Home and Family Life Resources

Dear Anne Frank…

These are the opening words of the most famous personal diary in the world, the diary of Anne Frank.

On folly and straying

What “spirit of folly” is it that results in adultery? We can say that an adulterer’s folly is ignoring the results of his actions. Adulterers live in an imaginary world, believing that they can lead a double life and enjoy all the worlds, but in truth they are destroying their own life and the life of others with their own hands.

Judaism begins at home

Jewish genealogy has become something of an art. There are many internet sites that can help you chart your family history and discover long-lost relatives you never knew about. Perhaps this penchant for family history begins with the list of Jewish family names that appears in Parashat Pinchas.

From Back-to-Back to Face-to-Face

Kabbalah teaches us that before God “sawed” Adam and Eve apart, Adam’s male side was back-to-back with his female side. Psychologically speaking, this is also the level of consciousness that most marriages begin with; each spouse being unaware of the other’s needs, emotions, and expectations. Clearly, if we are looking to create truly meaningful relationships—beginning with our soul-mate—we must learn to communicate with others in a face-to-face manner.

Mother Rachel Cries for Her Children

This article is being published in commemoration of Jewish Mother’s Day on 11 Cheshvan, the day of Mother Rachel’s passing. For one of our seminal articles on the topic, please read “Why Jewish Mother’s Day?”

Follow Your Heart

Anyone who deals with matchmaking will eventually have to tackle this question: Is it a better idea to make a match between a girl and a boy who are similar in character or do matches between sharply contrasting characters— who complement one another and are drawn to one another like opposite poles of a magnet—have a greater chance of being successful?

Honoring Our Father and Mother

You might ask, what is the question? Who knows what’s good for a child better than their parents? But it’s no so straightforward. The commandment to “Honor your father and your mother” is not directed at a young child, but to an adult who is obligated to keep the mitzvot. Perhaps there are those who believe (mostly children…) that the commandment to respect your parents ends with the bar-mitzvah celebration, but in truth, it is the opposite.

Three Reasons to Honor your Parents

“Honor your father and your mother…” is the fifth of the Ten Commandments. The sages teach that God placed the honor of one’s parents even before His own honor. Why is honoring one’s parents such a great mitzvah? Three different reasons are given.

The Correct Approach to Distanced Parents

Three stages of submission, separation, and sweetening related to the mitzvah of honoring one's parents.

A MOTHER’S ROLE

The Lubavitcher Rebbe explained that as a child he yearned for the time when having received consolation as only the Almighty can offer it, the Jewish people would be able to look back at all the hardships and pain of our long exile and give thanks to God, acknowledging that everything that had come to pass was for the good.

Preferring the Rebellious Child

Which would you prefer, a “rebellious” child, or a “good” child? Most parents and educators would choose the good, well-behaved and polite child who does everything he is told and behaves as expected of him. Who needs the trials and tribulations of the rebellious child?! But, a seasoned educator may well prefer a rebellious child.

Life After Death

There are three levels of life: Living a healthy life in this world; life after spiritual death (sin); life after physical death. To live a healthy life in this world means to consciously pursue a good life on both the physical and spiritual planes.

The Jewish Home: A Microcosm of the Temple

When a Jewish family enters a new home, it is customary to have a festive meal to initiate, or inaugurate the new house. This feast is reminiscent of the inauguration of the Temple. The consciousness in every Jewish home should be that of a microcosm of the Temple.

1. A Microcosm of the Temple
2. Sustenance, Clothing, and Shelter
3. Man in the Aura of the Tzelem
4. Reversing the Order: Shelter, Clothing, and Sustenance
5. Five Levels of the Soul – An Inverted Seal
6. Food, Liquids, and Air
7. The Primordial Atmosphere
8. Clouds of Glory, Miriam's Well, and Manna
9. The World: A Home for God
10. The Mezuzah

Excerpts from The Mystery of Marriage

The following are early excerpts from Harav Ginsburgh's book, The Mystery of Marriage: How to Find Love and Happiness in Married Life. Please note that some of these articles were heavily edited in the final text of the book.

1. Have you found? or Do you find?
2. Finding Eve
3. The Two Trees in the Garden of Eden
4. Cultivating Selflessness
5. Remembering Your Common Soul-Root
6. Love at First Sight
7. Experiencing Love at First Sight
8. 5 Biblical Examples of Love at First Sight
9. Relationship, Together, and Being One
10. Mirror Psychology
11. Three Levels in Relationships
12. Indignant Estrangement
13. Rectifying Domestic Strife
14. Humility
15. Infinite Patience
16. For, With, and Against
17. Meriting Children

The Unique Spirituality of Women and Children

1. Teneh–Revealed and Concealed Levels of Torah
2. Teneh – Levels of Jewish People Correspond to Levels of Torah
3. Hakhel – To Learn, to Hear, to Merit
4. Taf (Children) – Drops and Prophecy
5. Nashim (Women) – Breath and Soul
6. Inner Dimension of Torah and the Inner Dimension of the Heat
7. Redemption in Merit of Women and Children
8. Search For My Inner Essence
9. Two Levels of the Inner Dimension
10. Israel, Torah, and God – Inner and External Dimensions
11. Four Directions and the Four Worlds
12. Emanation Consciousness – No Friction
13. Face, Innerness, Glory, and Atzilut (Emanation)
14. Awareness of a Higher Dimension Helps to Create a Good Year

The Secrets of Challah

1. Rachel’s Tomb and Women’s Mitzvot
2. The Secrets of Challah: Creation Rolled Up Into Challah – Lecture 2, Part 1
3. The Secrets of Challah: Creation Rolled Up Into Challah – Lecture 2, Part 2
4. The Secrets of Challah: Creation Rolled Up Into Challah – Lecture 2, Part 3
5. The Secrets of Challah: Creation Rolled Up Into Challah – Lecture 2, Part 5
6. The Secrets of Challah: Creation Rolled Up Into Challah – Lecture 2, Part 6
7. The Secrets of Challah: Creation Rolled Up Into Challah – Lecture 2, Part 7