ב"ה

Essays

Honoring Mom & Dad
No matter how much respect we give our parents, we can never repay them for their part in bringing us into this world . . .
A Blurry Line
The connection between "Honor your father and your mother" and "Do not covet... anything of your fellow's": both straddle the distinction we commonly make between the human and the divine, the physical and the metaphysical, between desire and deed
As If I Loved Her
I would become the mother I never had. I would heal by giving and by being generous. I would heal by being positive, optimistic and uncritical.
Surviving My Mother’s Illness
This was my mother? My mother, the college professor? The valedictorian of her class? . . . I told the nurses what had transpired, and with understanding looks they explained that this type of mental deterioration was not uncommon for people with end-stage cancer.
My Sweet, Alone Passover
The decision seemed like a no-brainer, but I didn't go with my brain on this one. I went with my gut. If I was truly to "put Judaism first," I needed to be with my mother; I needed to honor her. For the first time in my life, I made all the seder preparations and drove to Philadelphia, shank bone in tow...
Circle of Love
Sometimes love is not measured by a capacity to give, but rather by a capacity to receive...
How Much Do You Know About Honoring Your Parents?
Take our quiz and find out!
Eternally Grateful
What happens when a parent is aging ungracefully? What if they are becoming irritable, cantankerous and just plain difficult? Becoming old and forgetful isn’t pretty . . .
Why Do We Have to Respect Our Parents?
The basis for the commandment to honor our parents might be seen as rational and reasonable, since it would only seem right to acknowledge all that our parents gave us.
Caregiving Our Parents
As recently as ten years ago, when I was still working as a geriatric social worker, I never imagined myself as a full time caregiver...
Righting a Wrong
Honoring my parents
I have written before about not judging others for doing more or less than me. The words may have sounded good at the time, but now I realize that I hadn’t really internalized them...
Mama's Home
There is little more painful than having to step up and watch the helplessness and anxiety of a surviving elderly parent...
Earning Children's Honor
The devoted family, an anchorage amid confusion, is rapidly disappearing. It is time to return to the values which created bonds of respect between children and parents.
But Is He Good to His Mother?
I remember hearing a comedian describe his feelings on finally having children: "I was less willing to put up with fools. I was like, 'I don't need this, I can make my own people now...'"
Why Do We Honor Our Parents?
With Father's Day approaching as a Rabbi I am frequently asked, "Do you observe the holidays of Thanksgiving, Mother's Day and Father's Day?"
Upward Parenting
Some children focus on all the good they received from their parents. Others focus on what they feel they should have received
Are You Pleasant Company for your Children?
Adam and Eve's children learned from them, by example, how a parent cares for a child. But they couldn't be an example to their children of how to look after one's parents
Honoring Parents
Recipe for long life...
What Your Mother and Father Teach You About G-d
By honoring both father and mother, we learn to connect and develop a relationship with G‑d.
Where Is the Reward?
A basic principle of Jewish belief is that G‑d rewards us when we carry out His commands. G‑d will “do good to you, and give you length of days.” But does it always work like this?
One of the Ten Commandments, and a mitzvah that mirrors the bond between us and G-d.