The definition of a miracle is an extraordinary event not characterized by natural or scientific law, therefore being a supernatural act of divine agency. I didn’t know God started her own agency, but I’m super proud of her.  As we light the first...

(JTA) — Living in Brooklyn, surrounded by synagogues and Jewish schools, Rachel Weinstein White and her husband hoped to find a place where their children could receive a Jewish education for a few hours each week. But they knew they didn’t want...

When I was a financial planner, we helped individuals and families address their sequential financial needs and priorities at each stage of their lifecycle.  There are three major stages of one’s financial lifecycle: 1) Learning years –birth to-age...

Nearly 30 years ago, a popular local Passover event began. The Wise family seder has grown from a gathering of 15 to a high of 50. These seders also have been noteworthy for the faith of its guests. Usually, about half are non-Jewish. “What the non-Jewish...

During an interview in 2016 with author Dawn Lerman about her new book “My Fat Dad: A Memoir of Food, Love, and Family, with Recipes,” we got to talking about her maternal grandmother who Lerman would spend Friday nights with as a child. Each Shabbat...

Recently, I brought my 11-year-old daughter with me along with community rabbis, reverends, members of PROMO (which advocates for LGBTQ rights) and allies of all ages to testify in Jefferson City against Senate Bill 42.  This bill would cause insurmountable...

A friend recently posted a video of a popular motivational speaker discussing why some children struggle to make friends. He concluded that it was a parent’s job to “maximize the social attractiveness of your children — because they need friends...

Can you afford to send your child to camp next summer? Can you afford not to? Winter is almost upon us. Most kids have moved most of their after-school activities into gymnasiums, indoor soccer parks or perhaps the living room with a musical instrument....

As a certified mikvah mentor, I hear married Jewish women hesitate about going to the mikvah for a variety of reasons.  Many of these reasons are actually based on misconceptions about the mitzvah of mikvah, and I think it is time to publicly clear...

Shabbat has long been an occasion to reconnect with ourselves, our families and our community. And nothing embodies the Shabbat table more than delicious fresh baked challah. Baking challah can be an occasion as well. And that's exactly the premise...

Now that I am a grandparent, I really look forward to having one of my grandchildren spend the night. Each of them enjoy the opportunity for some one-on-one time. When they were little, the evening was spent reading books and playing with age-appropriate...

As a certified sleep coach, most of my consultations start something like this: I ask parents to tell me a bit more about what’s going on with their child’s sleep issue. More often than not, I get a response that includes one of these sentiments: “Well,...