By Shirin Yadegar

Valentine’s Day can often feel commercial, flashy, and centered on grand romantic gestures. But as a mother, I’ve come to see February 14th as something far more meaningful: an opportunity to root our families in the deeper foundation of love as action.

In Judaism, love is not just a feeling — it is a mitzvah, a sacred responsibility. The Torah teaches, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Rabbi Hillel famously said that this principle is the essence of the entire Torah; the rest is commentary. Love, in our tradition, is not passive. It is something we choose, something we practice.

And what better place to practice it than at home? (more…)

By Rachelle Unreich

I was sitting in my living room in Melbourne, getting ready to light my menorah for Chanukah, when an alert came through on my phone at 7.15pm, from our Jewish security community group. It said there was “an incident in Sydney this evening, which may have occurred at a community event.” I wasn’t too alarmed; I was used to these kinds of alerts. But only minutes later, my phone started pinging with texts of more details. People had been shot, killed at a Chanukah gathering in Bondi Beach. Fatalities kept rising. In the end, they would amount to the largest terrorist event ever to occur on Australian soil. Fifteen dead. Forty in hospital. It was – and still is – impossible to comprehend it.

Bondi Beach is a sunny suburb in Sydney that’s best known for its iconic beach, but I knew it well because I had lived there for two years, choosing it precisely because of its Jewishness. I lived in an apartment belonging to a Holocaust survivor – she had been in Auschwitz with my mother who was also a survivor – that was situated right above a kosher butcher, with a Jewish social club a few doors away. Years later, after I’d written my book A Brilliant Life about my late mother Mira, I appeared at a Sydney Jewish writers festival in a building that opens up to the beach itself, and only steps away from the park where the Chanukah event was held. (more…)

By Kim O’Hara
I spoke with a leading business coach for working moms who guides her clients take the strength out of stories like “I should be farther along in my career” when comparing to other women, or “I am ruining my kids” when you pick up your child at 3:30 PM at the day care instead of 3 PM. She admitted most of her clients forgot what it takes to make them happy. It often becomes a glass of wine after the kids are in bed and Netflix.

Our personal happiness and self-kindness are a choice. A daily choice, and sometimes an hourly one. Women, especially in the “sandwich generation” are exhausted and have lost their way to finding small moments of joy amid all they are doing for everyone all the time. A thought: “I am not doing enough” can become a self-deprecating mantra to the point where it feels real. We are then in a self-fulfilling prophecy that we should, as women, should be able to fix all the wrongs that happen to the people we love in the world. When in fact, we are just human beings who need time for joy too. (more…)

By Carrie Salvatore

You made it through the Terrible Twos—the tantrums, the power struggles, the overwhelming sense of “What now?”; only to find yourself, years later, staring down the next developmental storm: Middle School. And what a storm it is, hopefully this will help you navigagte this voyage.

Welcome to the Terrible “Toos,” Part Two.

Middle School—whether you call it Junior High, the tween years, or simply grades 6 through 8—is a time of profound transformation for children and parents alike. It’s second only to the astonishing growth of the first four years of life. Think back: From birth to age four, your child went from total dependency to walking, talking, and asserting independence at every turn. Now, brace yourself, because you’re about to experience that all over again—only this time, with hormones, identity development, and social dynamics layered on top amidst growing challenges academically at school. (more…)

By Suzie Stern

Over time, after October 7, I heard the voices of Jewish community leaders in the diaspora (thank you for your advocacy and leadership) urging me to be a loud and proud Jew. But I did not feel loud. I felt helpless, weak, and wordless. Proud Jew? Yes. But, what did my Jewishness actually mean to me? I wanted to be a loud and proud Jew, but I didn’t know how – or even fully why.

So, I embarked on a journey of Jewish learning. Thank you to Jewish authors such as Sarah Hurwitz, Zibby Owens, Alan Morinis and others. Thank you Rabbi Leder, Rabbi Hirsch, Rabbi Brous, Rabbi Cosgrove, Rabbi Stutman, Rabbi Buchdahl, Rabbi Wildes and others for your books and podcasts. Keep speaking, keep writing– we need and are counting on you. I have found comfort, wisdom, and guidance in your words. Beyond that, I have found the pathway I was searching for after October 7 as a mother of two wonderful girls. (more…)