Crying gets a bad rap.

I used to tease my father for crying – and then I became a parent. Suddenly, my tears fell at the drop of a hat – a new milestone reached, a sweet word shared. Reliving an experience I’d treasured as a child, but this time as the parent, especially caught me by surprise. (Why am I crying at the Children’s Symphony?)

Tears of a mother may not be so unusual, but men and boys constantly hear the message that crying is weak, babyish, and for losers.

I think our Biblical Joseph proves otherwise, and examining his tears might empower our boys and...

Recently, I spent about two months in Israel with Skilled Volunteers for Israel, an innovative organization that creates meaningful service projects and volunteer experiences for active adults and retirees. As a volunteer, I tutored students in English, both middle school students in south Tel Aviv and nursing-field students at a youth center in Bat Yam, a smaller city adjacent to Tel Aviv. The work and the entire experience were extremely gratifying.

I arrived in Israel armed with much-less-than-fluent Hebrew, a Hebrew-English...