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: Catie Lazarus Has the Last Laugh
Dear Catie, Sarah Silverman and Sacha Baron Cohen are two of my favorite comedians. Unfortunately, while I enjoy their comedy, I also feel conflicted, because they both can be quite cruel. Earlier this month, MTV Video Music Awards host Sarah Silverman showed no mercy toward Britney Spears after the pop star’s embarrassing performance on the…
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Life Bintel Brief: Catie Lazarus on a Wild Ride
Dear Catie, A short while ago I returned from a trip on a flight into Newark airport. I live in Brooklyn, and as it was late at night and I wanted to get home, I decided to take a cab. No sooner than I got into the cab did I realize I had taken my…
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Life Bintel Brief: Catie Lazarus Has the Answers — Maybe Even the One to Your Question
With the Days of Awe fast approaching, and thoughts of atonement and who shall die by fire and who by water and who by beast and whatnot bearing down on us, we could all use a little comic relief. So we turned to one of the Forward’s funniest friends to serve as this month’s Bintel…
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Life Bintel Brief: Rabbi Shmuley Boteach Tackles a Conversion Conundrum
Dear Rabbi Boteach, Thirty-plus years ago I converted to Judaism; this has been one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life. I have a troubled relationship with my brother and his wife; religion is among the many differences my wife and I have with them. We’ve reached a reasonable, arm’s-length relationship. For business…
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Life Bintel Brief: Rabbi Shmuley Boteach on Keeping the Faith in Dating
Dear Rabbi Boteach, Our family is… I guess we’re a little bit of everything — from Reform to Orthodox. I grew up without any affiliation and sent my own kids to a Chabad school. The trick is I’m married to a gentile, who lives more Jewishly than anyone else in my family. Our two oldest…
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Life Bintel Brief: Rabbi Shmuley Boteach Helps a Grandmother Connect With Her Non-Jewish Grandson
Dear Rabbi Boteach, My youngest son married outside the faith and now has a young baby. It was very difficult for me when he got married, but I Knew there was no reversing his decision, and so I have tried to make the best of it. This was not easy, as my Jewish heritage is…
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Life Bintel Brief: Rabbi Shmuley Boteach Answers Your Questions
With books like “Kosher Sex,” “Dating Secrets of the Ten Commandments” and “Judaism for Everyone” and his television series “Shalom in the Home” on The Learning Channel, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach has brought an unabashedly Jewish perspective on family life and relationships to a popular audience. For the next month, he’ll be giving our readers some…
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Life Bintel Brief: Alan Dershowitz on ‘Scooter’ Libby and Jonathan Pollard
Prof. Dershowitz, I was very interested to see that you argued for the commutation of the prison sentence of Scooter Libby. You see, I know this guy who is 20 years into a life sentence. He was a Navy analyst and got caught spying for another country. Did he deserve to go to jail? Sure,…
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