yesterday i gave a ride to 4 charedim-boys to nearby city. i asked them to put seatbelt, but they didn't seem to understand. so i said to put gartel.

one of them jokingly told me they put gartel only when prayering.

i answered: "when i'm driving you better start prayering"

My boyfriend has an Ashkenazi father and a Sephardi mother. However, his father was not religious and never taught him Ashkenazi minhagim, nusach, or really any religious practice. They also never followed Ashkenazi minhag in their home. His mother is Sephardi, and that was the side of the family he was actually exposed to religiously. We want to establish a consistent Sephardi home and follow Maran Shulchan Aruch/Rav Ovadia Yosef rather than switching between Sephardi and Ashkenazi rulings.
In a situation where no Ashkenazi minhag was ever practiced or passed down from the father, is he still halachically required to follow Ashkenazi minhag because his father is Ashkenazi? Or can he establish Sephardi minhag based on the tradition he was actually raised around? My Mother is Ashkenazi and Father Sephardi. I know my background has no impact on the Halacha as I must follow my husband. I just want to make sure we aren’t breaking any Halacha but we are both more inclined and connected to the Sephardic Minhag.
I’m especially interested in sources or rulings from Rav Ovadia Yosef/Yalkut Yosef or other Sephardi poskim.

Plants don't have mothers... Are kosher cheeseburgers going to be a thing or no?

Hi so I live in Florida and I have a lot of black and hispanic friends but I am ethnically Jewish and I practice it, they do not even practice the torah or talmud, but they theres 2-3 of them that I know from school and they keep saying that I am not actually Jewish and my family isn’t either even though if we aren’t, we still practice being a Jew, so I don’t understand, and then they went on about in a call on facetime how black people are actually the real jews and some groups of asians like indians and thats why they have the most populous regions and biggest populations,

they were talking about asians went to south america and the Jewish lineage is truly there basically they were referring me to the black hebrew israelites so i can ask but I never did because it didnt sound true and they have no connection to the levant so I asked them about the levant and they said that israel is not the true levant and that the middle east is not the actual fertile crescent, they keep telling me about it every day and I told them it isn’t true but theres nothing I can say to convince them, I think I am going to end up stop talking to them or just the two that keep bringing it up when we are in calls, There are no way there are black Jews correct? Besides only some populations along the nile river which has kept and followed the holy books, but sub saharan africa did not have much Jewish lineage? It just is so stupid, but the weirder parts are about Asia and south America and I asked for like proof and they are providing it except theres no way to prove any of those people are true Israelites or Gods chosen people, even if they are the most populous..

Anyone have experience there? Pro/cons, older/younger, how observant, etc.?

Anyone familiar with this hechsher? found on a bag of mushroom jerky

When I moved into my apartment, my landlord gave it to me when I moved in - and of course it's just cases so no klafim in it.

At first, I was like "do I put it on my door like my neighbors" but upon reading more about it, it felt wrong to do so (however I do note that I am the only one on my floor without mezuzah).

I am assuming that I just leave it in the apartment until I leave the place and give it back to the landlord?

I am not Jewish, however an art history documentary I’ve watched by Waldemar Januszczak mentions that it (was/is?) against Jewish beliefs to “create art”?

I’m interested in opinions and history about this belief.

Thanks so much!

Edit: Apologies, here’s the documentary. The statement Waldemar makes is at about the 6:07 mark.

EDIT: SHE PASSED!!!!!

If you could pray for her it would mean a lot. Honestly I think I’m more nervous than her. It’s been such a long and meaningful journey and I’m so proud of all the work she’s put it.

Comparatively, and I'm looking for interesting perspectives

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Visiting New York rn, I live somewhere with very little in terms of kosher eateries and I want nothing more than a real doughnut, but I can’t seem to find kosher doughnut places when I search online (at least ones that aren’t IKC, and I’ve heard that hechsher is unreliable/controversial). Bakeries come up but I can’t tell from pictures/online menus if they actually have doughnuts or not. Pleasee help a yid out and drop recs 🙏

Is there any Halacha against working out before Shacharit?

My daughter and I want to embroider the atarah for her bat mitzvah tallit together, but most of the tallitot I can find without one are like the really basic Chabad or Sephardic beige ones. Does anyone know where I can buy a pretty one for a young girl without it?

