We have all had experiences when we have had to have a difficult conversation with a spouse, an employee, a child or a student, and have noticed no change in their behavior afterwards. Sometimes the conversation damages or even terminates the relationship. In these cases, we tend to blame them for not hearing us or for taking it personally, but the reason for the lack of result probably lies with us. It is likely that we came to the conversation from a place of personal anger, hurt or defensiveness, rather than from a place of true caring and love for the other. This can cause the other..

“Every Man a Matchmaker” This essay, like many others, reveals its link to the Parsha near the end. However, unlike most of the others, this essay is not the outcome of learning a section from the Parsha, nor is the link its main feature. Rather, the content of this essay emerges from a need I have to comment on Rabbi Shmuley Boteach’s excellent JPost op-ed: “Every Man a Matchmaker.”[1] Rabbi Boteach shows the concern of a thinker, the call to action of a leader, and the cry from the heart of a father. “Curing the singles scene,” he writes, “is one of the foremost priorities espec..

The Megilah App It’s Purim. I’m sitting in the magnificent Sandton Shul (www.sandtonshul.co.za ) in Johannesburg where the atmosphere is dignified but celebratory. I feel far from my family who are scattered in three different countries and think of them nostalgically. The Megilah reading starts. The community is both enthralled and entertained by the reading of Chaim Ehrlich. And I feel proud because Chaim is an iAwaken member and son of one of my first and dear Talmidim. I hold my iPhone in my hand and am following the megillah on one of its brilliant apps...

The word "Tisah" implies elevation and upliftment. A prince is called a Nasi. But it also implies "to carry". Even the very idea of ‘lifting someone up’ in English also has two meanings: Toraise someone would mean to lift him up high as a sign of honor as we often do to a Chattan and Kallah at their wedding. To carrysomeone implies that they are disabled and unable to carry themselves. One can be a Nasi, a major contributor to society, or one can be a Masui, nothing but a burden to society and a consumer of its resources. The word Yisah (s..