Some women prefer Jewish guys. We have to say, with the abundance of good-looking Jewish celebs out there — like James Franco, Jake Gyllenhaal and Adrien Brody — how can you disagree? So in honor of Chanukah, here are some reasons to date an M.O.T. (that's a Member Of The Tribe, for the uninitiated).
I never thought I'd be the type of woman to date a religious guy. A Reform Jew by upbringing, my family ate bagels, lox, and pickled herring on Sundays, lit our Menorah every Hanukkah, and sat through services on the High Holy Days. I learned how to pronounce the word afikomen. My mom referred to my face as a beautiful punim and hoped that someday I would meet a nice mensch and get married.
I have to admit, over the past 25 years, I’ve been a little obsessed with “Oprah.” Okay, maybe not just a little bit—maybe a lot more than that. To be honest, I have been a major fan of hers from the very beginning. In 1986, when I saw her on the air for the first time, I connected with her immediately. I couldn’t believe that here, for the first time, here was a woman on television who resembled no one else I had ever seen on network TV. She talked about issues that clearly mattered to her.
For many Orthodox Jews, the concept of not touching—known in Hebrew as Shomer Negiah, literally translated as "observant of the laws of touching"—is nothing new. The idea behind Shomer Negiah is that sex should be kept as something special that happens between a husband and a wife. Sex outside of marriage is a no-no. Anything that could possibly lead to sex outside of marriage is also a no-no. Think of it as an attempt to avoid any possible slippery slopes. No pun intended.
Michelle Haimoff shares a hilarious story about being attracted to her Jewish cousin and then going through a night of missteps and humiliation, including a last-minute kiss before Grandma shows up at the door. What's the lesson to be learned? That dating and family definitely don't mix.
The percentage of female rabbis and pastors is on the rise, and many women want to find Mr. Right. We talk to several women of the clergy who are looking for love but struggle on the dating scene.
Are you in need of a little holiday cheer? Don't worry, YourTango's got you covered! Check out the stories below for everything you need to know about making the most of the holiday season.
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.
