No longer confined to yoga and meditation enthusiasts, modern society is attuned to the benefits of mindfulness. Yet what does it have to offer the Jewish spiritual seeker? Jon Kabat-Zinn, a mindfulness-practice teacher, and developer of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) technique, defines mindfulness as an “awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in […]

I hear a lot of comments to the effect that women are second-class citizens in traditional Judaism, and I can certainly understand where that impression comes from. Men populate the more public halachic acts, such as counting for a minyan and leading the public prayers which require one. There are various religious acts that men are told to do and women are generally told not […]

Inheritance can be complicated in any family. Emotions run high in the aftermath of grief, and there is sometimes a lot at stake. This dynamic used to be even more fraught in Jewish families, as the Torah technically does not allow for a woman to inherit from her parents. We spoke to Rabbi Shlomo Weissman, an […]

Few decisions in life can compare to that of having another child. In this regard, it is no secret that Jewish tradition encourages childbirth and observant Jews seem to follow suit. The fascinating thing is that when examining the bare biblical law, a Jewish couple is able to fulfill the obligation to procreate by having […]