What drives these parents to have large families? A love for kids? Determination to rebuild post-Holocaust? Some innate affection for Honda and
Toyota minivans?
We’re financially strained as it is, and I think it’s irresponsible to add another mouth to feed when you can’t afford it. Are there no limits to the commandment to “be fruitful and multiply”?
The more I get involved in Jewish life, the fewer options I have for girls to date. To be honest, it is making me hesitate before becoming more observant.
She complained last night that I’m not helpful around the house. She claims that yesterday I came home and plonked myself on the couch to relax, leaving her to look after the kids and dinner and everything else. When I pointed out to her that I actually offered to help, she says it wasn’t sincere. I’m at a loss. What more can I do? Is it my fault if she ignores my offer to help?
My son just got engaged to a wonderful Jewish girl, thank G‑d. We love and adore her—she is so good to him. But there is one issue: She has zero interest in Judaism.
The idea that there is a problem with the bride also giving the groom a ring seems absurd to me. Surely I have as much say in the agreement to be married as my husband-to-be?
I don’t know if I should give up on blind dates, or just give up altogether. Any message of hope for the dated-out? I’m starting to lose faith in ever finding love.
I have friends who got engaged to the first person they ever dated, and are now married with kids. Yet here I am, many years and many, many dates later, and I still haven’t met the right person.
Marriage has been getting a bad rap lately, and it’s entirely unjustified. Decades of studies on human wellbeing provide the same conclusions consistently . . .
I feel that intimacy is an important part of a relationship, and would create a very strong bond between us. So what's wrong with pre-marital intimacy?
I dream of one day having a wife, a loving relationship and children. But almost all the married men I know complain about their marriages. Is marriage really as bad as all those grumbling husbands say it is?
I would have loved more than anything to pass on a Jewish/Torah legacy to children and grandchildren. I have been told that because I am barren that I am somehow cursed by G‑d. Am I cursed?
Is it true that traditionally, Jewish marriages were arranged marriages? I’ve also heard that this is still the practice amongst the more religious Jews . . .
I am in a serious relationship with a great guy. We have been together for a while now and I have very strong feelings for him. He is ready to get married, and is getting a bit impatient with me.
I am happy in my relationship, and things are getting quite serious. But there is one nagging doubt at the back of my mind. I have nothing to compare her to, because I have never been in this type of relationship before. I feel that perhaps, before I commit, I should see some other girls . . .
I am having a problem with a friend of mine. There seems to be an attraction between us that I don't want there. I love my fiancé and don't want to be distracted or hurt our relationship.
It seems that the more determined I am to marry a Jew, the more fantastic non-Jewish girls walk into my life. Maybe G-d is trying to tell me something?
The taxi driver shook his head and said, “You Jews have got it good. In my community, when someone is dating and confused, or is going through a rough patch in his marriage, who should we turn to?”
I am disgusted by the things my mother has done. She is old now and needs me, but there is nothing in her life that deserves respect. How can I respect her without losing my dignity?
She wanted to choose where I went to college, what I studied, whom I married—and continues to disagree with everything that I do. I should do as she says: that, basically, is her philosophy.
The situations arising today in the realm of conception have no medical precedence, and yet the centuries old Torah has much to say about the spiritual ramifications of these procedures
As a childless, single, middle-aged, totally non-observant woman, am I considered a failure as a Jew? Is there any other spiritual role for a woman other than wife or mother? Will I end my life as a genetic dud?
A Jew belongs within a Jewish community. There are no application forms and no qualification requirements. He's Jewish—that's where he belongs. Period.
When you love and care about your grandchildren, is there absolutely no place for a mother or mother-in-law to give her child advice (not criticism) for the sake of the well-being of her grandchildren?
My wife and I have two children, an eight-year-old and a ten-year-old. My wife wants to have another child but I think we already have enough work and children - we do not have much time left to our day!
I have been in a spiritual funk for quite a while, actually, and not really “feeling it.” All the things I planned to improve during this past year didn't improve, and I'm hesitant to make a new round of resolutions I know I won't keep.
In a couple of weeks, my lazy sister will be awarded more than half a million dollars. I, on the other hand, work hard at my job, do many good deeds and try to do the right things in my life. However, I am struggling with bills and expenses in order to maintain my household.
We keep a Kosher home and are very active in our local synagogue. Our oldest child is married to a Catholic, our middle is mildly interested in Judaism and our youngest has absolutely no interest. How does one change another's thinking? How can I try to repair our family?
I had big plans for him. He was going to be a doctor, maybe a rabbi, maybe both. He was going to marry a lovely Jewish girl and give me many beautiful grandchildren. Well, my plan is not working out.