1. Use the Best Ingredients

Let me tell you what the Hungarian woman who used to babysit my children would tell me: What you put into something is what you’ll take out of it. If you put tasty ingredients into a dish, it’ll come out delicious. The same goes for everything in life: What you give is what you’ll get back.

—Rebbetzin Rivka Gluestein, a writer, educator, and lecturer for the Creating Inclusion Foundation

2. Only Travel on a Full Tank

No one would head to the highway thinking, My tank is empty, but I have no time to fill it. They understand that they’ll break down halfway to their destination, causing more trouble in the long run. Remember that your tank, consisting of your emotional, physical, and spiritual needs, must always be full, although the priority of those needs will vary through the different stages of your life.

—Shira Francis, a marriage and family therapist based in Chicago, Il.

3. Play Mood Music

Yom Tov is a special time, and you’ll come to appreciate it more each year.  But for the benefit of the little ones in your home who can’t yet appreciate the beauty of peeling pounds of apples or cleaning out pockets, make the Yom Tov come alive. Put on music, decorate your home, buy tchotchkes corresponding to the special day. Build the excitement through external means, and they’ll come to appreciate the gift of Yamim Tovim.

—Rebbetzin Michelle Tendler, a mother, grandmother, and educator

4. Embrace Your Shadow

I always loved the words of Dovid Hamelech in Tehillim — Hashem tzilcha al yad yeminecha. Hashem is my shadow. As a child, I enjoyed looking at my shadow; I’d twist my body in all kinds of contortions just to see what it does. That shadow always remained by my side, dancing with me. Dear daughter, Hashem is that shadow! And if you feel Him by your side, you’re never alone. You’ll feel you have the strength to deal with life’s challenges.

—Mrs. Rachel Rudman, a teacher in Michlalah, Midreshet Tehillah, and Chedvas Bais Yaakov, and a kallah teacher for over 30 years

5. Onward and Upward

Daughter, little is more important than our mesorah. The most important advice I can give is what I heard from the incredible women who preceded me. I remember Oma Finkel struggling to stand on her painful arthritic knees. She’d murmur, “Imer viter. — Always forward.” That was her secret. That’s how she survived Bergen Belsen, how she raised her large and beautiful family. She never got stuck. Never looked back. Never wallowed. So daughter, if I can tell you one thing, it would be: always forward.

—Mrs. Bayla Jacobovitz, a mother, grandmother, and educator in Ramat Beit Shemesh

(Excerpted from Family First, Issue 639)