Ariella Brown

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May 2, 2017, 5:46 AM

Beauty and the JAP

Ironically, the attempt to erase the hated Jewish nose, hair, body type, and dowdiness through surgery, hair processing, dieting, and shopping sprees for makeup and clothes actually is seen as inscribing a Jewish trait. The struggle to look as...

Mar 1, 2017, 1:37 AM

Mummies and Daddies

This week I visited the Brooklyn Museum and made sure to stop into the new section set up in the Egyptian collection. It's called A Woman’s Afterlife: Gender Transformation in Ancient Egypt. The exhibit is really small, consisting of fewer...

Dec 21, 2016, 3:04 AM

Chanukah: building up the light

Hillel and Shamai had different views about the order in which Chanukah candles should be lit. Beis Shamai’s view was that the candles should parallel the cows offered during Sukkos, which began with the full number but went down...

Dec 15, 2016, 4:31 PM

The Torah does not dictate a single marriage model

Based on the past few weeks' Torah readings, we can see that the the avos follow a third, distinctive relationship pattern. That is because one size does not fit all for successful marriages, as anyone who has read the work of...

Dec 8, 2016, 11:15 PM

The terms used to describe the veiling of the bride is most often spelled bedeken, but also occasionally spelled badeken, badecken, or even badekin, as there are no hard and fast rules about the English spelling of Yiddish words. The...

Dec 2, 2016, 6:41 AM

Windows, goblets, and Teraphim: Scrying in Scripture

Scrying: that's a word that doesn't come up everyday. I already googled it for you. The Webster online definition right here: "Scrying (also called crystal gazing, crystal seeing, seeing, or peeping) is a magic practice that involves seeing things supernaturally in a medium, usually for...

Nov 17, 2016, 10:13 PM

Making people feel welcome

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Think of your own memories and you’ll discover the truth in May Angelou’s quote. I...

Oct 14, 2016, 6:56 AM

Thoughts on the UNESCO vote

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men should do nothing.” This quote is often attributed to Edmund Burke, though that may not be wholly accurate. Regardless of who first coined the phrase, the concept...

Oct 11, 2016, 3:21 AM

Kreplach recipe for Erev Yom Kippur

In addition to the mitzvah of fasting on the day of Yom Kippur, there is a mitzvah to eat on Erev Yom Kippur, and a festive meal called seduas hamafsekes is eaten in the late afternoon. A traditional menu for that meal...

Sep 29, 2016, 4:08 AM

Rosh Hashana reading: prospective in-laws

The reading from the Torah on the second day of Rosh Hashana recounts the story of the akeida . At the end of the story, Avraham is told that his brother had children whose progeny lead up to the birth of...

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About Me

Ariella Brown published Kallah Magazine from 2005-2011. Now, she runs a blog for topics of both general and Jewish interest at KallahMagazine.blogspot.com.