My three-year old son Dovi and I were waiting for my wife Sheindy and my 22-month-old son Benny to walk through the arrivals gate at Gatwick Airport. Sheindy had been on a visit to her parents in Israel for five days while I spent some quality time Dovi. As Sheindy…
The Kabbalah of Lust
The headline in the Sunday Times read: ‘Stop feeling guilty: lust is good for you’. I was intrigued and read on. But I was disappointed; the article did not actually say that lust itself was good for you. It was predicated on an essay written by Professor Simon Blackburn saying…
Guns & Roses: Are They Compatible?
When I was a child growing up in London, my Mom strictly forbade us to play with toy guns. Other friends received toy guns as birthday presents from their parents and grandparents, but no such toy was ever to be found in our home. In fact, my parents never let…
Show Me the Gratitude
There was a time when children saw it as their responsibility to look after there ageing parents. Today unfortunately we live in a very fast-paced world and if one wants to get ahead one must put in those billable hours. Often this leaves little time to dedicate to those around…
Relationship Guidance From God
Thousands of self-help books have been published offering guidance to men and women pursuing romantic relationships. With so much help at hand one might have thought that this generation would be experiencing the most fulfilling relationships ever. The reality however is that the divorce rate is at record levels and…
The Festival of Marriage & Family Values
The fifteenth day in Av – the day the young women went in to the vineyards to find a groom – was a day that symbolized a society that had internalized ideas of morality, selflessness and family values Some in Israel mark the fifteenth day of the month of Av…
Laws of Attraction
Attraction between the sexes is a complex issue. There are many different theories explaining what attracts men and women to each other. Some theorize that opposites attract. Others posit that it is odor that causes the attraction. Still others hypothesize that men marry women who remind them of their mothers…
Torah Versus Secular Wisdom
Rabbi Shmon ben Yechoi says in the Zohar, that the verse in our Torah portion (Genesis 7,11) which reads, “In the sixth hundred year of Noah’s life…were broken up all the fountains of the great deep” alludes to the fact that in the sixth hundred year of the sixth millennium…
Faith, Rationality & Science: Are They Suited to Each Other?
About four years ago I met with our local Catholic priest to discuss starting an interfaith group for our area of North London. During our conversation the concept of biblical stories came up, “Do you believe that Noah really existed and that there was a flood?” I replied affirmatively. “Then…
Is Freedom Really Worth Fighting for?
We are told that as humans we were given the gift and responsibility of freedom. In decent societies people who abuse their freedom forfeit it and are imprisoned. Western leaders maintain that they are the leaders of the “free” world and are fighting to defend freedom. We are brought up…