Beth Perkel

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Sep 17, 2017, 7:58 AM

Soul Searching; The Key to Self Renewal, Self Growth and Self Confidence in the New Year

There are two opinions of Rabbi Akiva in two separate Talmudic discussions that seem to contradict each other. In one discussion, Rabbi Akiva declares “v’ahavta l’reyacha kamocha’ to be the “klal gadol baTorah”. In other words, Rabbi Akiva considers...

Jun 2, 2015, 6:45 PM

Light at the Beginning of the Tunnel (#9): The tools of a watchmaker in the hands of a roadmaker…

“This is the time of day where I tell you something great about you.” About a year ago I started this daily conversation as a routine with one of my daughters, who happened to be my middle child. Having been...

May 12, 2015, 7:44 PM

Light at the Beginning of the Tunnel (#8): The Inoculation of Failure

Many of us are guilty of “helicopter parenting”: a colloquial term that has come to signify overbearing parents that try to control their children’s surroundings and intervene in their children’s every problem. The paradox with this method is that...

Apr 7, 2015, 6:21 AM

The Fading Art of Patience

Light at the Beginning of the Tunnel (#7) We are now well into the holiday where we remember the Jewish people’s servitude and suffering in Egypt. In the Torah, there is an interesting term describing the pain that Moshe saw...

Mar 25, 2015, 6:27 PM

Light at the Beginning of the Tunnel (#6): Alexander the Great and the Eyeball…

Of recent memory, few Talmudic stories have been harder for me to shake than the story of Alexander the Great at the Gates of Paradise. My husband was telling it over to my seven year old son at dinner...

Mar 11, 2015, 11:01 AM

Light at the Beginning of the Tunnel (#5)-“Yesterday is History, Tomorrow is a Mystery….”

I recently was asked to be the speaker at an event that was scheduled right after I’d be coming home from a trip. I happily agreed, put down the phone, and promptly proceeded to get nervous. What if the...

Feb 26, 2015, 6:48 AM

Light at the Beginning of the Tunnel (#4): “The Seeing See Little”

My grandfather saw his life as if he had been born twice: Once from his mother’s womb and once from underneath a haystack…. During the ravages of World War Two, my grandfather found himself fleeing from a band of Nazis...

Feb 19, 2015, 7:03 PM

Light At the Beginning of the Tunnel (#3): Don’t Look Now, But You Are Being Watched!

My precious firstborn, when he was around 2 years old and had very few mutli-word phrases under his belt, blurted something out in the back of the car one day that shocked me. “Be happy, Ima!” In his limited...

Feb 10, 2015, 8:39 PM

The Light at the Beginning of the Tunnel (#2): A Man and His Socks…

There is a story about a fabulously wealthy orthodox philanthropist who died. He left behind a huge estate, half of which was given to charity and the other half to his children. He also left behind two mysterious letters-...

Feb 3, 2015, 5:49 AM

Light at the beginning of the Tunnel: Teaching children happiness in the modern era

Happiness has become a scientific pursuit in our generation. In the past few months alone I have been plastered with advertisements to attend a course on happiness (I must admit that I finally gave in), received a book on...

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About Me

Beth Perkel is a freelance writer that has been published in a whole host of publications ranging from Newsweek magazine and Chicken Soup for the Soul to The Jewish Press and Aish.com. She is a mother, speaker, mediator, teacher, rebbetzin and writer in Chicago, IL. To sign up to receive emails of her blog posts, please click on her website link below.