The Chassidic Movement began in the Ukraine with the holy Baal Shem Tov (1698-1760). Many of the Chassidic Masters came from the Ukraine, such as the Maggid of Mezeritch, Rebbe Nachman of Breslev and many more. Ukrainian Jews have a very rich folklore that teaches us life's true values. This story… [Read more...]

The Hebrew term for washing hands in the prescribed ritual manner is netillas yada'im. It seems like an insignificant mitzva, but the exact opposite is true. There is an amazing connection between netillas yada'im and Purim. What's more, this mitzva is very conducive for strengthening emuna and… [Read more...]

Avraham Bell didn't let his second-class status as a black boy in the segregated U.S. South of the sixties to extinguish his dreams. He excelled as an athlete and as a musician. He was an honor student at Ohio State and went on to do an MBA at Arizona. An exquisite artist, he now pours his passion… [Read more...]

Basing our diet on whole and natural foods is vital, since eating properly is in fact 80% of conditioning, where the remaining 20% depend on exercise. What's more, fad diets, extremes and stringencies have nothing to do with healthy eating. By rethinking your eating, you'll be rebooting your… [Read more...]

How many parents can objectively and honestly say that they focus on the good points of their children? How many parents are always forgiving? What parent places a child's needs before his/her own? That's only part of what it means to be a loving parent. Few can pass that… [Read more...]

Most people don't know that muscle mass begins to deteriorate in the early 30's. Atrophy begins slowly, but accelerates as a person gets older. To stop the loss of muscle mass and to turn it around to muscle gain, or "hypertrophy", a person must know the basics that we learn… [Read more...]

Here's one of the greatest comeback stories ever. A headbanger deep into drugs, booze and heavy metal morphs into a pious Torah scholar and a master artisan, the world's only Chassidic luthier. Meet the amazing Z.Z. Ludwick, who we nicknamed the Chassidic… [Read more...]

Without emuna, life's tribulations look like a lion about to devour us. No wonder so many people succumb to fear and anxiety. With emuna, life's tribulations still look like a lion. Yet, the lion is only a costume that our loving Father in Heaven is dressed up in. That changes our outlook… [Read more...]

She's incredible. One of less than ten women in the entire USA who is a 7th degree blackbelt and Taekwondo Grand Master. The only Jewish woman in the world with that distinction and a mother of six as well. She was a Pan Am Games gold medalist and a US Olympic hopeful who gave up a million-dollar… [Read more...]

Here's a brief but especially important lesson in marital peace, designed predominantly for the man of the family. A couple came to me for marital counseling. She was starving for attention but he complained that he had to work overtime for his spendthrift wife, who "happens" to own 350 pairs of… [Read more...]

A diabetic individual sees a dramatic improvement in health by getting off of junk food and sugar. A few minutes of exercise every day also enhances good health. Both are obvious, right? The same principle applies to the soul. By focusing on three simple words, we dramatically enhance emotional and… [Read more...]

The miser was all alone, for he shuddered of feeding a wife and family, so he bought a beautiful Bolivian macaw that could talk, sing and give him companionship. A parable about… [Read more...]