October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and there’s a lot to be aware of. While cancer is the second cause of death of women in the US, being beaten only by heart disease for women over the age of 19, according to the American Cancer Society, breast cancer is the...
Birthdays. Anniversaries. Rosh Hashanah. As time-bound beings we mark our lives by the yearly cycle of the sun. Even Judaism, which counts time by the moon, reconciles our calendar to the sun every few years. This year, September brings two anniversaries, and my...
As we approach the fall holidays, many people are beginning to think about traveling or hosting to spend the holidays with friends and family. In the Jewish world, especially the Torah Observant community, hosting guests is a cultural norm. Since traveling on Shabbat...
Letters to the EditorDo you have something to say? We'd love to hear from you. Please send your (brief) letters to the editor to: editor@unorthoboxed.com. Dear Editor, First let me say how much I appreciate the wide range of articles you publish each month - there’s...
As we are preparing to publish our next edition of UNORTHOBOXED, it is the first week of the Hebrew month of Av. The month of Av is known for an astonishing number of bad things befalling the Jewish people, including the destruction of both the first and second...
Making the World a Better Place An interview with Rabba Melissa Scholten-Gutierrez By Penina Taylor Rabbanit. Rabba. Rabbi. Maharat. No matter what title you use, the idea of an Orthodox woman who is highly educated and “ordained” for Jewish communal service is a...
Date Night. We've all heard about the importance of it for a relationship. But is it really that crucial? Isn’t it just important to spend time together no matter where you are? Isn’t being home enough? And doesn’t whole-family time count? What is it about going on a...
Don’t Give Up An Interview with Dr. Michelle Grunin By Penina Taylor Professionally she’s Michelle Grunin, but to those that know her, both in real life and online, she’s Efrat. Though for many years when other Orthodox women would ask her what she did for a living,...
Like most people, I wear many hats - I am the editor in chief of UNORTHOBOXED, but I am also a coach, speaker and an author. It’s in this last role that I sometimes find myself the most challenged. Right now I’m working on a new book. It’s in a genre that I’ve never...
Doing laundry is hard enough, especially if you have a family, but trying to interpret the garment care labels brings the herculean task to another level. If you’ve ever destroyed a garment in the laundry, or struggled to understand the care instructions on the label,...