Marriage

Eternal Harmony
Eternal Harmony

While standing under the chuppa, what couple doesn’t hope for eternal shalom bayis, lasting marital harmony? The partners fervently pray that they should feel as good about each other in the many years of their upcoming life together as they do on their wedding day. 

Read More
The Wedding Day
The Wedding Day

The Jewish home is considered a replica of the Beit Hamikdosh, the Holy Temple which stood in Jerusalem, and which, G-d willing, will quickly be rebuilt with the coming of Moshiach. Every aspect of the Temple was holy, for the spirit of Hashem, G-d, was manifest there.

Read More
Uncovering the Oneness
Uncovering the Oneness

Everybody loves a wedding. The love, the excitement, the heartfelt anticipation of a deep and lasting bond. When we speak about the beauty of marriage, we speak of deep commitment and selfless, unconditional love. But what does that really mean?

Read More
Cultivating Your Emotional IQ III
Cultivating Your Emotional IQ III

Recent psychological research has revealed that there is a vast difference in styles of communication between men and women. The great differences in how men and women communicate, very popular in recent research, was recognized by our Sages long ago.

Read More
The Dance of Love
The Dance of Love

At Jewish weddings I've seen this dance where people stand facing each other in two lines, and then run towards each other and meet in the middle, then run backwards to their original places, only to do it all over again. 

Read More
Love At Second Sight
Love At Second Sight

Why are so many marriages failures? And why do so many fail so soon after the wedding? We read about the first shidduch (match) in history. Abraham sends his trusted servant, Eliezer, to find a wife for his son Isaac. 

Read More
Wellsprings
Wellsprings

Judaism is very realistic in its understanding of human sexuality. It understands there is love between men and women that is unique and total, that reaches fulfillment in physical expression.

Read More
Taking Monotony Out of Monogamy
Taking Monotony Out of Monogamy

What is as holy as Yom Kippur, more spiritual than meditating and the best thing you can do for your love life? You may not believe it, but the answer is THE MIKVAH - the ancient Jewish method guiding the intimate relationship between husband and wife.

Read More
Tzimtzum
Tzimtzum

In the beginning, a simple divine light filled the entirety of existence... When there arose in His simple will the desire to create the worlds, He contracted His light, withdrawing it to the sides and leaving a void and an empty space in its center, to allow for the existence of the worlds. 

Read More
Choosing A Mate
Choosing A Mate

Avrohom decided to send his trustworthy disciple and right-hand man, Eliezer, to find a suitable wife for Yitzchok. The modern mind finds it difficult to understand why Yitzchok agreed to allow Eliezer to choose a wife for him. Is this a matter in which one can rely on others?

Read More
When A Couple Drifts Apart
When A Couple Drifts Apart

There is a common misconception about relationships. Many people think that if I meet the right person, things will all go smoothly from there. If a relationship is bumpy, if we need to put effort in to make it work, it must be the wrong relationship.

Read More
The Power of Mikvah
The Power of Mikvah

What is as holy as Yom Kippur, as powerful as prayer and the secret of a spiritually dynamic marriage? You may not believe it, but the answer is The Mikvah. The traditional Jewish observance guiding the intimate relationship between husband and wife.

Read More
Kissing in Public
Kissing in Public

I have an issue with religious Jews. They have this thing about not showing affection in public. You would never see a very religious couple holding hands walking down the street and certainly not kissing in public, as it is considered immodest.

Read More
Holy Matrimony
Holy Matrimony

Picture the scene. A young man announces his engagement and arrives at the synagogue to book his wedding. The rabbi discovers that he is a kohen and his fiance is a divorcee, convert, someone previously married out of the faith, or perhaps the daughter of a non-Jewish father.

Read More
My Wedding Haircut
My Wedding Haircut

Quietly I sat reading tehillim (psalms), with a handful of nickels and a small wooden pushka (charity box), as my hairdresser twirled my thick, beautiful curls into an updo. A bit distracted by the imminence of my upcoming wedding,

Read More
Romance and the Divine
Romance and the Divine

The Torah calls for a relationship between husband and wife which allows for the fullest expression of their love in a passionate bond. In turn, that relationship and its expression reflect a union above and an awareness which draw the couple together not only physically and emotionally but spiritually as well

Read More
Meaning Of Hair Covering
Meaning Of Hair Covering

I heard an anthropologist talking about shaitels (wigs). He said how ironic it is that observant Jewish women wear wigs. In biblical Judaism, the rule was that married women should cover their hair in order to be modest and unattractive.

Read More
Buttons of Love
Buttons of Love

When a husband and wife give gifts to one another in a spirit of friendship it creates between them feelings of camraderie, affection and closeness. Giving includes a full range of behaviors from giving a material gift to giving the gift of kindness and everything in-between.

Read More
Woman, Man and Fire
Woman, Man and Fire

Some of our sages probe not only the words of the Torah, but each individual letter as well. The foremost exponent of this method was Rabbi Akiba. It was he who taught: “If husband and wife are deserving, G-d’s Presence dwells in their midst. If they are not deserving, fire devours them.”

Read More
Ladies First
Ladies First

Even in this day and age, most women graciously accept the traditional "ladies first" rule, whether it's getting off a sinking ship or going through a ballroom doorway. 

Read More