Two children, a brother and sister, are fighting: calling each other names, bringing each other to tears. Their father stays out of it at first. He’s hoping his kids will work things out on their own, but they don’t. The bickering escalates until the father finally throws them into a time-out. He wants his children […]

When I was fourteen I decided that I was going to become perfect. Yeah, I hear how it sounds now, but at the time, it seemed like a brilliant idea. See, one of my sisters’ greatest pleasure during childhood was to constantly tell me everything I was doing wrong. (In adulthood, it’s only her second […]

“United We Stand.” These are words that comfort us when tragedy strikes on a mass level. The first time I remember this phrase being used was after 9/11, though some say its origins go as far back as Aesop. When we are attacked on a 9/11 in our current state of the Coronavirus pandemic, we […]

The other day, upon returning from a trip to the supermarket, groceries in tow (or rather in hand), I realized that I had left my keys at home. But just then, wouldn’t you know, one of our neighbors walked through the lobby at the exact right moment to catch my flailing arms in his peripheral vision. “Hashgacha prutis” (Divine Providence) I […]

There’s a little game I’ve been playing with my children since they were old enough to speak. It’s a way to build up their self-esteem while simultaneously teaching them where we derive self-worth from in Judaism. This is how it goes: Me: Who made you so smart? My kid: Hashem (which literally means the name, but […]

For the last couple of years, I have been regularly speaking all over North America and WebYeshiva, averaging two talks per month, inspiring countless people (or so they say) and loving every minute of it. (Well, except for the times I get stuck next to loud gum-chewers on the plane.) Every time I speak, I […]