I’m pretty sure that there’s a place in hell where the really bad people are trapped in a shoe store with hordes of short people who whine “Mommy” at them – forever.  There is a certain dread that fills my being at the end of every summer as we begin our back to school shopping. The […]

Tisha B’Av – the infamous day in Jewish history on which both of our Temples were destroyed and many other atrocities befell our people – is linked to the episode in the Torah where the meraglim (spies) set out to see the Land of Israel before the Children of Israel entered it. All but two […]

When I got to camp yesterday, my four year old son was filled with even more post-camp excitement than he’s filled with on a regular afternoon, which consists of him responding “GWEAT!” with a smile plastered to his face when I ask how his day was. What made this day extra, extra special? Why, the […]

Although I, admittedly, find myself bopping to the beat if one of her songs comes on the radio, the lyrics in much of what Katy Perry sings are quite…unkosher. But there is one of Katy’s songs that most people would agree has a positive, inspiring message: “Firework.” Do you ever feel like a plastic bag […]

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 […]