Literacy has become a real buzz word lately. If my son can read a menu at a restaurant, or my daughter has read all eight Harry Potters, are they literate? If my spouse can create and understand spreadsheets, or my child falls within or above the average range on standardized tests, are they all set in the “literacy

Picture this: Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai sitting with his son, Rabbi Elazar, learning in a cave for 12 years. Then, as soon as they leave the cave, all they want to do is run back in and learn for another full year!

Now fast forward to your house in 2019. You are sitting with your kids after school

Step # 2

Part 1

לא תשנא את אחיך בלבבך

You shall not hate your brother in your heart (Vayikra 19: 17)

When introducing step #2 to

During a casual Sunday conversation with our son—on an east coast evening by us, which was only midday out on the west coast by him—I inquired about what he and his seven-months-pregnant wife were doing that day. “Hold on,” he requested as he asked, “What’s that word again?” “Nesting,” he soon replied.

This month’s article is written by Benjamin Litchman.

Who would’ve thought? A nice Jewish boy caught up in the throes of addiction. Unheard of. When my teachers asked in Hebrew school what we planned to be when we grew up, I never imagined I would be struggling with a heroin addiction. When

Step # 1ואהבת לרעך כמוך

Love your fellow person as yourself. (Vayikra 19:18)

When I begin teaching my students the first of the “Seven Steps to Mentschhood,” I tell the following true story:

(Courtesy of Valley Chabad) On Sunday, March 10, Valley Chabad’s Friendship Circle spent a day of giving at the Veterans Home in Paramus. Over 50 children and teen volunteers came to the Veterans Home in Paramus to bring smiles to the veterans there.

The children and teens

Congregation Beth Shalom of Teaneck held a fun Motzei Shabbat Paint With Me! event. Congregation Beth Shalom members met their inner artist and all ages enjoyed a fun evening.

Throughout the decades of my genealogy research, there have been a few cousins with exceptionally common names (think Cohen, Friedman…), making them more of a challenge to find. With the family name Schneider, Leon was one of them. What turned out to be both fortunate and fruitful was finding Leon when I did. By the time I

What is codependency?

It may be a term you’ve heard thrown around before, but if you are confused as to what it actually means, that may be because the definition of codependency has evolved over time. The term codependency was first coined in the 1970s and referred to a person’s penchant to

The story is told of the late Dr. Judah Folkman, who several years ago discovered promising anti-cancer therapies. Asked what motivated him to become a research physician, he explained that starting at the age of 7 he accompanied his father, a rabbi in Columbus, Ohio, on hospital visits to see patients. It was those visits that

This week’s parsha, known as Tzav, begins as follows: “And the Lord spoke to Moshe, saying, ‘Tzav! Command Aaron and his sons.’”

Immediately, the usual formula is disrupted. Usually when God speaks to Moshe, He says, “Say to Aaron,” or “Say to the people,” not “Command