Torah

Ariel Mintz, MD
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Ariel Mintz, MD
Dr. Ariel Mintz grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After spending two years learning in Israel, at Derech Eitz Chaim and Shaalivm, he earned his BA in Psychology at Yeshiva Univesity in New York. He went on to obtain his MD at Oakland University William Beaumont School of medicine and trained in adult psychiatry at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis. He completed a Child and Adolescent Psychiatry fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic and is a practicing psychiatrist in Cleveland, Ohio. He has received awards for his research, academic performance, and service to the Jewish community. He has a supportive and talented wife and three wonderful children. He is very passionate about destigmatizing mental illness and bringing comfort to those who are suffering.
Ariel Mintz, MD
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This week’s Torah portion (Tazriyah-Metzorah), discusses the disease Tzarat, a punishment for slander. Part of the purification process requires two birds, one sacrificial and the other set free. Rashi elucidates that birds are specifically brought because their chirping represents our negative speech. Rav Eliyahu Schlesinger takes it a step further and emphasizes that one bird is set Read More …

Inspiration from Ethics of the Fathers about how to obtain wisdom. This advice transcends intellectual attainment and leads to complete well-being.

Dani Bauer
Dani Bauer
Marriage Advisor at Refuat Hanefesh
Rabbi Dani Bauer, originally from Brooklyn, NY, earned a Bachelor’s of Talmudic Law at Yeshivat Sha'alvim in Israel and a Bachelor's in Psychology at Lander College for Men. He obtained Semicha at Yeshiva University and received an M.S. in Jewish Education from the Azrieli School of Education. He graduated from Council for Relationships with a postgraduate certificate in Marriage and Family Therapy. Rabbi Bauer recently joined Bala Child and Family Associates, where he works in private practice and specializes in couples, families, and teens. In addition to private practice, Rabbi Bauer is also a full-time high school Rebbe at Kohelet Yeshiva High School in Philadelphia, where he has been teaching Gemara, Halacha, and Tanach since 2013. Along his journey, Rabbi Bauer also served as a rabbinic intern and youth director at the Roslyn Synagogue in Roslyn, New York.
Dani Bauer
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  The Pesach Seder is often looked at as a model for how we should educate our children. We use experiential models that date back thousands of years and add in parts to the Seder just to get our children interested and engaged. However, many of us are troubled when we get to the part of the Read More …

Macayla Gritz
Macayla Gritz
Macayla Gritz was born and raised in Boca Raton, Florida. She is graduating high school this May from Donna Klein Jewish Academy to spend a year abroad in Israel followed by college at Stern College for Women. Her newfound love for Judaism and passion for kiruv was found through her involvement in NCSY and she currently serves as the Southern NCSY Regional President.
Macayla Gritz
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  “Why  am I like this?” I ask myself this question as I sit at my desk at 3:38 AM struggling to finish a paper which I had nearly a month to do.   “Why am I like  this?” I ask myself this question as I continue to find excuses to stay in bed instead Read More …

Ariel Mintz, MD
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Ariel Mintz, MD
Dr. Ariel Mintz grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After spending two years learning in Israel, at Derech Eitz Chaim and Shaalivm, he earned his BA in Psychology at Yeshiva Univesity in New York. He went on to obtain his MD at Oakland University William Beaumont School of medicine and trained in adult psychiatry at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis. He completed a Child and Adolescent Psychiatry fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic and is a practicing psychiatrist in Cleveland, Ohio. He has received awards for his research, academic performance, and service to the Jewish community. He has a supportive and talented wife and three wonderful children. He is very passionate about destigmatizing mental illness and bringing comfort to those who are suffering.
Ariel Mintz, MD
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Why is mental illness different from all other illnesses? Support 1) For with all other illnesses, when you hear someone is hospitalized, you visit, call or offer support. While with mental illnesses, if you hear someone is hospitalized, you pretend you didn’t hear and avoid the person for fear of not knowing what to say.

Ariel Mintz, MD
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Ariel Mintz, MD
Dr. Ariel Mintz grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After spending two years learning in Israel, at Derech Eitz Chaim and Shaalivm, he earned his BA in Psychology at Yeshiva Univesity in New York. He went on to obtain his MD at Oakland University William Beaumont School of medicine and trained in adult psychiatry at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis. He completed a Child and Adolescent Psychiatry fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic and is a practicing psychiatrist in Cleveland, Ohio. He has received awards for his research, academic performance, and service to the Jewish community. He has a supportive and talented wife and three wonderful children. He is very passionate about destigmatizing mental illness and bringing comfort to those who are suffering.
Ariel Mintz, MD
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This coming Monday night we will sit around the table and retell the story of the Jew’s slavery in Egypt. Many commentators have asked why we bring ourselves back to days of servitude when life is so much better for us now. Isn’t it depressing to focus on the negative? They answer that reliving our Read More …

Rabbi Dovid Zirkind
Rabbi Dovid Zirkind
Head of Torah Content at Refuat Hanefesh
Rabbi Dovid Zirkind is originally from Baltimore, Maryland. He studied for two years in Israel at Yeshiva Kerem B'Yavneh and is a graduate of Yeshiva University where he obtained a Bachelors in Psychology. He received Semicha (Rabbinic Ordination) from the Rabbi Yitzchok Elchonon Theological Seminary. He has served as the Associate Rabbi of The Jewish Center in Manhattan since 2012. In his role as Associate Rabbi, Rabbi Zirkind is the director of The Center's Adult Education Programming and Rabbi of its vibrant Young Leadership community.
Rabbi Dovid Zirkind
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The art of storytelling demands a captivating structure. One time-tested method introduces a character worth following, only to have him or her fall into despair. Committed to the well-being of the character, the reader journeys with the story’s central figure from failure to success.

Efrem Goldberg
Efrem Goldberg
Rabbi Efrem Goldberg is the Senior Rabbi of the Boca Raton Synagogue in Florida, the largest Orthodox Synagogue in the Southeast United States. He serves as Co-Chair of the Orthodox Rabbinical Board’s Va’ad Ha’Kashrus, as Director of the Rabbinical Council of America’s South Florida Regional Beis Din for Conversion, and as Posek of the Boca Raton Mikvah. He serves as Vice President of the Rabbinical Council of America and as Chairman of the Orthodox Union Legacy Group. He has delivered the invocation to the U.S. House of Representatives and has been invited multiple times to meet with the President and White House staff.
Efrem Goldberg
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According to a 2013 PewResearchCenter study, though only 23% of American Jews attend religious services at least monthly, 70% participate in a Seder on Passover. The likely reason: Passover brings family together. These reunions are often filled with promise and hope of quality time that will yield lifelong memories.

Ariel Mintz, MD
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Ariel Mintz, MD
Dr. Ariel Mintz grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After spending two years learning in Israel, at Derech Eitz Chaim and Shaalivm, he earned his BA in Psychology at Yeshiva Univesity in New York. He went on to obtain his MD at Oakland University William Beaumont School of medicine and trained in adult psychiatry at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis. He completed a Child and Adolescent Psychiatry fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic and is a practicing psychiatrist in Cleveland, Ohio. He has received awards for his research, academic performance, and service to the Jewish community. He has a supportive and talented wife and three wonderful children. He is very passionate about destigmatizing mental illness and bringing comfort to those who are suffering.
Ariel Mintz, MD
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Latest posts by Ariel Mintz, MD (see all)

In this week’s Torah portion Rashi, an 11th-century commentator, notes the frequent pauses between commands. He explains these breaks functioned to give Moshe time to understand each lesson after it was taught. Rashi expounds that if Moshe needed extra time, all the more so we need it when learning.