Mike Doyle is a longtime autistic, gay, Jewish, Disnerd Chicago blogger.
Politics
Columbia College fakes a protest movement to teach students about real-world problems. An acquaintance knows their job is committing racial discrimination but does nothing. When you have a chance to help repair the world but don't, is that OK? And when?
My Conversion Journey
Plan all the phoney matzah meals you want, or avoid it completely and subsist on permitted meats and quinoa. No amount of advance planning will take all the sting out of observing Passover. Nor should it.
My Conversion Journey
I'm ready. The date is set. Thirty days from today I'll be a Jew. Here's a look at the rituals I'll undergo on May 12th to make my conversion journey to join the Jewish people official.
My Conversion Journey
My rabbi asked for my conversion essay. How many different ways are there to write that you’ve fallen in love with something you never knew that you’ve always been?
Marina City
I am officially a big, fat hypocrite. A big, fat hypocrite who's moving back home...to Marina City.
My Conversion Journey
Yes, I'm becoming a religious Reform Jew. Yes, I wear a kippah full-time. Yes, my last name is Doyle. Uh, can we talk about the weather now?
My Conversion Journey
In this second of two tardy Yuletide posts, I realize just how crass a secular Christmas can be, by spending my first one as an outsider looking in.
My Conversion Journey
When a well-meaning friend asked me on Christmas Eve, "Is being at temple tonight hard for you?" they were surprised I said, "No." I wasn't surprised at all.
My Conversion Journey
Lessons from my first-ever first night of Chanukah: check wooden matches for cracks; don't use the match box to put out the carpet; ...and be prepared to feel six-years-old all over again.
My Conversion Journey
Saturday after temple in a north side Starbucks, I sat down with a Reform Jewish friend. I had my kippah on and my computer open. As we were walking out, an Orthodox woman sitting nearby turned to a stranger and told him I wasn't going to be a good Jew. And as you may have guessed, I marched right b
Politics
Why do some companies persist in thinking that human kindness and federal labor law are mere impediments to profitability? Spiritual bankruptcy, perhaps? You can fill your heart with fairness or you can try to fill the hole in your soul with money. But at the end of the day, you still have to live i
My Conversion Journey
The beauty of Reform Judaism is the freedom to adopt traditional practices that speak to your heart. The beast of Reform Judaism is getting the fish eye from Reform Jews who think adopting tradition makes you Orthodox. Problem is, tradition is just what many potential converts--like me and my kippah