Growth 106 articles

Character refinement is the goal, but life’s distractions make it easy to fall off track. Recharge your batteries with stories, how-tos, and simple reminders.

The Fifth Glass of Vodka
The Fifth Glass of Vodka
As a young scholar, the great Chassidic Rebbe R’ Bunim traveled extensively on business throughout Eastern Europe. In his own mind, however, his real occupation was not the pursuit of wealth...
Oct 15, 2009
By Sarah Shapiro
Pacing
Pacing
“Did I tell you what happened to me on Erev Sukkot?” my friend Atara asks me. We sit in her kitchen as she spices her salmon. Our children play outside in...
Sep 30, 2009
By Yael Mermelstein
The Same Old Story?
The Same Old Story?
One fateful Rosh Hashana Day, the soul of Gershon Kleinbard stood in an endless line of living souls, each waiting to appear before the Master of the Universe for the moment...
Sep 10, 2009
By Rabbi Yaakov Luban
Ki Tavo: Be Happy!
Ki Tavo: Be Happy!
One senses something incredibly deep going on in bikkurim, a seemingly simple mitzvah of delivering the first produce of the seven species up to Yerushalayim to the kohen. It is a...
Sep 3, 2009
By Rabbi Asher Brander
Struggle for Prayer
Struggle for Prayer
I can’t daven. I’ve tried- I mean really tried- not just the shutting my eyes tightly and swayed type of tried. I’ve tried charts and incentives, threats and no end of...
Jul 15, 2009
By Rachel Sofer
Swine Flu: Getting Us Back to the Basics
Swine Flu: Getting Us Back to the Basics
It started with a young boy in Mexico who came down with an unusual and virulent flu. It’s become a global scare that is nearly pandemic. Swine flu, or Influenza A...
May 13, 2009
By Bassi Gruen
Happiness: When You Have Lost Everything
Happiness: When You Have Lost Everything
I recently bumped into one of my father’s colleagues. Approaching the age of retirement, he clearly had a lot on his mind due to the latest swing of the fiscal pendulum....
May 13, 2009
By Yael Mermelstein
Seekers, Keepers
Seekers, Keepers
Back when I was growing up in Cleveland Ohio, Lag B’omer was a great excuse for a school trip. While I’m somewhat embarrassed to admit it, the countdown to Lag B’omer...
May 6, 2009
By Bassi Gruen
Kedoshim: The Greatest Victim
Kedoshim: The Greatest Victim
I vaguely recall a father recollecting a Shabbat experience wherein his three year old son was pounding his two year old daughter. After being duly admonished and receiving his requisite lecture,...
Apr 29, 2009
By Rabbi Asher Brander
An Illuminating Message
An Illuminating Message
It started slowly, mere wisps of pink painted upon a deep blue sky. Then a golden glow suffused the horizon, getting brighter with each passing moment. And suddenly – she was...
Apr 20, 2009
By Bassi Gruen (article) and Rebecca Kowalsky (photos)

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