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Archive: Chutzpah Chronicles
I Believe in Israeli Culture
I love being able to stay connected to Israeli culture via my iPod as I work out at the gym, walk around campus, and go about my very American life.
By Shari Rabin | February 15, 2009; 04:11 PM ET | Comments (1)
On Israel in Gaza
It is popular to sympathize with Palestinians as the underdogs and to see Israel as the big bad wolf, but Israel truly does want peace, and the villain in this story is Hamas.
By Shari Rabin | January 7, 2009; 01:36 PM ET | Comments (14)
My Vote for Barack Obamawitz
I had a Hebrew Obama button on my school bag all semester and for Halloween even stuck it on a dress and called myself Michelle Obamawitz, the Jewish version of the first lady to be.
By Shari Rabin | November 12, 2008; 05:26 PM ET | Comments (0)
Friday Night Surprise
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist is a surprising appearance of Judaism in American Cinema. Although the references may be subtle, Jewish viewers find the main characters easy to relate to.
By Shari Rabin | October 12, 2008; 11:22 PM ET | Comments (1)
In Between
Last weekend I stayed with a Catholic friend in the tiny town of Watertown, Wisconsin. On Sunday her parents took us and two friends out to their favorite Italian restaurant, a place with butter-drenched garlic bread and huge portions of...
By Shari Rabin | August 15, 2008; 01:17 PM ET | Comments (1)
My Pilgrimage to Milwaukee
Recently I went on a pilgrimage. No, I am not talking about my trip to Israel in May. I didn't explore the origins of my people or visit the great sites in our history. I went to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the location of my birth and the first thirteen years of my life.
By Shari Rabin | August 15, 2008; 01:15 PM ET | Comments (14)
Interfaith Family Lessons
I am still convinced that marrying another Jew is the best thing for Jewish people, but I have learned to be a little less pessimistic about interfaith families.
By Shari Rabin | June 25, 2008; 06:17 PM ET | Comments (15)
In Between in Israel
I am a young American who spends quite a bit of time in Israel, has family here, speaks Hebrew. When am I coming for good? I love being in Israel and I would never rule out the immigration completely, but for now, living in Israel is not right for me.
By Shari Rabin | May 29, 2008; 04:17 AM ET | Comments (3)
Spicing up the Relationship
My relationship with God has been sort of distant lately.
By Shari Rabin | May 12, 2008; 11:54 AM ET | Comments (4)
Easy in U.S. to Pass Over the Rules
On the Jewish Sabbath, the Jewish Studies library was hopping, abuzz with Jews breaking rules against writing and working on Saturday.
By Shari Rabin | April 22, 2008; 08:17 PM ET | Comments (4)
Intermarriage as a Jew
Intermarriage, the constant source of fear and anxiety for committed American Jews, has the ability to rear its ugly head even during a seemingly innocent movie night.
By Shari Rabin | April 6, 2008; 11:25 PM ET | Comments (5)
Secret Handshakes
This is the thing about living a modern Jewish life. We are so well assimilated that we often can’t discern each other’s Jewishness; but the paradox that keeps us going as a people is that we want to.
By Shari Rabin | March 20, 2008; 03:39 PM ET | Comments (1)
Jews and Geography, or "No, I'm Not From New York"
Yes there is Jewish life elsewhere, and vibrant Jewish life at that.
By Shari Rabin | March 2, 2008; 09:47 PM ET | Comments (1)
Identity Crisis
This week the Pew Forum came out with a study of the American religious landscape. As soon as I saw an article about the study, I eagerly read it and then went to check it out first hand. While there...
By Shari Rabin | February 27, 2008; 10:38 AM ET | Comments (3)
Missionaries: I'll Pass, Thanks.
It's not news that Christians would really like it if we Jews would embrace Jesus. It's part of their religion, and we shouldn't expect them to change their prayers so that we will feel more comfortable.
By Shari Rabin | February 9, 2008; 05:38 PM ET | Comments (20)
Good for the Jews
Each of us voted with concern for what would be “good for the Jews,” and yet we voted for three different candidates.
By Shari Rabin | February 6, 2008; 02:50 PM ET | Comments (0)
Hijabs in the Dressing Room
Entering the dressing room of a Turkish bath in Istanbul this past August, I was interested to see dignified hijab-wearing ladies unveiling in preparation for their baths. It had seemed to me that the scarves were permanently affixed to these...
By Shari Rabin | January 30, 2008; 10:59 PM ET | Comments (5)
Lessons from Time Travel
I have a particular affinity for time travel movies. And I don’t mean the ones where adventurers go 10,000 years into the future or back to the time of the dinosaurs.
By Shari Rabin | January 21, 2008; 05:54 PM ET | Comments (1)
Mega-Shul?
I've been to the megachurch. What ever happened to mega-synagogues?
By Shari Rabin | January 14, 2008; 03:36 PM ET | Comments (5)
My Jewish Identity
Jewish identity depends and will continue to depend on maintaining ties to other Jews.
By Shari Rabin | January 10, 2008; 01:17 PM ET | Comments (2)
Home Sweet Synagogue
I haven’t spent a lot of time at home since I went away to college. One week here, a few days there; I never stay for too long. I don’t have any high school friends left here, and so being...
