Journal

An important key to intimacy is open communication both between you and yourself, your mind your body and between you and your spouse. We are so often rushed, moving rapidly through our day that we do not enable ourselves to find time and space to enjoy intimacy. The following exercise, quite detailed,[pay close attention to the details they are important]  is devised to allow you to open the space and time. If you both desire to try this exercise read it through together or individually. Set up a day, and a time when you both know you can be available...

In school the three most basic subjects taught are; reading, writing and arithmetic. How can we transfer these basic educational principals into our marriages? This article will discuss the skill of reading. Reading- what is reading?  And how can we apply this to marriage? The importance of providing space in a relationship for the other person to be read, heard and understood can be illustrated through a story I once heard about the travels of a great teacher.  This master teacher visited a study hall in one of the towns he frequented.  As he walked into the study hall he...

Whether you are a parent of 1 child or 10 children, this could happen to anyone…. It’s a lazy weekend morning. You awaken to the sound of deafening silence throughout the house. All the children are still fast asleep. Your partner has obviously discovered this too, and takes advantage of the moment, moving closer to you. You respond and…”Mummy, I’m awake. Can I have breakfast NOW?!” Moment over. All thoughts of intimacy are lost as you switch seamlessly into parenting mode. You may then send the child back to bed or to play at the other end of the house...

Date night. Those two words can conjure up many emotions for those of us with young children. When we first got married, and then after the birth of our children, we were told by the experts, generally older family members or friends, that date night was one of those marriage musts. That without setting aside one specific night a week to take each other out to dinner or even a coffee, we may as well forget our relationship as husband and wife, because our roles of father and mother will have totally taken over. The idea behind date night is...

By Rav Natan Alexander Perhaps the most powerful statement I heard during studying for my Smicha (Rabbinical Ordination) were the words of my teacher Ha Rav Shukki Reich,"להיות רב,זה להיות איש בודד To be a Rabbi is to be a lonely man."  I am sure that many of my colleagues including myself when hearing these words thought twice before continuing the program.  He continued to 'inspire' by telling us that if one is not ready to be that lonely man, the person to stand up and do what others are not ready to do, to say what others are not willing...