Burning Man is an annual festival that celebrates—and encourages—extremely uncivilized behavior. One part counter-culture and one part perversion, it’s a mind-bending mix of obscenity, drugs, orgies, and strange art. Basically, if it’s vulgar, Burning Man welcomes it.

There’s offensive, which some argue should be allowed, and then there’s truly disgusting and dangerous. They crossed the line with an outrageous display of anti-Semitism. An “artist” (and I say that in quotes because this is not art), who claims to be Jewish, created a display that depicts a Barbie Concentration Camp. It features hundreds of nude dolls entering kitchen ovens as GI Joe dolls hold them at gunpoint.

A sign above it claims that the installation was created by “Mattel and Auschwitz Inc., Purveyors of Fine Lampshades and Soap Products Since 1939.” (Mattel, of course, had nothing to do with this nonsense and the toy company has been defamed. I hope they sue!)

The display was so offensive that a handful of event goers attempted to destroy it and threatened the artist as well. An argument ensued, someone’s car was vandalized and an arrest was made.

Mr. Jacoby (the artist) claims to be mystified at the outrage. “Anyone who is offended should ignore it,” adding that he considered the repulsive display to be an “aphrodisiac,” demonstrating that he’s mentally ill and disturbed sexually.

Burning Man organizers should be ashamed of themselves to peddle such filth! I would never, ever attend such a weirdo, nasty event to begin with, but this level of anti-Semitism is criminal.

Don’t go, don’t let your kids go, and hopefully, this nightmare will end up bankrupt.

For the past three hours, I’ve been texting with an online friend from Facebook. We’re both part of a Jewish Moms group and have been acquainted for about 2.5 years. Although I don’t know her well, we’ve kept in touch through the group and she always seemed nice, positive and very upbeat.

To my immense surprise, she quit the group, out-of-the-blue, and stopped talking to everyone (she was a daily poster, always.) After a few days, I was worried and messaged her. Her reply: “I quit because I’m not Jewish.” That made no sense to me since she’s constantly talking about Hebrew school, Shabbos recipes, High Holidays tickets—all manner of things connected to Jewish life.

Her bombshell: The test results from an Ancestry DNA kit revealed that she has no Jewish heritage. And I mean none, zero percent!

Because her father left the family when she was little and her mother has dementia, there is no way to unravel the mystery. She is not only shocked and confused, but in a terrible moral dilemma with regard to her own 3 kids.

“Should I tell them or should I not?” she asked me. Of course, I don’t have an easy answer. I feel so badly for her, for the lies she’s been told, for the pain she’s feeling, not knowing, at 43-years-old, who she is and where she comes from. That would be devastating to anyone and I am heartbroken for her.

Because I’m not a rabbi, I can’t—and don’t—dispense religious advice. Certainly, she should have a private meeting with her rabbi and ask him for advice/help/direction. The problem is fear; she’s afraid of being “outed” and losing friends and status. This is so, so sad because she has done nothing wrong.

I tried to reassure her, that from my point of view, she always was (and always will be) Jewish. There is Jewish heritage, of course, but there is also a wonderful group of folks that are Jewish by choice. When someone has lived Judaism from birth, married another Jew, given birth to 3 Jewish children, and observed all the customs and traditions of Judaism, they are Jewish! Despite all that, she is doubting herself.

I’m sure some hardliners out there would insist that this lady go through a formal conversion process because she’s “not one of us.” I disagree with them. We need to be warm and welcoming and encourage anyone who wants to be part of the Jewish community a place at the table. There should never be a divide between Jews by heritage and Jews by choice. We are all one people, one nation, and we all serve the same God.

If she chooses to reveal her test results on a public post, I will support her. If she prefers to stay silent, I’ll keep her identity anonymous. It’s not my place to judge and it’s not my place to decide. My role is to offer unconditional friendship, which is what I’d want her to offer me, if our positions were reversed.

Speaking of which, I have thought about how it would feel to be in her place. I don’t have any doubts about my own parents, grandparents, or heritage, but if I received totally crazy news, from a test, it wouldn’t change who I’ve been for 37 years. I’m Jewish by heritage, yes, but I also choose to keep practicing.

I think the moral of this story is to stay far away from DNA test kits. Nothing good will come of opening Pandora’s Box. Unless someone needs to know their genetics for a medical purpose, we’re better off leaving some things alone.

To all my prayer warriors: If you feel inclined, please say a special prayer for this lady and her family. She’s in a terrible place right now, emotionally and spiritually. We need to lift her up with love.