Marriage & Family

When it comes to your identity—who you are, your core beliefs and values—there can be no compromise.

What drives these parents to have large families? A love for kids? Determination to rebuild post-Holocaust? Some innate affection for Honda and Toyota minivans?

Boy meets girl at a party. They like each other. He makes her laugh. She makes him feel good about himself. They hit it off.

A righteous person always sees the good in others. A self-righteous person can’t get over their own goodness.

All he does is eat, grumble, and leave. Is there any point in having him there?

The answer to your quandary is right there in front of you—on your finger. Just look at your wedding ring.

This is a totally hypothetical situation that would never really happen. My wife is angry at me.

To be honest, I would have never known he was an addict had he not told me so.

We’re financially strained as it is, and I think it’s irresponsible to add another mouth to feed when you can’t afford it. Are there no limits to the commandment to “be fruitful and multiply”?

I have an anger problem. And I never knew it until I became a parent. Because the only people I take my anger out on are my own kids.

The more I get involved in Jewish life, the fewer options I have for girls to date. To be honest, it is making me hesitate before becoming more observant.

I recently read that this actually originated with Queen Victoria in the mid-19th century.

She complained last night that I’m not helpful around the house. She claims that yesterday I came home and plonked myself on the couch to relax, leaving her to look after the kids and dinner and everything else. When I pointed out to her that I actually offered to help, she says it wasn’t sincere. I’m at a loss. What more can I do? Is it my fault if she ignores my offer to help?

My son just got engaged to a wonderful Jewish girl, thank G‑d. We love and adore her—she is so good to him. But there is one issue: She has zero interest in Judaism.

The idea that there is a problem with the bride also giving the groom a ring seems absurd to me. Surely I have as much say in the agreement to be married as my husband-to-be?

I don’t know if I should give up on blind dates, or just give up altogether. Any message of hope for the dated-out? I’m starting to lose faith in ever finding love.

I have friends who got engaged to the first person they ever dated, and are now married with kids. Yet here I am, many years and many, many dates later, and I still haven’t met the right person.

Marriage has been getting a bad rap lately, and it’s entirely unjustified. Decades of studies on human wellbeing provide the same conclusions consistently . . .

I feel that intimacy is an important part of a relationship, and would create a very strong bond between us. So what's wrong with pre-marital intimacy?

My wife and I long ago decided against having children. We are happy with our lives and don't feel that we need the added burden of parenthood...

Why are parents so much more devoted to their children than children are to their parents?

I dream of one day having a wife, a loving relationship and children. But almost all the married men I know complain about their marriages. Is marriage really as bad as all those grumbling husbands say it is?

I would have loved more than anything to pass on a Jewish/Torah legacy to children and grandchildren. I have been told that because I am barren that I am somehow cursed by G‑d. Am I cursed?

My friends say the main thing is that you are in love, and everything else will fall into place. Should I believe them?

If insisting that you will only date Jews makes you racist, does insisting that you will only date men make you sexist?

If souls are united under the Chuppah, can they then split apart? Is divorce ever advisable?

Is it true that traditionally, Jewish marriages were arranged marriages? I’ve also heard that this is still the practice amongst the more religious Jews . . .

Anyone can be a shadchan. Just make the suggestion. Even if it does not work the first time, keep on trying.

When two people unite for a common higher cause, then they transcend the differences between them and become one...

The Mishnah (completed in the second century) records the custom of some Jewish brides to wear a veil.

In two months she's getting married. What should I do? I am still convinced that she is the only one in the world for me

I am in a serious relationship with a great guy. We have been together for a while now and I have very strong feelings for him. He is ready to get married, and is getting a bit impatient with me.

I am happy in my relationship, and things are getting quite serious. But there is one nagging doubt at the back of my mind. I have nothing to compare her to, because I have never been in this type of relationship before. I feel that perhaps, before I commit, I should see some other girls . . .

I am having a problem with a friend of mine. There seems to be an attraction between us that I don't want there. I love my fiancé and don't want to be distracted or hurt our relationship.

It seems that the more determined I am to marry a Jew, the more fantastic non-Jewish girls walk into my life. Maybe G-d is trying to tell me something?

The taxi driver shook his head and said, “You Jews have got it good. In my community, when someone is dating and confused, or is going through a rough patch in his marriage, who should we turn to?”

I am disgusted by the things my mother has done. She is old now and needs me, but there is nothing in her life that deserves respect. How can I respect her without losing my dignity?

With Father's Day approaching as a Rabbi I am frequently asked, "Do you observe the holidays of Thanksgiving, Mother's Day and Father's Day?"

She wanted to choose where I went to college, what I studied, whom I married—and continues to disagree with everything that I do. I should do as she says: that, basically, is her philosophy.

I am giving up on humans. Why can't I find a man as loyal as my dog?

The situations arising today in the realm of conception have no medical precedence, and yet the centuries old Torah has much to say about the spiritual ramifications of these procedures

As a childless, single, middle-aged, totally non-observant woman, am I considered a failure as a Jew? Is there any other spiritual role for a woman other than wife or mother? Will I end my life as a genetic dud?

A Jew belongs within a Jewish community. There are no application forms and no qualification requirements. He's Jewish—that's where he belongs. Period.

When you love and care about your grandchildren, is there absolutely no place for a mother or mother-in-law to give her child advice (not criticism) for the sake of the well-being of her grandchildren?

My wife and I have two children, an eight-year-old and a ten-year-old. My wife wants to have another child but I think we already have enough work and children - we do not have much time left to our day!

I have been in a spiritual funk for quite a while, actually, and not really “feeling it.” All the things I planned to improve during this past year didn't improve, and I'm hesitant to make a new round of resolutions I know I won't keep.

In a couple of weeks, my lazy sister will be awarded more than half a million dollars. I, on the other hand, work hard at my job, do many good deeds and try to do the right things in my life. However, I am struggling with bills and expenses in order to maintain my household.

We keep a Kosher home and are very active in our local synagogue. Our oldest child is married to a Catholic, our middle is mildly interested in Judaism and our youngest has absolutely no interest. How does one change another's thinking? How can I try to repair our family?

There are two types of doubting. One is an alarm bell that should not be ignored. The other is a sign that you have made the right choice.

I had big plans for him. He was going to be a doctor, maybe a rabbi, maybe both. He was going to marry a lovely Jewish girl and give me many beautiful grandchildren. Well, my plan is not working out.

He says our relationship is fine as it is and we don’t need to be married.