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Rabbi Dr. Jay Goldmintz

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Rabbi Dr. Jay Goldmintz has been a day school educator and administrator for more than thirty five years who currently teaches full time at Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School. He is Educational Director of the Legacy 613 Foundation, runs tefillah education workshops for teachers and has served as an adjunct at Azrieli Graduate School. He is author of the Koren Ani Tefilla Siddur series, winner of the 2014 National Jewish Book Award

Reclaiming the Soul of Shabbat in Quarantine

March 26, 2020, by

One of the most striking things that I have heard from students and families about the first Shabbat under quarantine has been the extent to which so many people created a much “more spiritual Shabbat” than the one they were used to. This phenomenon points to a number of lessons that we can use going

Spiritual Investment-Capital Gains

December 26, 2018, by

In a recent article, I wrote that getting one’s child into the habit doing acts of chesed is something that is caught, not taught–a line that resonated with a number of readers. But the power of “caught, not taught” in religious parenting can be even more subtle and deep than just modeling behavior that we

The Chesed Mindset: A Personal Reflection

December 19, 2018, by

In a previous life, I worked a job in which I received about one hundred emails a day, most of which demanded some kind of response. Needless to say, I came to despise that inbox. A number of months ago, I had to sit shiva and emails started arriving en masse yet again. This time,

How Do We Deliver “The Religious Experience” to Our Kids?

December 12, 2018, by

For the last number of years I have talked to adolescents about arguments (not proofs) for the existence of God. We explore concepts like intelligent design (e.g. the human body is so complex and intricate that it could not all be random) or that the continued existence of the Jewish people against all odds points

Respecting Our Parents = Respecting God?

November 14, 2018, by

How does one learn to be grateful to God for what one has? There’s one answer from the 13th century, but if you are a parent it should be a little frightening. The Torah commands one to respect and have awe for one’s parents. A philosophical question (or the very realistic question of some children)

Bored with Mitzvot? It Might Not Be a Bad Thing

November 6, 2018, by

For all our talk about passion and trying to do away with boredom, let us be honest and admit that at times it seems it’s unavoidable. As we have said before, the very nature of doing the same things repeatedly can lead to a dullness of the senses, no matter how committed you may be.

Are Your Kids Bored with Judaism?

October 23, 2018, by

“I’m bored.” “How was school today, dear?” “Boring.” “How was the class outing?” “Boring.” “There’s nothing on TV.” “It’s boring.” “There’s nothing to do on Shabbat except read!” “I’m bored.” It is said that Heinrich Heine once wrote that “I fell asleep reading a dull book and dreamed I kept on reading, so I awoke

Do our Kids Really Believe in God?

October 17, 2018, by

I have been giving a lot of thought lately to the sense I have that there isn’t enough talk about God in schools. By this I mean not that you don’t hear the Name being mentioned–certainly in a Chumash or Navi class it is (almost) unavoidable–but rather that we don’t always talk about Him as