Much has already been said about how the Jewish people should be responding to this global calamity. What is the message?

“If the Holy One, blessed be He, had not taken our ancestors from Egypt, behold we and our children and our children’s children would [all still] be enslaved to Pharaoh in Egypt.” This text from the Haggadah begs the famous question, “Really?” That is to say, ancient Egypt is long defunct. Had we really not been taken out by G-d at that time, probably we would have eventually gotten out of that jam when Egypt was conquered by the next up-and-coming world power. So what is the

#family #parenting

Apparently there’s a new Jewish organization on the child sexual abuse prevention scene, Amudim.  I don’t know much about them, but I just saw this video they produced, which is extremely disturbing and emotionally jarring.  It warns that the video is graphic, which is not entirely accurate – but it is definitely triggering for anyone who might have trauma in their past, so please consider whether you want to watch this or not. #childsexualabuse #family #sexualabuse

I’ve recently been thinking about the adage familiar to many marriage counselors that “The best gift you can give your children is shalom bayis.”  There are many reasons this is true – it is neither some crazy therapist thing nor a mystical idea.  Check out a quick run-down I wrote for Aish.com here, or a longer series of posts at my Baltimore Therapy Center blog, starting here. #family #marriage #parenting

Dear Readers, I am most pleased to announce the publication of my latest book, The Very Special Gift.  It is designed to help parents educate and discuss with their daughters the issue of tznius.  It is targeted to early grade-school-age girls, but it probably has a good degree of flexibility in terms of getting the message across.  I hope that this will be helpful to many people in addressing this vital and challenging subject with your daughters. If you buy a copy, please d

Check out my latest article on the front page of Kveller.com! I’m an Orthodox Jewish Father & I Am Exhausted #family #parenting

Check out the Baltimore Jewish Times for my article on modern parenting: http://jewishtimes.com/31779/parenting-in-the-iphone-age/ #family #internet #parenting #relationships

An article I wrote about spousal disagreements has been posted on wellness.com: https://www.wellness.com/blog/13270621/how-to-argue-with-your-spouse-without-solving-anything/raffi-bilek #family #humor #marriage #relationships

The sequel to my highly popular “How to Be Married to a Man:” How to Be Married to a Woman I will break down the essence into a triplet that I did not invent but that has been used widely by many other folks and is pretty darn helpful: It’s all about the three A’s: affection, attention, appreciation. Affection: Men are classically bad at this function. There is a story told in many forms – here is one of them – about a man whose miserable wife schlepped him to a marriage cou

Here is another column from the BJH in which I answer the classic question: How do I get my kids to eat their dinner??? Dear BJH, My kids are really great overall, but the one area that never seems to work out is dinnertime.  They simply don’t want to eat!  It always seems to be a fight getting some food into them.  How can I get them to eat their dinner properly? Thanks, GS Dinnertime is a common flashpoint between parents and kids.  You are not alone!  Let’s take a look

One of the kinds of issues I am frequently called upon to help with involves relationships among parents/in-laws/grandparents.  Here is a column I wrote recently in the Baltimore Jewish Home addressing such an issue.  This doesn’t necessarily sound like a candidate for family therapy, but it could certainly help.  These situations can be thorny, no doubt about it. #family #parenting #relationships

I thought this was a powerful article about effect we as parents have on our children.  Check it out: Even when the same or another parent expressed plenty of affection, researchers found the apparent harmful effects of having a verbally aggressive mother or father persisted   . . . http://news.yahoo.com/positive-parenting-wont-yelling-insulting-212707632.html #family #parenting #relationships

I felt a little bit like dirt. That is really not how I want my kids to think we look at them. We so easily overlook how perceptive our kids are from the youngest ages, and how they pick up everything we say, whether we think they are listening or not. No doubt we have used the phrase “dealing with the kids” numerous times before – look, there’s no question, they can be tough to manage. They take a ton of energy – not just physically but mentally and emotionally as well. The

This provides a little levity in the family therapy field (check out Amy’s response). At the same time, it’s a bit sad. (This is just the kind of case I help with, if you find yourself in a similar situation…) I have a sister “Wendy,” who we do not invite. She is offended to the point of tears when she finds we have not invited her… http://amydickinson.com/post/85115023030/sisterly-exclusion-makes-one-sis-a-horrible-person #family #humor #relationships