There are so many moments when I realize that the ideas that shape me most are not new discoveries, but truths I’ve known for years—and somehow still forget. This week, I found myself returning to one of those foundational teachings, a Mishnah we all learned long ago. Rav Dessler’s insight into th...

Dear Friends,

Here’s a thought: I’m pretty sure we would all agree that if there was a room of fifty post-sem girls and they were asked what they’re looking for in a shidduch, we would hear the same basic answers repeated again and again. The same buzzwords. The same checklist. I don’t know if I ...

Anyone else not that looking forward to the next few weeks?

The quick lift of chanukah is so far behind us we can barely see it, and the days ahead stretch out before us like a quiet, wide-open field covered in dirty snow. No yamim tovim—just the ordinary, daily rhythm. When we were in school at le...

Dear friends,

There was a period in my life when, for one reason or another, I was feeling a bit directionless. I wasn’t sure what I needed to work on, or where my energy was meant to go. So I did the only thing that seemed to make sense at the time: I threw out all my makeup, went shopping, and bo...

Last week, my son shared some thoughts that he had heard from Reb Dovid Cohen, the Rosh Yeshiva of Chevron. They resonated deeply with me—especially because they overlapped with things I’ve been thinking about lately.

We learn from a young age that the world is called olam because it is  he’elem—it...

Hi friends,

A couple of weeks ago, I sent out a newsletter about the frustration we feel when we act, think, or feel in ways that contradict the values we know to be true. I explained that we shouldn’t be surprised—or even all that disappointed—when jealousy, anxiety, pettiness, or any number of un...

I’m sure everyone reading this has heard the saying that the longest distance in the world is between the head and the heart. And yet somehow, it never ceases to amaze us when we act in ways that contradict what we know to be true.

For example, we know Hashem runs the world. We know it as surely ...

This week, I had the tremendous brochah of welcoming a new baby granddaughter into my family (simchos by all of Klal Yisrael!). As I held this gorgeous, pink-cheeked baby in my arms and looked into her cloudy newborn eyes, a strange (and maybe slightly weird) thought popped into my head:
“Hey, baby...

A gutten vinter! There is something so comforting about settling back into routine after a long Yom Tov season. I’m enjoying these days before the schedule gets stale and I find myself longing for another break. I’m working on a couple of new courses that I’m excited about, but for this week’s new...

Hi friends. 

Many years ago, I heard a thought from Rabbi Frand that resonated deeply, and I want to pass it along in case someone else needs to hear it. To me, it feels particularly appropriate right now.

We are entering a very serious time of year. If you were properly taught, you know that in j...

I have been fascinated with psychology for as long as I can remember. Whether the goal is self help, or just self awareness; discovering the reasons people do what they do is endlessly interesting to me. (I'll confess, I often find the way people's minds and emotions work to be more interesting th...

Something I’m noticing more and more as I get older: Optimism isn’t a character trait (although it is certainly true that certain people are more naturally aligned to that state of mind than others). Optimism- at least my way of understanding it- is nothing less than a superpower.

In my mind, opt...