think I’m done. Sorry for bombarding everyone trying to enjoy themselves on reddit and in life generally, but I just have so much awe for how people towards the other end of the religious scale live.

Sorry if I got stuff wrong or made any generalisations, I’m coming from a place of nothing but love!

Thanks for reading all this if you have !!

My girlfriend and I have been invited to a wedding, it is an orthodox Jewish wedding and neither myself nor my girlfriend are Jewish. We are wondering what we should bring as a wedding gift. Any help would be really appreciated. (UK)

Hello all, nice to meet you! I am currently in mortuary school and learning about jewish funeral rites, and it's enchanting! I do have a question however, what happens if Chevra Kadisha isn't performed? What does that mean for the person? Thank you!

anyone know of any group chats ? i’d honestly just like to talk to other people who understand and maybe share parashat opinions, questions, etc

We’re not supposed to do laundry during the Nine Days, right? My house goes nuts if I don’t do laundry for more than 3 days. If you have kids, how are you getting away with not doing laundry?

Edit: learned that laundry ban doesn’t apply to kids. Thanks all! I’m a BT so I learn new things all the time

curious . neither of my sisters or cousins are dating jews

I know NYC is the best place for orthodox/modox jewish singles but I hate the cold weather. Between LA and Miami which is better for an orthodox scene (I work remotely, so moving is not an issue)?

By better I mean there are singles shabbats meals, or better yet a potluck meal culture like in UWS/UES, singles events, young shuls, etc.

I'm 22 so not interested in the 30s-40s age range. Also don't fit in with the kiruv crowd, mainly just orthodox or modern orthodox/kipa sruga.

I was in Pico Robertson for a bit and feel like it was an older crowd (ppl in their 30s maybe late 20s) and all the singles events, programs, and general culture seem more centered around conservative and secular Jews (the closer in age they were to me the more secular), nothing I saw was designed for religious Jews. So I am wondering if nowadays, there is a neighborhood in Miami that would be better than pico robertson? If they are bout the same I guess I'd prefer Miami, and if it's significantly worst I will stick with LA.

My best friend completed conversion this year after many years of discernment and is now getting married in a few short weeks. BH! Obviously I'm going to the wedding. He's like a brother to me and before he entered the later phases of conversion, we lived together for many years, including with my family. I grew up next to one of the most Hasidic places on earth, and have Jewish ancestry, so I'm pretty up to date on general customs/rules. But I've never been to a modern orthodox wedding before!

Obviously I'll dress tznius, as I normally do when I visit the shul or attend a kiddush or shabbos dinner. I know to not touch anyone just in case, no dancing or singing, avoid people when they're eating (I've had too many instances of accidently trying to talk to someone in-between blessings and washing hands), and generally just avoid bringing attention to myself.

Is there anything I should know specifically for a wedding? It should be a low-key affair, but as his only attending 'family' I want to make them loved. Is there a certain type of gift that would be appropriate from a sister/family member rather than just a friend? Is there anything that the groom's family does that I can see if it's possible to replicate?

Since I'm here....an aside.... I really dislike being used as a shabbos goy. I'm not religious and never will be, but generally when I attend our community's shul events, I'm a guest and would like to be treated as such. Anyway I can get that across? I'm afraid that since I did it a few times now I'm stuck in the 'Oh don't worry, peach is here' limbo of checking lights and turning on the hot plate.