Author: Yehuda Krohn, Psy.D.

November 14th, 2019

The Torah reading, around this time of year, includes a unique and remarkable narrative – The binding of Yitzchok. It is a story that illuminates, first and foremost, the values of fidelity and sacrifice.   A careful reading of the text and its commentaries, though, yields a bonus lesson. There is a clear illustration of how an individual can meaningfully address a bind in which he’s been placed.  A bind is a situation that …
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Author: Yehuda Krohn, Psy.D.

February 10th, 2019

Around this time of year, we read, in Parshas TeTzaveh, G-d's instructions to Moshe, regarding the construction of the Mizbe’ach HaKetores.  In and of itself, the passage of the Mizbeach in unremarkable. What is surprising, though, is the timing and placement of this commandment.    G-d had, in the previous week’s reading, instructed Moshe to build the other Keilim that populated the Mishkan.  G-d also instructed M …
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Author: Yehuda Krohn, Psy.D.

September 17th, 2018

On Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, while many Jews recite, in undertone, the formal script with which they ask for forgiveness, some might simultaneously be conducting an even quieter, personalized conversation with their selves. The personal conversation takes on a different tone and tenor than does the forgiveness formula: I’ve been reciting the litany of my sins for weeks, on end. It’s starting to grate on my nerves. I&rsqu …
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Author: Yehuda Krohn, Psy.D.

May 24th, 2018

A short while ago, a student I know informed me of a Kiddush Hashem that occurred at his Yeshiva.  The administration found out that a local police officer who’d been helping the school with dismissal, for years, was about to retire. In appreciation, staff hosted a school-wide assembly in which they recognized the officer’s service and dedication. The event was videoed and widely shared on social media.    In relating t …
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Author: Yehuda Krohn, Psy.D.

March 27th, 2018

So, I am a Chicagoan, and I probably care more than most people about the fate of the Loyola Chicago Ramblers, an NCAA men’s basketball team that has reached The Final Four – that is the semi-finals of the national championship.    There is, though, something (or more accurately someone) remarkable about this team that has much broader appeal.  Any of us who experiences disability and the effects of aging, whether in hi …
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Author: Yehuda Krohn, Psy.D.

March 21st, 2018

This post is a follow up to my “You better listen to your dad” post, in which I described an evocative parenting video, making the rounds on social media.  The video is shot through the windshield of a moving car. It opens with a father narrating how his bullying son was suspended from using the bus to school.  “Dad” demonstrates, on camera, how he now makes his son run to school.  At various points, Dad sha …
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Author: Yehuda Krohn, Psy.D.

March 20th, 2018

There is a remarkable video that has, of late, been making the rounds, on social media.  The video is shot through the windshield of a moving automobile.  The wipers are operating; it is raining outside.  A father, whom we can’t see, narrates, as he drives.  He draws our attention to a 10-year-old child, wearing a backpack, who is running a short distance ahead of the car.    "Dad" informs viewers that his son …
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Author: Yehuda Krohn, Psy.D.

October 9th, 2017

The ancient Jewish custom of Hoshanos focuses our attention on crops, rain and vulnerability.  It includes the act of parading around the Bimah, (synagogue's centrally located table) once a day, for each of the first six days of Sukkos (The Festival of the Booths), and then circling the Bimah seven times on the seventh day.  The seventh day is referred to as Hoshanah Rabbah.  The above parallels the manner that Joshua led the Jewis …
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Author: Yehuda Krohn, Psy.D.

September 24th, 2017

As we stand in the midst of the Aseres Yemai Teshuvah, the ten days of repentance that stretch from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur, many of us likely recall what we’ve been taught, over the years, about Teshuvah.  For some of us, the lessons remain deeply moving.  Others may be burdened by painful memories - the baggage of repeated failure.  Yet others may feel unable to relate to Teshuvah, having been numbed to and by the proce …
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Author: Yehuda Krohn, Psy.D.

September 15th, 2017

Our class was not all that receptive to him.  He taught us during an era in which the entertainment world placed a premium on being “cool”.  He was anything but cool. He wore his feelings – even the uncomfortable ones, like sadness and apprehension – on his sleeve.  He wasn’t anti-establishment.  He couldn’t afford to be.  As Menahel, he was part of the establishment.    Our c …
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