It’s during these weeks before Pesach, when we’re working so hard, that these feelings tend to creep up. How do we deal with it? It’s Pesach again! Ah! The Yom Tov of freedom, when we’re meant to feel like kings and queens, the pinnacle of royalty. Freed from the bondage of Mitzrayim, which the sefarim…
inspiration
Finding Meaning in the Madness
Nine Life Lessons of Purim Purim is a Yom Tov like no other in the sheer craziness it brings. First, there are weeks preceding it with so many decisions to make. This is no where should we spend first days and last days, and what side dishes should I make with my Sukkos roast. There…
Why I Go Out of My Way to Make Others Feel Good
May the inspiration that comes from this post be an aliya for my sister I’ve been going back and forth in my mind how to write the following. My debate being, do I write this “story” in a conceptual third person way hoping that perhaps it won’t be as painful or write straight from my…
How Changing One Simple Word Changes Everything
Have you ever felt stuck on the ‘I have to’ train? The busy frum woman has endless things to do, every single day and it’s far too easy to get bogged down. Read on for my favorite trick. ‘I have to get dinner in the oven, it’s almost time to eat and I have nothing…
Uplifting Our Gifting, Eight Ways for Eight Days
With Chanukah about to begin, we are gearing up for a special week of menorah lighting and singing, latkes and donuts, parties, and possibly even presents. Chanukah gifts are heavily debated, and every family and every society feels differently about them. Some decry the fact that Chanukah has become all about the presents and we’ve…
“A Perfect Shabbos Table”–It’s Not What You Expect
Do your dreams get crushed every Friday night when the Shabbos table fails to be the place of your dreams? This post was a conversation between the five of us on the topic of: the Shabbos table. Tables Have Stages “I remember, when my children were a bit younger, after a day of shopping and…
Shabbos & Money
Food has become more extravagant than ever–at the same time, it’s also more expensive than ever and budgets are stretched. So, there’s the question: is there such a thing as too much to spend on Shabbos? There’s a story in At Any Hour, the biography of Rav Shlomo Gissinger (p. 267): The Steinbergs* had just…
Before You Daven Say Please and Thank You
Change the way you connect to Hashem over the Yomim Noraim. When Hadassa shared this concept on her platform, we were struck by how simple, yet life-changing, it could be. And we knew we wanted to share it with you. Before you even open your machzor for Rosh Hashanah, you should be thinking about what…
Change Your Relationship with Hashem in One Step
When you put on these glasses, mitzvos aren’t a list of obligations. They’re the most joyful way to acknowledge all the good. Ah, the sounds of Elul. No sooner have we washed the last forgotten beach towel and packed up the trendy knapsacks with shiny new 5-Star notebooks and bubble gum erasers, and suddenly we’re…
Embracing Elul: Forty Different Ideas for Self-Improvement
What should I do to make the next forty days count? Some of these ideas might work for you. Rosh Chodesh Elul signals the beginning of the season of introspection. It’s hard, in the whirlwind of school beginning and the approaching yamim tovim, to set aside time and brain space for the true avodah of…
