Author: Dr. Avraham (Allan) Friedman, Psy. D., LMSW

November 25th, 2024

Pain in a Vacuum – Parshat Toledot I admit I’ve never been pregnant. I don’t understand the discomfort of carrying a living moving person in my belly for nine months nor the joy of hosting a new life within. So when I read in this week’s parsha of Rivka’s pregnancy of twins and the difficulty she had with all the jockeying for position that went on inside,1 all I can do is try to understand her situation. But what is …
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Author: Dr. Avraham (Allan) Friedman, Psy. D., LMSW

September 25th, 2020

Is Life Really Empty? – Parshat Haazinu We've gone through the past seven months of COVID-19 at times asking ourselves the question of meaning. Some people have lost their livelihood, some have suffered from lingering aftereffects while others have lost family and friends. Is there meaning behind all this? Is it perhaps all meaningless suffering? Throughout the LogoParsha blog, we talk about logotherapy (literally: healing through meaning) …
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Author: Dr. Avraham (Allan) Friedman, Psy. D., LMSW

September 11th, 2020

Responsible or "Response-able" – Parshat Nitzavim-Vayelech I love word games. "Dad jokes" are funny – okay, maybe not, but at least witty. "How do you call a bee that can’t easily make up its mind? A maybe."1 (is that a groan I hear?) I'm lucky, as well, to be interested in a school of human ontology/psychology/existentialism/motivation whose founder liked word play as well. We can even use it in this week's parsha. There may b …
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Author: Dr. Avraham (Allan) Friedman, Psy. D., LMSW

July 24th, 2020

Untitled – Parshat Devarim Just a short idea and can't decide on a title. What I've come up with so far, just isn’t quite right. (if you get any ideas, please let me know) The judges, whose appointment is discussed in this week's parsha, are reminded that they should be good, honest and fair judges for, after all, the judgment belongs to God.1 Well, isn’t that kind of obvious? If these judges are dealing with Jewish law, do they …
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Author: Dr. Avraham (Allan) Friedman, Psy. D., LMSW

July 18th, 2020

42 – Parshat Matot-Masei No, this is not a blog on "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy".1 Imagine - there are other times that the number 42 appears. For instance, the only uniform number that is permanently retired in Major League Baseball is the number 42, the number that Jackie Robinson wore. It is also the atomic number of the element Molybdenum. Even so, with a tip of the hat to all Douglas Adams fans, I would like to touch on t …
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Author: Dr. Avraham (Allan) Friedman, Psy. D., LMSW

October 25th, 2019

Cain's Choice in the Here and Now– Parshat Bereishit Omni-temporal Man - Part III Choice. An empowering word. An intimidating word. It can mean choosing between chocolate and vanilla ice cream or whether or not to marry. It gives us the ability to feel control over our lives yet it can also paralyze us. Cain had a choice.1 In Parshat Bereishit, we read that he was unhappy with God's reaction to his sacrifice but what could he do. Furtherm …
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Author: Dr. Avraham (Allan) Friedman, Psy. D., LMSW

October 18th, 2019

How we Prepare for the Future – Parshat Vezot Haberacha Omni-temporal Man Part II We all live for the future. We all plan for the future. We all make assumptions about the future. On some level we are constantly living our future and making guesses about what will happen – some of those guesses will be educated and some will be like a shot in the dark. The one thing in common is that our minds imagine what the future will be. There ar …
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