Category Archives: Ashkenazim

Ashkenazi Heat Sensitivity

Ashkenazi Jews seem to have an extreme heat sensitivity. I made the mistake of shifting the thermostat overnight during the heat wave to 78 from 71 and the poor Ashkenazim were all schvitzing and kvetching until they caught on what … Continue reading

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Kissing Hands

About a decade ago, I saw a friend at Bnai David-Judea. I shook his hand and he immediately kissed the hand that I had just shaken. I was moved. Over the next few months, I saw some old Sephardi men … Continue reading

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The Last Of The Pure Sephardic Poskim

In a 2008 lecture for Torah in Motion on Rabbi Ben Zion Uzziel (former Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel), history professor Marc B. Shapiro says: He’s one of the last of the few Sephardic poskim (deciders of Jewish law). The … Continue reading

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When In Doubt, Call Your Opponents Racists

Whenever I hear the charge of “racism” these days, I’m immediately suspicious because I’m so used to the accusation being tossed around without evidence. I’m also tired of Jews using their putative Orthodox status to lobby for non-Orthodox positions. I’m … Continue reading

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Should The Sephardim Go To The Back Of The Bus?

Orthodox rabbi and history professor Marc B. Shapiro blogs Nov. 7, 2007: I read about the outrage taking place in Emanuel, where in the local Beit Yaakov Sephardi students are being segregated from Ashkenazim to the extent that the two … Continue reading

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