Twenty For 2020

Elul is when I take stock of the previous year and think about the direction I want to go in the coming year, but January is also an opportune time to reflect on the past and plan for the future, if only because that’s what planners and calendars accommodate. While I haven’t made any resolutions per se (more of an …

Shidduch Photos, Unity, and Empowerment

Last week, I posted a list of things you can do as hishtadlus towards meeting your bashert. In response, a reader emailed me about something that was not mentioned on the list, and has never been addressed on this blog. That is, the topic of shidduch photos.   Now, in general I have not written about what I call “shidduch logistics,” …

My Response to the “Why Risk Shidduchim?” Discussion in Mishpacha

Hi, all. Happy zos Chanukah.   I have to start off with a confession: at this point, I’m all-in as a Mishpacha reader — so many fires to put out…   Several weeks ago, the magazine ran an essay written by a single woman. The gist of it was that just as idealistic young women will abandon the chinuch field …

Oh, Chanukah

Oh, Chanukah, you came so quickly (wasn’t it just Elul?!) and now you’re halfway over. You came so quickly, in fact, that I was utterly unprepared for you (I know, I know, I did think about presents, but not much else, to be honest). Well, I’ll think about you now. And this is what I’m thinking: darkness candle winter miracle …

Motion

One of my favorite books from the past year or so was Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, by Elizabeth Gilbert. It’s about creativity and authenticity and how to use your ideas, and I recommend it to anyone, not just creative types. This quote was particularly inspiring:   “If you can’t do what you long to do, go do something …

The Ultimate Chanukah Grab Bag List

Sometimes we have a grab bag at our family Chanukah parties and it’s so much fun. Basically, everyone brings a wrapped gift that cost less than $5 and puts it in a giant bag (you can separate adult and kid gifts if you’d like). The fun is mostly in getting to tear off the wrapping paper. It’s not really about …

The Key To Real Discussions On a Date (or Anytime)

Relationships are developed through communication, the more honest and authentic, the better. Sometimes when we’re in a dating relationship, though, it’s hard to communicate with confidence, and we fall into a dance of uncertainty: What should I bring up, and when and how, and how can I ask without really asking, and hopefully the conversation will just go there, and …

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