New Parenting Magazine Released

By Leah Goodman

Remember those parenting magazines stacked up at the doctor’s office or piled in your parents’ bathroom? The cute photos, enticing headlines splayed on the cover, and advice columns showed us that even though our parents knew a lot, they were still searching for answers, for guidance.

Not much has changed.

But as we age, and actually read those magazines ourselves, we realize how little is relevant to Jewish parenting. So much of our lives as Jewish parents differ from those in the outside world.

These days, popular frum magazines have insightful chinuch sections. Here I feel more at home; the writers address parenting issues that resonate in a Jewish family. And yet, I don’t think I’m alone when I say that some articles leave me wanting.

As a Lubavitcher, I feel like we should read about and discuss our own unique brand of chinuch. We certainly don’t lack material: Chassidus is filled with beautiful insights and our Rebbeim have given us innumerable important directives.

While there are chassidishe chinuch messages available, I was taken aback when I recently saw a new magazine focusing solely on chinuch. I was holding my dream come true: the parenting magazine for Jewish parents!

My first impression was good. So was my second. I ripped the plastic right open and got lost in the richness of 30 Minute’s clean and modern pages. And its content. This is something my parents would have loved.

The issue, the magazine’s first, opened with a moving story and inspiring thought from our Rebbe. In his first article, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Gluckowsky of Rechovot addressed changing times, changing needs. Where it was once appropriate to educate with harshness, he explained, today’s generation physically can’t handle it. That makes sense. I have seen that to be true with my own son, time and time again. Instead of negating the nefesh habahamis, he stressed, it should be uplifted and made to realize its potential.
I, for one, feel uplifted and empowered.

Then there was Mrs. Sara Kaplan’s piece about perfect parenting. I could actually feel myself relax as she described why that phrase just isn’t possible in any realm.

Which of us hasn’t kept their eyes glued to their phone a little more than necessary? I know I am to blame. In his enlightening piece, Rabbi Mordechai Lipskier addressed the topic of distraction by technology. That is an undeniable area in which I need to improve. For all of our sakes.

I am so uplifted to see that chinuch has taken such a central role in our community. Societal pressure, davening, pride in Yiddishkeit, expectations at different ages, and technology are only a few topics the magazine explored this issue. And it left the fluff on the printing press–though the articles were engaging and enjoyable, they were entirely substantive.

30 Minutes amazed me, by sending me such a quality magazine free of charge. And I know I wasn’t the only one to receive it: my sisters and friends on various WhatsApp groups have been chatting about it as well.

I want to make sure I receive all future issues, so I signed up at
gidulim.org/magazine. I also noticed that the magazine is looking to hire–a larger staff will mean more diverse content.

Lubavitch chinuch is what I’m looking for. And with 30 Minutes, I know I finally have the means to achieve that.