Becoming Home

Teaching Fear of G-d Without Anxiety [Becoming Home Podcast Ep.9]

What does Yiras Shamayim really mean? Rabbi Greenwald and Rabbi Yudkowsky challenge the common assumption that fear of Heaven means anxiety, dread, or living under constant pressure. They explore the difference between unhealthy fear and a kind of fear that deepens a person’s life, relationships, and inner world. The discussion moves from childhood ideas of punishment and consequence into something much deeper. They talk about how we can help children develop yirah, why bad metaphors about Hashem can be so damaging, how values are absorbed through modeling, and why skipping stages can create confusion or even religious trauma. This is a conversation about moving from fear that constricts a person to one that opens a person up. Timestamps 00:00 Fear That Protects Love 02:06 Bad Metaphors About Hashem 03:08 Parenting Respect Not Terror 10:33 Three Levels Of Yiras Shamayim 29:05 Awe Of Greatness In Practice 36:21 Expanding the Self 39:19 Modeling Values 41:24 Trauma and Fear 53:41 Truth and Love

Love and Discipline in Parenting [Becoming Home Podcast Ep.8]

What does real discipline look like in a Jewish home? In this episode of Becoming Home, Rabbi Greenwald and Rabbi Yudkowsky explore a deeper framework for parenting — one that challenges the way we think about discipline, punishment, and love itself. They unpack three aspects of love – how they work together and how in their absence disciplinary measures fail and create unintended damage. They also distinguish between discipline, control, and helping a child realize their truest self. Along the way, they touch on: •⁠ ⁠When limits strengthen a child — and when they break them •⁠ ⁠Why punishment often backfires in today’s world •⁠ ⁠The difference between creating compliance and restoring free will •⁠ ⁠What it means to discipline from clarity instead of reaction •⁠ ⁠And how connection changes everything This episode opens up a more nuanced, and sometimes uncomfortable, look at what it really means to guide a child — without losing them in the process. Timestamps 00:00 What is discipline really for? 02:40 Three expressions of love (Ramchal) 06:15 Create strength vs. resistance 10:30 A hug of connection and boundaries 25:45 Punishment as a tool 30:30 Corporal punishment: why it rarely lands as intended 35:50 Discipline vs. control — restoring free will 41:10 When a child feels rejected 46:00 Clarity vs. reacting in the moment 54:10 Rethinking consequences 58:00 Influence of healthy discipline on a child

Pesach-Gateway to healthy parenting [Becoming Home Podcast Ep. 7]

As Pesach approaches, many families feel the pressure long before they feel the joy. In this conversation, Rabbi Greenwald and Rabbi Yudkowsky explore how to prepare for the Seder in a way that is calmer, sweeter, and more connected. The atmosphere we create around Pesach shapes what our children will carry with them for years to come. They share practical preparation to the deeper meaning of the Seder itself: how parents can make Yetzias Mitzrayim feel alive, how to speak to different kinds of children, and how the four sons are not just four personalities around the table, but parts of every one of us. They also explores the tension built into the Seder night itself: pain and praise, struggle and freedom, brokenness and redemption. What does it mean to begin with degradation and end with praise? How do we help children, and ourselves, move from constriction to expansiveness? Time Stamps: 00:00 Gratitude Mindset Reset 04:12 Make Prep Enjoyable 07:25 Joyful Yiddishkeit 09:31 Seder Prep Tips 12:34 Keep Kids Engaged 15:45 Four Sons Framework 17:49 Archetypes In All Of Us 36:02 Making Exodus Personal 40:14 Opening Every Child 42:36 Labels That Wound 49:30 Answering the Wise Son 54:53 From Degradation to Praise 01:09:21 Darkness Becomes Light 01:14:06 Emunah in the Night ---------- Listen to the Seder Crash Course Here: https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/9c36d857-cba7-477a-afe0-91ed790b6edf.mp3 [https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/9c36d857-cba7-477a-afe0-91ed790b6edf.mp3]

Seder Crash Course with Rabbi Greenwald

Everything you need to properly prepare for your seder.

Hitting children - does it work? [Becoming Home Podcast Ep. 6]

In this episode, Rabbi Greenwald and Rabbi Yudkowsky tackle a challenge that many parents feel deeply but struggle to explain: the difference between yelling and hitting today vs earlier generations. They explore shifts in children, parents, and society, and contemporary consequences of traditional discipline. Along the way, they touch on anger, fear, authority, self-control, and the deeper goal of parenting. This conversation does not just ask what works. It asks what a child is actually hearing beneath the reaction, and what kind of person a parent is trying to shape over time. For anyone who has ever lost their cool, questioned their instincts, or wondered how to be firm without causing harm, this episode can be a huge help. 00:00 Hitting and Yelling? 01:49 What changed? 08:00 Lessons in a Slap 13:13 Building Inner Motivation 14:22 Is There Hope For Parents? 16:50 Two Kinds Of Discipline 18:55 Unconscious, automatic reactions 23:44 Rewiring Discipline Beliefs 24:40 Child runs into the street - effective intervention. 28:48 When Firmness Is Necessary 32:48 Cultivating Calm At Home 41:31 Letting Teens Choose Well 43:35 Building Real Free Will