Islands of Sanity

By Susan Esther Barnes
Published on October 10, 2012

Thirsting for Shabbat

By Susan Esther Barnes
Published on August 22, 2012

Retraining programs get unemployment bump

Published on January 4, 2012

Courtney Myrick, 27, trained to be a massage therapist several years ago but found that customer service jobs paid the bills. After 10 years in the industry, however, jobs became scarce and less stable.

Hypochondriacs are We!

By Julia Bendis
Published on December 6, 2010

Don’t let the stress of ailing economy kill you

Published on November 26, 2008

Research based on 17 years of Pennsylvania unemployment records concluded that workers affected by mass layoffs at a plant were 15 percent more likely to die of any cause over the next two decades.

Economic crisis boosts need to focus on domestic violence

Published on November 19, 2008

I've never been more concerned about the victims of domestic violence than I am right now. Families already buckling under the weight of domestic violence in the best of times can collapse in times of economic downturn and war.

Give Her a Rest

By Rabbi Karen Deitsch
Published on May 10, 2007

Revering Goddess is something we literally cannot stress about. We need only let Her be -- within and without. And through our retreat, Her beloved, protective mate will shower His grateful providence into our relinquishment that we too may return to the peace we have co-created.

Teens can learn from Shoah survivors

By Jonathan Kuperberg
Published on March 1, 2007

For some of us, a "problem" is getting seven presents for Chanukah, not eight. However, 70 years ago, these so-called "problems" would have been luxuries for the millions of Jews and other minorities living, and dying, during the Holocaust.

Semper Fiber

By Judy Gruen
Published on January 18, 2007

Too-frequent weigh-ins can sabotage any diet efforts, because a woman's weight is a mysterious, jumpy, undependable thing that does not follow any known laws of nature. Over-weighing would lead to stress. Stress would slow down my metabolism, which was already prone to sleeping in late.

Keeping the SAT Drama to a Minimum

By Julie Brown
Published on February 23, 2006

Applying to college was not this complicated 25(ish) years ago. I think I took a PSAT. I know I took the SAT. I took it one time. I did relatively well. I got into UCLA. But times have changed. If I packaged up my high school transcripts and SAT score today, UCLA probably would laugh my application right out of the admissions building.

Home Pampering Easy as 1, 2, Ahhhhh

By Beth Gilbert
Published on February 16, 2006

No one deserves a spa experience more than you do. Just picture it -- warm tubs scented with essential oils, invigorating body scrubs, refreshing botanical blend face masks smoothed on in soothing circular massaging motions and misty showers with luscious gels.

Midlife Reinvention Not So Uncommon

By Ellie Kahn
Published on February 2, 2006

John F. Kennedy once said, "When written in Chinese, the word 'crisis' is composed of two characters. One represents danger, and the other represents opportunity."
Life is full of change -- in fact, one of the only things we can predict and count on in life is that things won't stay the same. For many of us, this is exemplified in our work. Indeed, statistics suggest that most adults will experience five to 12 careers or job changes in a lifetime.

Post-Bar Mitzvah Stress Disorder

By Judy Gruen
Published on January 12, 2006

Post-Bar Mitzvah Stress Disorder (PBMSD) usually follows a case of Pre-Bar Mitzvah Stress Disorder. This is characterized by speed-dialing your caterer several times daily until you actually hear him chewing antacids while you speak; zipping around so frantically from errand to errand that you have no time to eat anything other than large brownies in the car (perversely, this still causes weight gain), and bursting into tears with no warning because your little boy is no longer a little boy but a newly minted teen who has the audacity to catapult into puberty before your very eyes.

Culling Your ‘Stuff’ Can Be Painful Task

By Ellie Kahn
Published on November 3, 2005

Moving from a familiar home and letting go of things owned for years can feel like an additional loss. It's not just the loss of the objects that has an impact; it's the connection with the past that these objects symbolize.

Don’t Stress About Your Stock Portfolio

By Russell Wild
Published on July 28, 2005

Rabbi Benjamin Blech, author of "Taking Stock: A Spiritual Guide to Rising Above Life's Financial Ups and Downs" (AMACOM, 2003), wonders mostly how he ever got so frenzied about money -- both its gain, and its loss. Of course, he is not alone. Perhaps you didn't sink your nest egg into dot-com stocks, but chances are very good that money -- or lack of it -- sometimes throws you off kilter.

Support Opens Way for Special Needs

By Michael Jackman
Published on March 10, 2005

For most parents, preparing a child for a bar or bat mitzvah is just another of many coming-of-age stresses. But for parents whose children have special needs, the stress can be almost unbearable. Yet arranging b'nai mitzvah ceremonies for such children are not impossible, with a little love and support.

Margie Kommer, whose son, Max, was diagnosed with dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), understands the loss of face some parents feel.

"It's very hard to go to a bar or bat mitzvah and see these shining stars, and see your own children struggling," she said.

And, naturally, children compare themselves to their peers. They can become so disheartened that they give up.

Creative Calm Over Shower Stress

By Beverly Levitt
Published on February 10, 2005

Are you the designated bridal shower giver this season? Don't let the happy occasion of your daughter, your best friend's daughter or even your fourth cousin-once-removed's daughter give you the jitters.

A Student’s Plea

By Seth Lutske
Published on December 23, 2004

Often I find myself staring at walls or lying on my bed staring at the ceiling, blank-minded. But I am not one who has the luxury to be blank-minded. There is too much to do -- not by will, but by force.

SAT, Grades Not Enough Anymore

By Nancy Sokoler Steiner
Published on November 18, 2004

Perry Factor looks like an ideal college applicant. The Harvard-Westlake senior scored 1530 on his SAT and maintains a 4.036 (weighted) GPA. He's volunteered for years at his former elementary school, is a production editor on the high school paper, sings in the school choir and is on the jujitsu team. Nevertheless, Factor said he's "not entirely confident" about getting into his top college choice, Rice University in Texas.

"There are always horror stories about looking like the perfect candidate and not getting admitted," he said.

Like Factor, teens around the nation -- and their parents -- are finding an increasingly competitive atmosphere for college applicants.

"There are more students applying than ever before ... yet there are not necessarily more spaces," said Tami Gelb, college counselor at Yeshiva University High Schools of Los Angeles (YULA).

Life With A Terror Twist

By Gregory Rodriguez
Published on September 18, 2003

I was drinking a martini on the terrace of the King David Hotel when I started counting sirens. An ultra-Orthodox social worker had told me earlier in the week that that is what people often do here, count sirens. One siren is probably a heart attack. Two might be a fire. If you hear three, you had best turn on the news.

Time to Clean House

By Gaby Wenig
Published on March 21, 2002

In fact, for all the women interviewed in this article, having others judge their Pesach cleaning standards would be just another anxiety to add to their very full plate of pre-Pesach concerns -- so they all asked to be quoted anonymously about their experiences cleaning for Pesach.

Unwind With Yoga

By Ani Dumas
Published on November 22, 2001

The regular practice of yoga can increase energy levels, flexibility, strength, relaxation, and decrease stress.

From the Heart

By Rabbi Steven Carr Reuben
Published on September 13, 2001

Sometimes life seems overwhelming. For some, it's the stress of coping with raising their children in an apparently amoral world. For others, it is learning how to live each day in spite of enormous challenges to our bodies and our health.

Matters of the Heart

By Teresa Strasser
Published on June 5, 1997

She married him and lived his life. Impeccably groomed and almost pathologically calm, she saw him through law school, career advancement and a successful public career. She raised three children and worried about her husband's health, his stress level, his cholesterol intake.
Then, she had his heart attack.