Calling in our family for an emergency family meeting, Miriam and I realized things had to change.

We thank G-d, are blessed with a large family, with different age groups and levels of maturity, in a smaller area, with limited technology and a limited amount of tending which we can attend to as parents.

We acknowledged the difficulties of being in yet a third lockdown with schools out for the third time.

Our children have to be in a brand new type of school. Being a remote student is not an easy thing for kids. Not at all, and we emphasized that.

As any parent with their kids home for any amount of time knows, there can be lots of dramas and even mayhem in the home-front command.

Having kids home for a prolonged and unknown amount of time can be complete mayhem, both emotionally and socially.

Upon convening the gang, some begrudgingly, we sat down. As the paternal role model in the house, I passionately asserted: "We are all living together and contribute to this one house. All of...

By Rabbi Amichai Cohen

Do your rampant thoughts seem to be taking on a life of its own? I know that mine does. 

Between the anxiety of Covid, the precarious government situation, and our overactive addiction to technology, our minds seem at a loss now more than ever. Having our children intermittently come in and out of school does not help either.

A Chassidic tale is told about a man who went to the Maggid of Mezritch and told him that his thoughts were overtaking him, seeking advice on how to master his thoughts. 

The Tzadik sent him to a disciple of his in a particular town. When the man arrived in town, it was raining, and upon spotting the house, he briskly approached the door with loud knocks. A man inside asked who it was. The man answered, “It is I, Yankel.” No answer...

Yankel knocked again, this time louder. “Let me in, it’s raining,” Yankel cried out. No answer again. The knocking proceeded for some time until the owner opened the...

What is the origin of thoughts, and are we, in fact, our thoughts?

“I think therefore I am” famously said by 18th Century Philosopher Rene Descartes, is the anthem of the Western world in many ways.

We know that our inner world is multi-layered. Our physical brain is extraordinarily complex and is divided into three general areas; The frontal lobe, the Perennial lobe, and the occipital lobe. On a neurological level, we can say that the cortex, the prefrontal cortex, and the amygdala are the roots of cognition and formation of intelligence, memory, thoughts, and action. 

Who’s leading who? 

In Kabbalistic writings, we are taught that there are three parts of our mind, our higher intelligence, called Chochma and Binah, the mindful component of our consciousness, called Da’at, and our emotions. 

The ideal healthy flow of consciousness begins with our higher cognition and filters to our emotions. When the mind can transmit its realizations,...