Increase your blessings just by adjusting your attitude. It’s early in the morning, traffic is terrible and I am racing across town to make it to my 7:30 yoga class on time. As I run breathlessly into the room, I smile at the irony of entering a space where mindfulness of breath is at the…
A skilled professional finds an insecure new boss to be a bitter pill. Dear Helen: I’m having the worst professional experience of my life. I left a very secure senior position for one that paid $20K more, with upside potential to replace my ambitious new boss after she moved up the food chain. The problem:…
Jews and Christians, Muslims and Catholics, no matter what religious designation you belong to, we all have two things in common. First, we all have parents who are crazy — let’s just get that out of the way. Yes, there are varying levels of madness, but ultimately they’re just not as sane as we are,…
Life has a way of sending us unseen messages, pointing us in directions we never imagined and just plain delighting us with random surprises. Just ask Marty Brounstein, a California-based management consultant, teacher and author, who found a powerful new direction for his life after taking a six-week pleasure trip to the Netherlands with his…
The floor rocked below my feet, but I felt steadfast in the knowledge that Shabbat was upon me. I stood by a table in the middle of the ocean while waving my hands over candles and reciting the blessing. Uncovering my eyes, I held my siddur and started saying Kiddush. The table was occupied by…
Dating is a lot like hiking; there are highs, lows, beauty and snakes to behold. The weather can change in an instant, you can get stuck in a downpour or get a sunburn. Basically, it’s unpredictable. Wouldn’t it be nice to know that if you put on a hat, sunscreen and brought a bottle of…
Each year as we light the menorah, the beautiful symbol of the Jews, we recall the meaning of Hanukkah. We can imagine what it meant to the Jews of the Second Temple in 165 B.C.E., when Judah Maccabee lit the seven-branched menorah he had ordered to be made and proclaimed the holiday of Hanukkah (dedication)….
Hanukkah, my all-time favorite holiday, is coming up fast. It is filled with light, fun and happiness. I’m biased, of course, since I’m a Hanukkah baby. Literally, I was born during Hanukkah, and I share the same birthday with my grandmother. So yes, it’s always been double the fun! As my gift to you, I…
Hanukkah is observed for eight nights starting on the 25th day of Kislev, which may fall from late November to late December. Hanukkah usually falls somewhere near that other little holiday known as Christmas, but not this year. This year Hanukkah begins the evening of Dec. 8 and ends Dec. 16. For me that means…
On Nov. 4 Israel bid farewell to a king. His name was Shaul Evron, and he was the undisputed king of the Israeli culinary scene. He was also a man very dear to my heart. I was a newcomer in the foodie world in 1998 when I interviewed him for the Jerusalem Post. Actually, the…
