Covenant & Conversation: Family Edition is a new and exciting initiative from The Office of Rabbi Sacks for 5779.  Written as an accompaniment to Rabbi Sacks’ weekly Covenant & Conversation essay, the Family Editionis aimed at connecting older children and teenagers with his ideas and thoughts on the parsha. Each element of the Family Edition is progressively more advanced; The Core Idea is appropriate

As I write, our teenagers are engaged in midterms, hanging onto to the sliver of the proverbial sunrise on the horizon called winter break or Yeshiva Vacation Week. Jerusalem. Miami. Vail. Acapulco. St. Moritz. No matter the continent, whether it’s warm or cold or you’re staying home, you need to prepare to assure a win-win.

Covenant & Conversation: Family Edition is a new and exciting initiative from The Office of Rabbi Sacks for 5779.  Written as an accompaniment to Rabbi Sacks’ weekly Covenant & Conversation essay, the Family Editionis aimed at connecting older children and teenagers with his ideas and thoughts on the parsha. Each element of the Family Edition is progressively more advanced; The Core Idea is appropriate

Recently, a mother said to me, “I made two smart decisions in my life, Dr. Lightman. The first was to get married and the second was to divorce. At least I have three beautiful children.” Indeed, her children are beautiful, inside and out. But are they going to be whole? With their childhoods compromised –

I always say that I am a “recovered yeller.” I used to yell a lot at my kids. I knew that I had to stop, but I wasn’t sure how to do it. That is why I started reading parenting books (and I have never stopped). I tried to glean as much from them as

Covenant & Conversation: Family Edition is a new and exciting initiative from The Office of Rabbi Sacks for 5779.  Written as an accompaniment to Rabbi Sacks’ weekly Covenant & Conversation essay, the Family Editionis aimed at connecting older children and teenagers with his ideas and thoughts on the parsha. Each element of the Family Edition is progressively more advanced; The Core Idea is appropriate

Today’s world is filled with stress and uncertainty.  The recent tsunami in Indonesia.  The terrorist attacks in Israel.  Fires in California.  The Pittsburgh massacre.  And the increasing number of attacks on visibly Jewish Jews.  Is it any wonder that children, adolescents and adults of all ages are riddled with anxiety? The unfortunate fact is stress

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

Covenant & Conversation: Family Edition is a new and exciting initiative from The Office of Rabbi Sacks for 5779.  Written as an accompaniment to Rabbi Sacks’ weekly Covenant & Conversation essay, the Family Editionis aimed at connecting older children and teenagers with his ideas and thoughts on the parsha. Each element of the Family Edition is progressively more advanced; The Core Idea is appropriate

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,