News

Great Kosher Restaurants Magazine and I are teaming up for a Dinner and Dialogue Series which will start on May 20th in three kosher restaurants in the New York area: J Soho (FKA Jezebel) in Manhattan, T-Fusion in Brooklyn, and Prime Bistro in Five Towns. At each event, there will be a three course speciality menu followed by one of my talks (there will be a different topic at each event).

Continue reading Jew in the City and Great Kosher Restaurants Magazine’s Dinner and Dialogue Series

People have been telling me for a while to do a "most common myths and misconceptions" article and I finally did it. There is a meme on BuzzFeed.com about "12 Annoying Things About This" and "15 Annoying Things About That," so I wrote "13 Annoying Things Most People Assume About Orthodox Jews," and it's been viewed almost 30k times in the first seventeen hours!

Wow!

Jew in the City's mission is to break down stereotypes about religious Jews and offer a humorous, meaningful look into Orthodox Judaism. Many of the negative ideas that people have about Orthodox Jews come from the negative headlines in the news. There are, unfortunately, members of the Orthodox community who do things against the Torah. Our intention here at JITC is not to pretend that these problems don't exist. I've written pieces speaking out against problems in the Orthodox world and use Facebook and Twitter to take a stand as well.

And while I believe that we must speak out about the shortcomings that exist, there's a sadness knowing that most of the positive stories will never get reported. So we've decided to start a new initiative at JITC to try to do something about that. We're calling it "Kiddush Hashem (sanctification of God's Name) Corner" and we plan on posting a story once a month about an Orthodox Jew who has done something remarkable - something that exemplifies Torah standards. But we need YOUR help.

Do you know an Orthodox Jew who has done something exceptional which illustrates how Torah values improve a person? Something like being extra careful about honesty, not gossiping, giving charity, being hospitable, returning lost items, etc. These are the stories we want to hear about. These are the people who should be representing us. We can't make the bad guys go away. But we can make the voice of goodness even louder. Please help us and email us your idea at KHc@jewinthecity.com

Thanks!

I just wanted to thank everyone who gave to our crowd funding campaign on RocketHub.com to build our new site. Not only did we reach our goal 18 hours ahead of time, at the time of my writing this, we are 107% funded! Just like when we make havdalah (the ceremony that separates Shabbos from the rest of the week) we pour wine (or grape juice) into the cup until it overflows, so blessing will overflow into the week - I feel like JITC's blessings are overflowing will all your support.

We will try to not do this too often - as I personally hate to fund raise - but it is wonderful to know how many of you are willing to support our mission. Thanks again! New site coming soon!!

We here at JITC are committed to putting out excellent content that breaks down stereotypes about religious Jews and offers a humorous, meaningful look into Orthodox Judaism, but our main platform - JewintheCity.com - is in need of an update. Our site is certainly not a disaster, but it is not organized optimally nor is our content as easy to share as it could be.

The online world is a fast-paced one and sites need to be updated regularly in order to feel fresh. We have not reached the point of staleness yet, but we want to stay ahead of the curve so that day never comes. If JewintheCity.com is the face of our mission and our mission is the face of Orthodox Jewry, then we must make sure that we always look our best.

We have already raised 28% of the funds needed at the time of this posting and our drive lasts for one more week. If every reader, viewer, and fan gave just a few dollars, we'd be able to redo the site in a couple weeks. All donations are 100% tax deductible. Please show us that you believe in this mission by making a contribution today! Thank you for your support!

Looking around this room, I am awed by this THING Jew in the City has become. By the enchanted road that brought us here – a modern day Chanukah miracle -- and the magical path that we are now embarking on. It is bigger than all of us, and is powered by Something greater than any of us.

Continue reading Excerpt of My “Orthodox Jewish All Stars” Premier Speech

As I announced last week, we are opening up our Orthodox Jewish All Stars" video Chanukah Launch Party to a select number of fans - we have almost sold out the number of tickets we have allotted.

If you're thinking of going, please email JITCparty@gmail.com right away to reserve a spot!

The party is on Thursday, December 13, 2012 (5th night of Chanukah) at 7 pm, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

There will be a Latke and Wine Bar, and a Donut Fondue Bar for dessert! There will be music by, a candle lighting by the Maccabeats, a red carpet with press, and some of the All Stars will be there! And of course, there will be a special screening of our new video!!

Please email us the number of tickets you'd like, but note that we may not be able to give you as many tickets as you're asking for. We'll write back letting you know if you are confirmed for tickets, and if you are, you can pay here. Once you've paid, we will send you an invite with location details.

Hope to see you there!