Since 1906, the Forward has been answering reader dilemmas about daily life in “A Bintel Brief,” Yiddish for a bundle of letters. Send your queries to [email protected], and listen to a podcast version of our signature advice column.
Bintel Brief
The Latest
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Life Bintel Brief: Lisa Loeb Says Why Not Go for Coffee?
Dear Lisa, I recently signed up for J-Date. But I have trouble with this whole casual meet-lots-of-people thing. Here is why I’m bad at J-Date: I hate being ignored, and I can’t ignore people. For instance, this one guy instant-messaged me. I didn’t answer. Then he e-mailed me. Then he e-mailed me again. Finally, I…
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Life Bintel Brief: Lisa Loeb Says Don’t Call Your Daughter’s Boyfriend a ‘Parasite’
Dear Lisa, My daughter, a beautiful, brilliant college graduate with a law degree and a good job is about to become engaged to a Chabadnik (who, by the way, has no job except for being what I call a lay “Jew for Moses” with Chabad). It’s obvious that if she marries this parasite, she will…
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Life Bintel Brief: Lisa Loeb Has Some Advice for You
Lisa Loeb first tugged on America’s heartstrings in 1994 with her chart-topping single “Stay (I Missed You).” Since then, the Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter with the signature eyeglasses has been turning out albums of sweet pop gems. In 2006, she released “The Very Best of Lisa Loeb.” Last year, Loeb also starred in her own E! TV…
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Life Bintel Brief: Yitz and Blu Greenberg Peer Across the Denominational Divide
Dear Rabbi and Rebbetzin, I am a convert to Judaism and have been living a “Conservadox” life for about 15 years. My conversion was traditional, with all of the rites, including hatafot dam brit, immersion and questioning before a beit din [rabbinic court] after a period of about two years of study. However, the rabbi…
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Life Bintel Brief: Blu and Yitz Greenberg Say Don’t ‘Get’ Revenge on Your Ex
Dear Blu and Yitz, On lawyer’s advice, my (ex-)wife refuses to accept a get (yet the divorce is all her doing), and for over 10 years refuses me regular visits with our children. (The visits are irregular, essentially when she feels like it, on her lawyer’s advice.) My question is, when she decides she wants…
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Life Bintel Brief: Blu and Yitz Greenberg Say ‘Think Twice’ Before Wishing the Kids Had Married Non-Jews
Dear Blu and Yitz, All of my daughters married Jewish boys. But sometimes I think it might have been better had two of them married non-Jewish boys who would at least have been supportive of their wives trying to bring some form of Judaism into their homes and into the lives of their children. One…
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Life Bintel Brief: Yitz and Blu Have Advice for You
This month the Bintel Brief features advice from a Jewish power couple: Blu and Rabbi Irving “Yitz” Greenberg. Blu was the founding president of the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance. She is the author of “On Women & Judaism” and “How To Run A Traditional Jewish Household,” among other books. Her husband’s no slouch either. Yitz…
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Life Bintel Brief: The Mamele Suggests a Cure for the Working Mom Blues
Dear Mamele, I’m going through a difficult time. My husband is underemployed, and my job is very demanding and consuming. The hardest part is not seeing my kids as much as I’d like. And when stay-home mothers from my largely affluent suburb want to make small talk about their recent trip to Turks and Caicos…
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