CURATED THOUGHTS BY YOUR FRIENDLY LOCAL APIKORSIM


GUEST POST: CRITIQUE OF LAWERENCE KELEMANS' PERMISSION TO BELIEVE
By Anonymous (Slightly edited for grammar and clarity) CHAPTER 1 THE "IRRATIONALITY" OF ATHEISM Rabbi Keleman begins his book with why he...

AKIVA (A FICTIONAL SHORT STORY)
Part I - In The Heavens: The heavenly hall, packed to the brim with souls and angels, was perfectly quiet. It was the morning and the...

A GENERAL UPDATE AND WHY YOU SHOULD NOT BE GUILTED INTO YIDDISHKEIT
[I apologize to people who read this blog for my extended hiatus. See the end of this post for an explanation.] One common refrain the...

A BEN TORAH’S GUIDE TO GOING OFF THE DERECH (PART 1 OF 3)
Introduction Few experiences are as paradoxical as going OTD. For many people, going OTD is the most challenging experience they will...

WHAT DEBATING JUDAISM TAUGHT ME ABOUT POLITICAL RAGE
I apologize for posting about a not-directly-OTD related topic, but if you will allow me to stand on my soapbox and pontificate about...

NBC NURSES AND WHY WE SHOULD STOP CALLING EVERYONE AN ANTI-SEMITE
Yesterday the Jewish Twitterverse almost self-immolated with outrage over a strange clip from the NBC show Nurses. In the clip, a Jewish...

Meshulachim: An OTD perspective
Since going OTD, my perception and attitude towards Mishulachim/collectors has drastically changed. When I was in kollel, my heart ached...

FALSE HOPE: THE FUTILITY OF TALKING TO RABBONIM ABOUT EMUNAH QUESTIONS
Part I: My first rabbinic encounter: The first time that I frankly discussed my Emunah problems with a rabbi, I was shaking. Until then,...

VOLDEMORT'S WAND AND THE "BRILLIANCE" OF GEMARA STUDY
The Issue: When I was younger, I used to marvel at the beautiful intricacy of the Torah. Chazal and the meforshim had built this dazzling...

"THE KELEMAN THEOREM" AND THE DISHONESTY OF KIRUV RABBIS
In Permission to Receive, Rabbi Lawrence Kelemen introduces his readers to a concept known as "the Applewhite Theorem." For background,...

MEET THE PLAYERS: THE TWO-PRONGED BATTLE IN DEFENDING JUDAISM
There are two distinct intellectual battlefronts when debating Judaism, the Ultra-Orthodox position and the Modern Orthodox position....

THE INCOHERENCE OF JEWISH BELIEF: TRUSTING "GOD"
I have noticed that there is a stark disconnect between the building blocks of Jewish theology and the final product of frum belief. Even...

COVID-19 AND THE FAILURE OF OUR GEDOLIM
Horsehair worms are parasites. As a larva, one species of the horsehair worm, Spinochordodes tellinii, attaches itself onto grasshoppers....

THE LGBT+ COMMUNITY AND THE FRUM CULTURE OF DENIAL
Few topics animate frum people as much as describing how special the frum community is compared to 'the outside world.' The essential...

THE TRAGEDY OF THE POOR AND STRESSED-OUT JEW
Before you die, there is one place you have got to visit: Pomegranate Grocery Store. The place is gorgeous, and it can be quite an...

ANAL SEX AND THE DEBRECENER RAV
Buckle up guys and gals, here is a pretty wild teshuva from the Dembitzner Rov regarding anal sex. (For more about the Dembitzner Rov,...

WHY THE LAWS OF KIBUD AV V'EM ARE TOXIC
TW: Sexual Abuse, Attempted Suicide Part I: My background: I do not like talking about my childhood. I find that when people learn how I...

WHY I BRAINWASH MY CHILDREN
Imagine a person raises their child to believe that they are a Jedi. Every day, this person would spend hours “training” their child to...

IS LAKEWOOD GETTING BETTER OR WORSE: A FEW STRAY OBSERVATIONS
When my Emunah questions started reaching a critical mass, my wife panicked and reached out to a Rebbitzin she trusted. That Rebbitzin...



















