EDITOR’S NOTE: This article handles mature topics and is the second of a two part series. The first installment broached the topic from a philosophical standpoint, this second part discusses the practical how-to’s of speaking to your son. Several months ago I wrote about how Orthodox Jewish fathers can talk to their sons about puberty. […]

My eight-year-old glances out the front window during Shabbos lunch and does a double-take. “Ima! What’s Mr. Smith doing?” For the last seven years, our home has looked out on our neighbors’ four lollipop-shaped ficus trees. They add a certain flair, a bit of joie de vivre to the neighborhood. Hearing our neighbor start up […]

When we first moved to Cleveland, people warned me about the cold, snowy winters. I was undaunted, having spent much of my childhood in Des Moines, Iowa, where snow is abundant. But to my dismay, those first winters were miserable. I was cold. My feet were always chilly or wet. My fingers were numb. My […]

On the 13th of Kislev (the Jewish month when Chanukah takes place), I was 9 months pregnant with my third child. I woke up in the middle of the night confused, sweating, and very stressed. I tried to get my husband up to tell him about my dream, but he was more interested in sleeping […]

Would you set out on an important road trip if you only had enough gas for the first 20 miles and no forseeable way of filling your car up for a week? If you were a Maccabee you would. I recently started wondering why the Jews decided to light the menorah with the paltry sum of oil they found. Why bother lighting an eternal light that you […]