Category
jewish
Rabbinical marriage counseling works — up to a point
Although rabbis can play a positive role in brokering a reconciliation in couples with relatively minor problems, they are generally ill-equipped, both educationally and often temperamentally, to grapple with spousal abuse, depression, bullying and other serious issues that can destroy marriages and souls.
We’d All Rather Be in Venice
It\’s been two years this week since my mother, Betty Switkes, died, and we still haven\’t had the unveiling. Jewish custom dictates that you unveil the headstone a year after the person dies, but my father has not found the right stone or the right words to inscribe on that stone, so she rests in this unmarked grave. People who pass by this spot might suspect the person buried here is a forgotten soul, but nothing could be further from the truth. She is the focus of his obsession.
Gay Marriage Ban Could Alienate Jews
Proponents of gay marriage were \”pursuing a deliberate plan of litigation and political pressure which will not only redefine marriage, but will follow from that to threaten the first freedom enshrined in the First Amendment — religious liberty,\” said Nathan Diament, the director of the Washington office of the Orthodox Union.
Modern Orthodoxy’s Marriage Crisis
Hard-to-marry-off children have been worrying parents since Genesis, when Leah, her eyes tender from the sadness of being unwanted, took part in a hoax to trick Jacob — her younger, prettier sister\’s suitor — into marrying her.
‘Because Judaism Feels Right’
When 50-year-old Hector Ventura was a young boy growing up in El Salvador four decades ago, his mother would always talk about Jewish customs. Which was strange, because the Venturas were not Jewish. Like most of their neighbors, they were Catholic — not particularly devout but Catholics just the same.
Is This Marriage Made in Heaven?
What is a soul mate? Is it a New Age concept that defines true love? Is it a catchy phrase used by romance novelists and publishers to sell books? Or does it mean something deeper and more essential, a spiritual bond between two people that is essential to fulfilling our heart\’s destiny?
My Jewish Intermarriage
Let\’s face it. Every marriage between two Jews is an intermarriage. I\’m not talking about the obvious ones, like a marriage between an Orthodox Jew and a Jew-by-birth who is not at all religious. Clearly if one spouse davens three times a day and the other spouse uses Mapquest to find her way to synagogue on Yom Kippur, a silver anniversary is not in their future. I\’m talking about the rest of us.
Boutique Teaches Brides Love Lessons
The Love Boutique sells everything from massage oils to lingerie and romantic board games to self-help books. In keeping with the store\’s philosophy, these items are merely tools to help women feel elegant, sexy and self-confident.
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