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The Hebrew word, chesed, is often defined as lovingkindness. According to Kabbalah, it is one of ten sefirot: emanations or qualities of G-d. In this visual expression, the word chesed is approached from a mystical perspective. “Peace and Love” and “Be Kind” are not new concepts. They have ancient roots. The Jewish prayer for peace … Continue reading Marlene Burns: Art

By Esther Simon As the winter holidays approach, many mothers look forward to meaningful family time. They are happy to be relieved of the pressures of getting their children ready for school in the morning, making lunches and doing homework. Holiday time can also be a chance to teach some new skills while assessing the … Continue reading Making Good Use of Time Off From School

By Manya Ronay Judaism commands us to live at a very high level of consciousness. We are called on to watch what we say, what we do and even what we eat. Yes, not only must we guard what comes out of our mouths, we must guard what goes into our mouths as well! The … Continue reading Envisioning a Healthier Kosher Standard

‘Fear no one, but G-d alone.’  By Miriam Racquel Feldman I recently came across a letter from my son that was written to the Lubavitcher Rebbe (some people send these to the Ohel and some put into the Igros Kodesh—my family’s way is to use the Igros Kodesh) with a list of complaints about a … Continue reading Releasing Community Control and Widening the Path of Torah for Our Children

By Dalia Brunschwig   Chanukah, the wonderful holiday of lights, is once again approaching. I personally experienced my own miraculous “seeing the light” story after my daughter was born seven years ago. It was an extremely difficult pregnancy and birth, and I had many complications afterwards. Nevertheless, the fact that I was able to breastfeed, hold … Continue reading Learning to Love Your Body

By Surie Fettman The Source Consider the olive. It is a dull green, relatively small, somewhat bitter, oval fruit. It grows on a stubby, gnarled tree, and a process of intense pressure must be applied in order to extract a few, pure golden drops from each olive. Combine many of those drops, and you will … Continue reading Igniting the spark within our children and students

By Blimy Konig Hashem created the world with so much hope and possibility in it. How can we tap into that space? While we are in galus and there is no perfection, our purpose is to pursue tikkun olam. Let’s search for the good and the miraculous, especially in times of confusion and change. We … Continue reading How do we gracefully weather this temporary ‘normal’?

I thought I was broken. It was an emotional pain sometimes so deep it consumed me. I thought that when I discovered Torah Judaism 12 years ago, it would fix me. Those thoughts that exist in your mind that tell you that you’re not enough, you don’t have enough; I had believed them. And so I searched … Continue reading JUDAISM DIDN’T FIX MY LIFE, I NEED TO DO IT