The 20 most-read articles on COLlive.com of 5782: The imposter chosson, the Maryland wedding, the Abu Dhabi wedding, Netflix co-founder's Bar Mitzvah, a viral Subway video, unity at 770, an anti-vaxx panel, an encounter in Hawaii, and the Manalapan restaurant bust. Full Story
Oh No, I’m Almost Thirteen
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From the COLlive inbox: “This past summer, I was a staff member in a mainstream Chabad overnight camp and I noticed something about the boys who will soon be turning Bar Mitzvah - and this issue needs to be discussed.” Full Story
An Open Letter From Your Child’s Counselor and Learning Teacher
Response to "2 Emails Alerted Me to a Growing Problem in Our Midst": An open letter written by a counselor and learning teacher currently at a Chabad overnight summer camp. "Did you ever stop to think about what we actually do?" Full Story
What My Son Needed Right Before Camp Last Year
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From the COLlive inbox: "Last year, as I kissed my son goodbye on the bus to overnight summer camp and bid farewell, he looked at me and asked me for something specific. I hope it can be regulated this year." Full Story
Only 3 Envelopes and 2 WhatsApp Messages
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From the COLlive inbox: "This week I concluded my 6th year of teaching and it had been a great year. Both students and the parents were very happy. On the last day of school, I received..." Full Story
Please Welcome Back the Shluchim To…
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From the COLlive inbox: "It isn't an anomaly anymore to see a family who was on Shlichus join a Lubavitch community as regular members. This drastic change in their lives is painful. Here's how to support them." Full Story
‘I Never Thought I Would Still be Here’
From the COLlive Inbox: "Last week, I received a message from a friend that tore my heart and took my sleep," shares North Carolina Shlucha Yehudis Bluming. Full Story
The Unfortunate Trend to Focus on What’s Wrong
From the COLlive inbox: A response to the recent op-eds focusing on what's wrong with our chinuch system. The stories of past hurts and mistakes are valid, but there are additional stories that aren't told and should be if you want change. Full Story
The Number One Thing a Bochur Needs
From the COLlive inbox: An exchange between my brother-in-law and a Rosh Yeshiva at a Thursday night farbrengen made me realize a recurring theme that has surfaced for me and many fellow bochurim. Full Story
“There’s No Such Thing as a Trusted Adult”?
Illustration Photo. The people or location have no connection to this op-ed
From the COLlive inbox: "Several days ago, I received a phone call from a close nephew of mine who is a good Yeshiva bochur. I was surprised that he was calling. But when I heard the panicked fear in his voice, my social worker's antennas went up." Full Story
Excuse Me, I Have Actual Anxiety
From the COLlive Inbox: "A term I never heard when I was growing up has become normal. I hear the question over and over, what’s wrong with today's kids? Why so much anxiety?" Full Story
If They Can Have It, Why Can’t I?
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From the COLlive inbox: "What will convince me and my friends to maintain a standard that the generation above us clearly does not? They told us what to do in school but don't show it in practice." Full Story
Rabbosai, Excuse My French?
Illustration photo by Cameron Yartz / Pexels
From the COLlive inbox: “Too often, I encounter them in casual conversation, or perhaps at the wheel of a car after a shortstop. Clearly, things have changed and not for the better. But we are better than this.” Full Story
No, I Don’t Have an Answer
From the COLlive inbox: We'd rather not have to deal with the problem. We want to forget it and put it as far away as possible. We just don't have strength to 'deal' with it. But, can we really be quiet? Full Story
About That Conversation You ‘Overheard’…
A response to the letter from an "anonymous bochur" about girls saying they don't want their future husbands to spend time at Shabbos farbrengens in shul, instead of being home with the family. Full Story
A Conversation I Overheard on Kingston
From the COLlive inbox: “On a walk down Kingston following an energizing shabbos that brimmed with Chassidishe farbrengen, I got stuck behind two girls and was privy to their conversation.” Full Story
Learning Practically Ended at Yeshivos Last Week
From the COLlive inbox: A Yeshiva bochur writes about a reality that parents don't know about, the hanhala doesn't deal with, and the bochurim themselves engage in without a choice. Full Story
If Only We Would Spend Our Money Locally
Op-ed by Rabbi Yehoshua Werde: I was recently speaking with a Crown Heights businessman and he told me how a promising deal with a fellow Jewish person fell through despite his bid being the lowest. Full Story
There’s a Doctors Crisis in Crown Heights
Illustration photo by Martin Lostak / Unsplash
From the COLlive inbox: A Crown Heights mother was sitting in the doctor's waiting room for her appointment and came to a realization about a problem that has just become worse with a recent passing. Full Story
We Must Do More To Protect Our Children
Article by Rivkah Bloom: “I've been watching. I’ve been waiting. I’ve been hoping that the stunned, disgusted reactions would transform from feelings and discussions of books to manifested action.” Full Story, Video
Dovid Efune to Revive the Famed ‘New York Sun’
Dovid Efune, who transformed The Algemeiner into an active media outlet,has acquired The New York Sun newspaper with partner Daniel Rosen. Founded in 1833, Efune will revitalize it online. Full Story
Speaking the Unspeakable
Shliach and licensed therapist Rabbi Avremel Blesofsky of New Jersey on the proper response to the disgraced author accused of serial abuse and the proper way to support those who have been hurt. Full Story
We Are Becoming Increasingly Polarized Over Vaccines
Article by Rabbi Raphael Aron: "Ironically, until now Covid prevented families from being together. Now, tragically, it is the vaccine that is preventing family and friends from having the contact they desire as the community is becoming increasingly polarized over the issue." Full Story
Can Shadchanim Be a Little More Precise With Us
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From the COLlive inbox: "Inconveniences are part of this stage in a young person's life and we understand this, but there is no need to make someone go through all this bother and anxiety in the name of 'courtesy.'" Full Story
It’s Just One Date, They Keep Insisting
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From the COLlive inbox: A young woman who has been in shidduchim writes about the insistence of people that she just go on one more date with a prospective person she knows she isn't clicking with. Full Story