Trials & Tribulations... and Turnarounds?

A few worthwhile reads about the difficulties in the Orthodox Jewish world... (excerpts on expand)

• BeyondBT has a sharp post detailing one of the trickiest situations for the average frum Jew who has relatives who are not religious: Teenagers.

  I worry when the “other side” starts looking attractive, and our way of life seems to be making them “miss out.” (Yes, of course we can give the speeches to our children about how the secular kids are really the ones missing out, but hey, kids are normal, and some freedoms in life look very delicious at times to them).

• A guest at Orthonomics discusses economics... and family planning.

  the number one issue couples fight about are finances. More and more couples are faced with doing something they never imagined when they first got married, not having more children in exchange for not fighting about finances. Many young couples are reaching out to their rabbonim to discuss heterim that are available to them.

• An Eruv is completed in Boulder, CO, a cause of celebration for the community there... but the comments bring out the greatest in anti-Semitism and anti-religion in general. Quite troubling. However, the pictures will make you smile wide, so check them out - amazingly cute kids and great photography.
• I appreciated this message Neal posted about prayer. Has plenty of applicability in life.
  
• WebAds' Stephen Leavitt has a good article in the JPost on J-blogging and the recent convention.

  There is certainly no better way to refine your arguments and positions than by tempering them in the fire of opposing views. Simultaneously, there is no harsher way to find out that your opinions and theories are wrong and indefensible than to have them unmercifully torn apart one by one. ...

  Blogging isn't about beating someone over the head with your soapbox to win an argument. Blogging is about dialogues that engage interest and introduce ideas to create changes over time.

  Simply put, Jewish blogging is about creating dialogue to help lead Judaism into a healthy and vibrant future.

• Finally, an interesting piece in the WSJ: Thinking Outside the Lox, about the recent surge of Jews becoming Republicans over the past decade or so.
  

Enjoy!