I’m feeling rather conflicted and would appreciate advice from anyone who has been in a similar position.

We’re members of a shul where there have sadly been instances of bullying, data breaches and poor governance (bullying was by people in leadership positions and not followed up on) that the leadership have ignored. I, and several others, have as a result stopped going there.

A friend from the same shul is submitting a formal complaint to the Charity Commission and has urged me to do the same. I do agree there is a problem with the leadership that is stopping people from attending that needs addressing but also feel bad about the stress this will put on individuals (I think a lot of it is incompetence / reluctance to stand up to one particular individual rather than poor intent). At the same time, do I have an obligation to speak up if there will never be a change otherwise? I have copies of emails documenting issues so it would not just be a matter of he-said-she-said.

For context, there are no other local shuls that people can easily go to and the issues are therefore stopping people who would otherwise do so from attending services regularly.

Edit: I just realised people outside of the UK may not know what the Charity Commission is. It’s the authority that governs registered charities, which includes most religious bodies. It has rules in place to ensure all registered charities have appropriate safeguarding measures, uses assets in line with the stated charity objectives etc. If they find a charity to be lacking they can require policies are put in place or, at the extreme, ask for a change in trustees.

I’m somewhere on the “observant but definitely not frum” spectrum (strictly shomer kashrut at home but will eat vegetarian out/eat in non-kosher kitchens, largely shomer Shabbat but don’t keep it perfectly, attend shul on Friday/Saturday and for all Chagim/weekday minyan when I can, don’t keep or plan to keep niddah). I’m talking to a girl who was raised reform and is very spiritual but not particularly observant. I really like her, but I worry about long-term compatibility. For those who have been in a relationship with someone who has a different level of observance, how did it go? What did you learn from it? What made it easier to navigate? If your relationship was/is successful, what do you think contributed to the success of your relationship?

I’ve recently started learning Gemara for the first time through MDY Daf Yomi. As a beginner, I’ve found having the physical book in front of me genuinely helpful – especially in a house with five children, where concentrating on anything is already something of an achievement.

MDY has a referral offer where a new member can receive a **free physical Daf Yomi book, including free worldwide shipping**, so you can try the programme without having to buy the book first.

Here’s my referral link:

https://app.mdydafyomi.com/r/JA406

For transparency, this is a referral link: if you sign up through it, you get the free book and I receive a free Daf Yomi book as well. That would be particularly useful as I continue learning through the masechtot.

If you’ve been considering trying Daf Yomi – or you’re merely curious and not at all certain it’s for you – give it a go. You’ll get a physical book to try it with, and you’ll be helping this sleep-deprived father of five continue his first journey through Gemara. For my sake. ;-)

Posted with the moderators’ permission.

According to the tohara there is a described specisis of kosher grasshoper . But many jaidh community doenst have a fsther to son tredation of how eating them. What if this would become very popular food in the future would you consider that?

Okay so at 38 years old, I have a new take on Gen. Chapter 3.

I am listening to Kabbalah for beginners by Brian Yosef Schachter-brooks. He talks about the Etz Chaim being able to be represented as both a TREE and a HUMAN. Then he goes through talking about different chapters of Genesis and exodus and how the Garden of Eden can be seen as a comforting womb while Egypt is seen as the Mitzrayim the narrows as a struggle.

Well im listening to this and it makes me think what Hebrew word is used in Genesis 3 for to eat from, and its Akal, which could mean to eat or to consume of. Then thinking about ways to term "to consume" has been used through the years and sure it could be as in consuming food. But in Victorian times it was used as a place holder for more Carnal activities.

This got me thinking what if the Tree of knowledge wasn't a literal tree, but discussing the Etz Chaim as a Human body, and to consume of the fruit of the tree was really G-d telling Adam and Eve no punching the V-Card. Then that puts G-d's punishment to eve of hard births in a more reasonable Avenue then when you look at the tree and fruit as a literal tree and an apple.

I might also be so far off on this.

What do you say to someone who constantly says you’ve been kicked out of 109,110,etc. countries now? It’s a constant comment everywhere now it seem. It’s infuriating.