What is the inadvertent message of Giving Tuesday, Mothers’ Day, Veterans’ Day and all the myriad other “Days” that are scattered throughout the year? Think about it. We owe honor to our parents and veterans every day of the year. We should feel the obligation to give to charity every single time we receive or...
Wishing you all a day surrounded by family and friends, a day of full stomachs and full hearts. ~ Rabbi Daniel & Susan Lapin This Thanksgiving post (originally published November 2014) reminds me that God’s hugs are all around us. The more we look for them, the more of them we will feel. I try...
Both Presidents Biden and Trump are giving old age a bad name. One is frequently befuddled while the other is increasingly cantankerous. It might be funny were it a certain 1993 Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon movie, but in real life it is just tragic. Aside from the national and international consequences, both men harm...
The polling booths have closed for the midterm elections in the United States. Some seats changed hands, others stayed as they were, and some races are yet to be called. Whatever the results, the fact is that the true battleground for the future of America lies not in politics but in the culture. In the...
Choose One It is never comfortable when your own arguments are used against you. When that happens, it might reveal that your arguments were empty or it might lead you to sharpen your thoughts. If the topic changes and you are no longer comfortable with your logic, it is time to rethink. Let me give...
Which do you prefer – planning and anticipating a special activity or unexpectedly finding one? We find that each has its own unique pleasure. After two unrelated people both recommended that my husband and I visit a certain Jerusalem museum, we were thrilled to be offered a VIP tour, an offer we quickly accepted. We...
who don’t behave like adolescent girls The myth of Amazon women goes far back and continues to thrive in more modern versions such as the Wonder Woman films. It is easy to uncover true stories of relatively modern female military heroines such as Russian sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko or American spy Virginia Hall, both of whom...
‘Dads and Diapers Don’t Mix,’ sounds like a terrible rallying cry. One can hardly imagine anyone willing to wear a T-shirt with that mantra. Nonetheless, I’m going to give a shot at explaining why I think it might be a necessary one. Like many slogans, the sentiment expressed is meant to be attention-getting rather than...
We are a society moved by anecdotes. For the past few decades, every American president, whether Republican or Democrat, has sprinkled special guests around the House chamber during his State of the Union speech. These guests are meant to tug at our heartstrings (they do) and, incidentally, highlight something positive about the administration or emotionally...
When does an unintended consequence turn into a decision? How about when enough time has passed for one to recognize that even if the consequence was undesired, it is to be expected? I was thinking of this question when I read a plaintive article. The female author was decrying the “unexpected consequences of feminism and...