By Shari Rabin | January 5, 2008; 11:24 PM ET | Comments (0)
Christmas, but not Christ
The next movie on my Netflix queue is “White Christmas,” which I have seen at least twenty or thirty times since I was a toddler. My mom and I went in together on “The Christmas Album” a couple of years...
By Shari Rabin | December 23, 2007; 01:07 PM ET | Comments (2)
The Redemption of Chanukah
Christmas is possibly the best advertisement that Chanukah has ever had.
By Shari Rabin | December 11, 2007; 06:07 PM ET | Comments (29)
The First Night!
Happy Chanukah! And much thanks to MIT's Jewish fraternity, AEPi, for letting me light the menorah they made out of Natural Light beer cans! Very innovative, boys....
By Shari Rabin | December 5, 2007; 12:43 AM ET | Comments (0)
Old-School Dating
Orthodox dating in general is the minimal amount of heartbreak and drama involved. There is no rushed intimacy or elevation of the physical within the relationship.
By Shari Rabin | December 3, 2007; 11:30 PM ET | Comments (1)
Kosher on Campus
For me, keeping kosher means an opportunity for a closer relationship with God and with other Jews.
By Shari Rabin | November 27, 2007; 08:59 PM ET | Comments (8)
America's Annual Shabbat
Just like many religious Jews on Shabbat, we Americans don’t even consider not celebrating Thanksgiving; it’s just what we do.
By Shari Rabin | November 20, 2007; 10:26 AM ET | Comments (1)
Praying for Rain, not Reign
My governor, Sonny Purdue of Georgia, led a prayer service at the state capital on Tuesday to ask God for rain to relieve the current drought. It sounds like a modern-day rain dance to me. Was it appropriate to pray...
By Shari Rabin | November 14, 2007; 09:36 AM ET | Comments (17)
Shabbat Unplugged
My watch broke and my laptop refuses to let me move the cursor. I cannot charge my iPod. I am rendered naked of some of my beloved gadgets.
By Shari Rabin | November 7, 2007; 03:28 PM ET | Comments (10)
Mensches in the Middle East
It was announced this week that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has prostate cancer. During the day, YNet News ran an article on Olmert's illness that I found particularly moving. It was headlined "World Leaders Reach Out to Olmert" and...
By Shari Rabin | October 29, 2007; 10:16 PM ET | Comments (13)
Agreeing to Disagree as Jews
Whether we’re arguing about the existence of God in an office at Harvard or the use of Hebrew in a seedy club, we’re doing it as Jews
By Shari Rabin | October 26, 2007; 12:24 AM ET | Comments (2)
The Gospel According to Red Sox Nation
I can relate to the recent post on Lox et Veritas about how sports is a religion for many people. I say this because I can see Fenway Park from my dorm room, and as I sit typing, there are...
By Shari Rabin | October 22, 2007; 12:10 AM ET | Comments (2)
My Jewish Literacy Saga
If you need any proof that the study of other religions actually deepens one’s own religious feelings, here it is.
By Shari Rabin | October 16, 2007; 10:27 PM ET | Comments (8)
We Like to Party - Jewish style
Last Thursday I spent the night drinking, dancing and partying. But I was not at a fraternity house or a seedy bar. I was at Boston University’s Hillel House. Simchat Torah has got to be one of the top three...
By Shari Rabin | October 10, 2007; 11:28 AM ET | Comments (6)
"Kavannah" My House of Worship
The Campus Catholic’s posting a few weeks ago about the lameness of church sounded familiar, but in American Judaism the lameness lies not in the message being delivered, but in the prayer itself. In synagogues across America, Jews sit in...
By Shari Rabin | October 3, 2007; 11:47 PM ET | Comments (1)
Speaking of God
When I hear people casually mention "the Holy Spirit," I smile. When someone around me says "Insh'allah" (god willing in Arabic), I get happy. I love it when Jews say "Baruch Hashem" (God bless in Hebrew). The people who say...
By Shari Rabin | October 1, 2007; 02:00 PM ET | Comments (10)
A Post-Yom Kippur Confession
I have a confession to make. This year, during the month leading up to the High Holidays and even during the ten days of awe between Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Repentance), I...
By Shari Rabin | September 24, 2007; 08:10 AM ET | Comments (24)
Madonna: Friend to Israel or Poser?
“Madonna tells Peres she is ‘in love with Israel.’” The other day I came across this headline on the English language website of “Yediot Ahronot,” a popular Israeli newspaper. At first glance, it appeared to be reporting that the international...
By Shari Rabin | September 19, 2007; 06:29 PM ET | Comments (8)
Conundrum in the Best Sellers List
While sharing my usual cup of coffee and Sunday paper with friends this week, I couldn’t help but notice the Nonfiction Best Sellers in the New York Times Book Review. There at number five, under four memoirs, was It’s All...
By Shari Rabin | September 16, 2007; 02:44 PM ET | Comments (84)
My Field Trip to Church
I went to church to figure out what exactly the majority of the country was doing on Sunday mornings.
By Shari Rabin | September 12, 2007; 08:16 AM ET | Comments (22)
