As I write this, I’m watching the Tony Awards, where Broadway artists are honored for their outstanding work. I love awards shows so much: the celebrities, the fashion, the speeches in which the winners act like they’re surprised to be revered because...

As a grandma with two amazing granddaughters, ages 6 and 4, I’ve got to say, life doesn’t get much better. They’re at the ages when they are so happy to see me, especially if it’s for a sleepover because they love to play “interview” at...

As a pediatrician, I had an “aha moment” one day during a prenatal interview when a young couple asked me how they would know whether their child had “turned out OK.” Trying not to impose my values, I asked them to tell me what that would...

Sarah Rumfelt and Katie Wallace happily chatted as they waited Sunday afternoon for the meeting at the Jewish Community Center’s outdoor pavilion to start. It was uncomfortably hot and humid, with temperatures hovering around 100 degrees, but that...

Jewish summer camps and youth movements are a time-honored tradition—tens of thousands of Jewish teens participate. But a group of young Jews is calling out what they say is a “toxic hookup culture” in many of these institutions. In this episode...

I went to Camp Herzl in Minnesota for three weeks, returning on my 13th birthday. I hated it. I missed my family, objected to spending time outdoors and, as a Reform Jew, felt lost among my more religious peers. And yet, I strongly suggested that...

Did you know that according to the Centers for Disease Control, drowning is a leading cause of death for children in the United States between the ages of 1 and 4? For children ages 1 to 14, it is the second leading cause of accidental death after motor...

Who hasn’t heard a friend claiming that being a grandparent is better than being a parent? You get to play with the child but can give them back when you want. Is it really that simple? Aren’t there “rules” that grandparents ought to abide by? Let’s...

‘Tis the season of caps and gowns, pomp and circumstance, diplomas and celebrations — it’s graduation time! My kids are a few years away from this milestone. Some of my friends’ kids are finishing high school and college, giving me a preview of...

It’s likely not at the top of your mind, but I didn’t have a column in this paper for the past couple of issues. Did you miss me? Is it true that absence makes the heart grow fonder?  I love to say that abstinence makes the heart grow fonder,...

Aaron Abeles has experienced losses no 13-year-old boy should ever know. He also has the maturity, at his age, to understand how to take those tough experiences and turn them into something good and beautiful. "It probably won’t surprise anyone that...

“You should be a mother,” was what my own mother said to me the week before she died. I held her thin, weakened hand across the hospital bed and nodded. I was in my early 20s, and children seemed a far away possibility in an unlikely land that included...