
Love is in the air! đ
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called “Chutzpah Dating.”It used to be that young men and women went on dates and generally treated each other respectfully and civilly as they explored whether there was a spark between them and potentially a match to be made. But somewhere along the lines, too many Prince Charmings have turned into real ugly toads.
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called “Surviving Marriage Meshugas.”
At the end of the day, like all things, marriage is partially what you make of it and how hard you work at it. Remember, bringing two people together, even two halves of the same whole, can be challenging and requires understanding and compromise.
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called “From Judaism with Love.”
Civilizationsâ notion of a perfect world comes not from classical Greek and Roman society â where art, architecture, beauty, government, philosophy, and empirical science emanated â but rather directly through Judaism (i.e., from Hashem).
One one hand, you have Greece and Rome with polytheism and paganism, where gods are in the image of man, beauty is holy, and morality is subjective and malleable. On the other hand, we have Judaismâs clear declaration of monotheism (with one omnipotent, benevolent, eternal, and invisible G-d), where man was created in the image of G-d, the holy is beautiful, and morality is objective and unchangeable. At the end of the day, there is no contest: G-dâs Torah, as transmitted through the Jewish people, is the absolute and enduring âlight unto the nationsâ towards the perfect world.
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called “Love Your Family As The Stranger.”
When it comes to strangers, itâs almost easier to put on a face, act all proper, and do whatâs right because they arenât our family, thus Avraham could run to help the strangers. Yet, when it comes to our own families, we donât feel it necessary to keep up pretenses. We sometimes say and do things to family that we would likely never say to or do in front of strangers, like Avraham telling Hagar and Ishmael to get out! We may even betray and hurt the ones we love, like when Avraham said Sarah was his sister putting her at jeopardy with Avimelekh. Further, we âsacrificeâ our children and spouses by putting our work (sometimes 24/7), social media, and our own brand and needs first, and donât adequately pay attention to whatâs really going on with our families, their needs, aspirations, and troubles; for example, Avraham was going to sacrifice Isaac, his and Sarahâs only child and âthe son of her old age.â We take for granted and even advantage of our families, because we can. And some at the further bad end of the spectrum, âgo home and kick the dog!â Yes, the pictures that everyone posts on Facebook and Instagram are what people want you to see and think about them (their personal brand): that everythingâs all rosy and they have the perfect lives and families, but I venture to guess that often, itâs far from the reality of what goes on âbehind closed doors.â
All of us need to pay attention and do whatâs right not only when we want to look good in front of others, but knowing that even in our own homes, G-d is watching what we do and how we treat each other.
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called, “Peace In The Home, Always.”
If the husband and wifeâwith Hashemâs help as the third partnerâcreate a peaceful, loving, caring, and harmonious home then they can have the likes of Shabbat all week long.
I realized why we say the blessing for the food before we eat and bless G-d for the land after we eat: before we eat, we donât know how it will taste or whether it will sit well with us in our stomachs, but we imagine when we are hungry that all the good-looking food and drink will be great and so we bless G-d based on the perception of the coming food. However, after we eat, we make the blessing for the source of the food (the land, the food chain, and over wives for preparing it) for the sake of Shalom Bayit, because whether the meal was so good or not so good, we say thanks to Hashem and to our wives, because that contributes to Shabbat and peace in the home, always!
(Source Photo: Pixabay)
Thought this was a brilliant depiction of appreciating the invaluable people in our lives.
You don’t know what you have until you don’t have it anymore.
Often, people become lazy in their relationships or they stop appreciating what/who they have–we end up taking them for granted, not paying them our loving attention or worse mistreating them.
But one day, those people won’t necessarily be there for us anymore.
That’s when our eyes are opened to what we’ve done, but then it’s too late to go back and undo the mistakes we made.
One good friend told me that marriage is not like Hollywood; it’s not all loving all the time:
“There are good days and bad, but it’s better to have 5 even really bad days a month with your partner than 30 bad days a month by yourself, alone.”
Don’t wait until it’s too late to love and care for your spouse, children, grandchildren, etc.
Eventually, the clock runs out and regret won’t bring anyone back.
(Source Photo: Millionaire Tutor via Facebook)
Great artistic depiction of the beauty of women.
Simple yet elegant.
Mysterious yet familiar.
Intense yet tender and caring.
Thoughtful yet expressive.
Dark yet full of light.
Natural yet sensual.
Fantasy yet reality.
A best friend, a partner, a lover.
Together a home. đ
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)