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 … Read More

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. Ivanka, now engaged three times, tweeted on Thursday, "I got engaged last night ... truly the happiest day of my life!!!" Jared's rep later confirmed the posting. Is Twating (Twitter Dating) The Next Big Thing?

Jared and Ivanka have been dating for two years, but split briefly in 2008 over Ivanka's conversion to Judaism. (The Kushners … Read More

At the Metro Club in New Orleans, I was dancing with a law school student named Hendrik, who kept palming his way down the backside of my thighs. Without hesitation, he told me he had been waiting all night to dance with a Jewish girl, especially one as "full-bred" as myself. Oh God. Was it really that obvious? I wondered, reminding myself that if I would just stand 45 degrees to the left of guys, when speaking to them, that my nose would not seem nearly as obtrusive. "You know, it's so funny," Hendrik said, "My grandfather was a … Read More

Up until I was six years old, my family celebrated Christmas. Although both of my parents are Jewish, our family was not particularly religious. They just thought Christmas was a fun holiday for kids. I still fondly remember my Miss Piggy star ornament sparkling atop the tree. Ahh, memories. 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. Don't get me wrong: The latkes were tasty, … Read More

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 … Read More

We all know about politics make for strange bedfellows.  Can political or religious identity be a deal-breaker?  Catie Lazarus finds out if some of these differences make a relationship incompatible.

As Told To Marisa Belger

It was during my second month of medical school—as I was cutting anatomy class—that I met Ron. We bonded over our mutual dislike of the subject, and I felt like we had an instant connection.

In the course of that first conversation we also wound up discussing our backgrounds: Ron, I learned, was Israeli-Jewish; I was Iranian-Muslim.

The relationship grew serious quickly. Ron proposed a year and a half in, and we planned a Jewish-Persian wedding, where we drank wine, did readings in Hebrew, and let my relatives grind sugar over us to add sweetness to the … Read More

Two little drops of reddish brown on my underwear. Here we go again.

Since I had kids my cycle is irregular, which wouldn't be a big deal except that I'm an Orthodox Jew and I can't even pass the salt to my husband—let alone touch, kiss, or have sex with him—for 12 days after my period starts. We never know when we'll have to sleep in separate beds or place a vase with a single rose between us on the dinner table as evidence of our separation.

I was beginning to hate the rigid restrictions on my sex life until … Read More