JEWISH

As Jews (and a fair number of non-Jews) around the world are well aware, Yom Kippur began on Sunday evening, September 27, at sunset. The Day of Atonement, as it is also known, lasts more than twenty-five hours and is traditionally marked by fasting, prayer, asking for forgiveness and repenting. It is the culmination of the Days of Awe, which begin with the two-day Rosh Hashanah or new year celebration (occurring in 2009 from September 18th to the 20th). One of the world's oldest holidays and one of the most sacred days of the Jewish religion, the Day of Atonement has lessons all of us—Jewish or not—can apply to our lives and our relationships.

Religion has never played a large part in my life. I grew up celebrating "Christian" holidays like Easter and Christmas, but in America, these days are so mainstreamed and commercialized, they almost seem secular. I've never minded not having a religion, and I like the fact that because I'm a blank religious slate, I can approach new religions without prior assumption. I've learned Hindu traditions while in India, marveled at the Muslim mosques while in Indonesia, caroled in a Carmelite monastery, and recently visited a Zen Buddhist center for meditation.

Some may be upset to hear it, but a certain real estate heiress is off the market. According to the New York Daily News (and her Twitter account), Ivanka Trump is now engaged to real estate heir Jared Kushner. Trump tweeted on Thursday, "I got engaged last night ... truly the happiest day of my life!!!" Kushner's rep later confirmed the posting. Well, at least they worked that out. Kushner and Trump have been dating for two years, but split briefly in 2008 over Ivanka's conversion to Judaism. (The Kushner's are Jewish while Ivanka is not.) However, it appears like Ivanka is taking the plunge into the Jewish life as she's been seen studying at a New York City synagogue.

It appears Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson are not only back together, but ready to make the relationship permanent. Though the couple has notoriously been on and off again, Lindsay plans to disown her Catholic religion in favor of Judaism to please her future wife.

When my husband and I got married, our divergent religious backgrounds were the last thing on my mind. From the start, we were in full agreement that we would blend our Jewish and Christian traditions into an unstructured cornucopia of customs and holiday celebrations. This all-inclusive philosophy presented little conflict, and we were compatible in our religious laziness. But, eventually, I became a restless wanderer with unresolved questions about my soul's purpose on this earth, and I longed for a deeper, more personal relationship with God.

He spoke with terrific emotion about ex-lovers, probably to make me jealous, but I didnt’t really like him enough to mind. There was Michelle Rosenthal, Mimi Moskowski, Avivah Katz. The list continued on with clunky Jewish last name after clunky Jewish last name, lots of bergs and ovitskys, very few vowels. I could just picture him masturbating to a map of Israel every night.

Up until I was six years old, my family celebrated Christmas. In 1984, we moved to a new town in a new state and joined a synagogue. As December rolled around, there was no tree, just a menorah in the kitchen and a pile of Hanukkah presents in the corner of the living room. In high school, I began dating a Catholic boy—and like a holiday miracle, Christmas returned! I was a jolly, happy soul once more... until we broke up and I had to find a new Christian boyfriend to spend the holidays with. On the occasions that I did not have a boyfriend during "the season," I was the sad orphan Jew.

Religion, faith and spiritualiy are essential components of a relationship—or are they? Religion is a fraught topic in today's society, and YourTango wants to help answer your questions about interfaith relationships, conversion, sex and religion, dating someone of a different faith, spirituality and religion within marriage and other questions. Check out our stories below to learn more about the intersection of love, sex and religion.

The "Christian" label carries with it a number of stereotypes these days, and a passion-filled, borderline-nymphomaniac sex life is not one of them. A blog dedicated to active, passionate sex between married Christian couples might begin to change that. Christian Nymphos provides female-focused advice and tips to couples looking to spice up their sex lives while staying within the tenets of the Christian faith. For a population where racy, explicit language and topics are often taboo, posts about role-playing, oral or anal sex might come as a shock to some.

If you're sick of meeting meshuganas[1] online and you're ready to find a real mensch[2], then JDate.com wants you to stop kvetshing[3] and join their international online dating community of over 650,000 Jewish (and many non-Jewish) singles. While JDate was created in 1997 to help Jews find their besherts[4], singles of every faith are finding JDate to be a real brocheh[5]. Whether non-Jews are impressed by JDate success stories or just freakishly preoccupied with dating Jews, they can join by indicating "Willing to convert" or "Unaffiliated" from 14 religious-background options (ranging from traditional to Hassidic) displayed on each profile. It's not uncommon to find out upon meeting that you're date isn't Jewish, since disclosure can be easily avoided online.

Is religion an essential factor to the foundation of a strong family? Torang Sepah tells the story of how love brought her to a new spirituality. "Six months after we married, we began discussing the idea of conversion. Ron and I had both been raised in secular homes, and he felt connected to Judaism on a cultural, rather than religious, level. I, on the other hand, have never really felt tied to Islam. I believe in gay marriage—and I believe that a woman can do anything a man can do. I don’t think there’s a lot of room in Islam for liberal, or even moderate, viewpoints. With Judaism, I felt like there was still a way for me to be progressive. Though Ron told me early on that he didn’t need me to change religions, I decided I wanted to convert—for love, and for the family we would raise."

Judith Newman discovers that a New Year's Eve car ride with her husband was the perfect moment to fall in love all over again. "It was New Year's eve and John and I were fighting again as we drive back to New York City. But distressing as the situation was, I was already beginning to see the humor: our kids would be dropouts at age four! John, however, did not. After a half hour of recriminations, we both descended into silence. A great way to begin the new year, I thought bitterly. And, as always happened after these marital tsunamis, I began thinking: What would my life be like if I'd married the other one?"

Every month for twelve days after her period, Orthodox Jews can't touch each other. No sex, no back rubs—they can't even pass each other the salt at the dinner table. Before a husband and wife can reconnect the woman goes to the mikvah, the ritual bath that makes her clean, or kosher, again. Are these rules frustrating? Yes. And sexy as hell. In one woman's words, "As I listened to one woman after another bemoan her sad sex life, I thought about how, after five years of marriage, Avy and I are hotter than ever. Suddenly, I felt very religious." In this essay Lynne Meredith Schreiber describes the passion of a strict Jewish marriage.