Articles in Family Life
B’Midbar: The Jewish Father
And The Mothers?
When the census was taken in the desert, families were recorded by the names of their fathers. Now that’s unfair! Who insisted on having these children in Egypt over their husbands’ protests? Who defied Pharaoh’s decree and risked their lives to carry, birth and nurse these children? Now …
Vayakhel/Pekudei: The Jewish Mother
Forever
She was there at the very beginning and she is there for us still now. She was there at times of elation and was there in times of distress. She was there in times of hope and is still there in times of despair. She nurtured our faith under the …
Vaetchanan: Life’s Little Lessons
Two Stalled Cars
On a family visit to San Antonio I was called upon to demonstrate my mechanical prowess or, as it turned out, my lack thereof.
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Pinchas: Marriage Counseling
A Tale of Two Dilemmas
A husband and wife once came to a rabbi to consult on a family matter.
The husband explained that he loves his wife, but takes her for granted. Her little gestures of love don’t move him. Her, “I love you” notes, her, “thinking of you” gifts and …
Vaetchanan: Living for G-d
Three Loves
“And you shall love G-d your lord with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might.” (1) These words are not poetic descriptions of love but precise instructions that define the parameters of the love that G-d desires.
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Miketz: A True Brother
A Jewish Boy In Egypt
Our Parsha relates the story of Josef in the land of Egypt. What was a good Jewish boy dong in Egypt? Why did he become Viceroy of such a corrupt and immoral land?
There was a famine in the region and Egypt was the only country …
Family Purity: The Value of Discipline
Borders that Define
Man’s physical
needs and desires are not denigrated in the Jewish religion, on the
contrary, they are celebrated and embraced. Judaism seeks to draft the
human aspect of man into the religious experience and thereby uplift
it.
To this end,
Jewish law sets boundaries that define the context of permissible
physical expression. Adhering to …
Family Life: Discipline in Marriage
Uplifting Limitations
When Torah
discipline is applied to family relations we see its astonishing
impact. Torah limits our choice of spouses (to Jews only) and also
regulates the timing of intimacy between approved spouses.
According to
Torah, husband and wife may not engage in intimate relations during the
course of menstrual flow, and seven days following.
Stoking the …
