HOME & FAMILY

The following is the last installment of a true story of moral courage, of the uncompromise of values that has become the hallmark of the Bais Yaakov model of the Jewish Daughter. Names have been changed.

A 'Holey' Mission: Piercing Ears
by Malka Adler

"Bechol levovcha -- with both your good and evil inclinations." There are lessons to be learned from the alacrity we sometimes exhibit for whims -- to adapt them to the activities that are really meaningful. Or to seize the right opportunity when it is ripe, before it slips out of our hands and becomes stale.

Chiropractic Self Care
by Dr. Zalman Medwed

"For two years I had this pain on and off on the left side of my neck and shoulder which was annoying, but you could live with it. Although I worked for Dr. Medwed, I never thought to mention it to him. While he was abroad on a trip, I woke up one morning with an intensely painful stiff neck. I really needed a chiropractor now and my boss was away!..."

Pay On Delivery
by LMW
based on an article by Rav E. Dvorkes

Sometimes you have to be hit over the head until a new idea takes hold. One of the oldies was: shidduchim is such a great chessed that no money can ever repay the favor. The problem is that according to Halacha, this does not hold true.

Graduating....Gradually
by Leah Subar

"Mommy, can I go back to gan?"

I can't say these words came as a shock. She's an intelligent little girl who has been doing fine in first grade, but her highly sensitive nature was bound to affect her classroom experience. She takes things to heart so that one cross look from a teacher means infinitely more than the teacher implied. A slightly critical remark hurts as if her entire being has been accursed.

Not Just Sheitels
by Faigie Russak

You're all familiar with bazaars -- your Yeshiva bazaar, the Shul sale, or the Ladies Auxiliary of "you name it" organization's bargain opportunity. However, the semi-annual Yerusholayim Sheitel Sale held in the Tamir hotel is the greatest bazaar of all, or as Sadaam would say, it is the Mother of all Sales. That is not only because it is attended by mothers of all ages, sizes, and group affiliations -- it's the sheer magnitude of the undertaking!

Your Medical Questions Answered!
by Joseph B. Leibman, MD

Sometimes the lungs are affected by diseases that have little to do with them. One of the most feared diseases is pulmonary embolism. Embolism is a medical word describing the sending of a clot or other solid material from one place in the body to another, where it could cause havoc. We have described such a case with the heart and atrial fibrillation where clots in the heart can reach the brain and cause a stroke.

Meshech Chochmoh HaSholem: Shemos
by HaRav Shmuel Chaim Domb

"A few days before his petirah, Rabbenu Meir Simcha of Dvinsk (the Ohr Somayach) held up the manuscript of his sefer, Meshech Chochmoh, and said to all those around him: `I want you all to know something. I did not come to this world because of the Ohr Somayach; the world could have continued to exist without it. What the world needs now is the Meshech Chochmoh." We read this in the introduction to Emes LiYaakov by HaRav Yaakov Kamenetsky, zt"l.

"Meoros HaDaf HaYomi" Insights into the Week's Learning
From the Sochatchov "Beis Medrash of Teachers of the Daf HaYomi" Bnei Brak

Contents of this Issue of Meoros: * A parrot or a polygraph as a "witness" in court * The "lie detector" of Shlomo HaMelech * The believability of personal ID issued by goyim * Can she remarry on the basis of hearsay evidence? * The city of Shechem -- its history and lessons * Chinese tourists in Russia saying Shema in Chinese * The preference for saying Shema in lashon hakodesh * Telling a prospective ger he can't yet learn Torah * Did Hillel teach Torah to a non-Jew? * What `hon' would Yosef have lost?

Poet's Corner

VESSEL
(Why so sad?)
by Rina Trellis

We welcome a new poet to our ranks with two of her offerings. Note her `trellis' style, succinct, climbing to fine point.

It's not coming out
It's not coming back
I can't make
the words sing --
the heart say -- I can't feel
that flow
that knocked me over
weeks ago
Only a drip
or a tiny splash
Not enough
to whet my tongue
to sharpen my pen
to heal my wound

Watching
checking every time
Not for a rhyme
only for
approval
mine, or yours
To know I've
tapped the Source
again
and, through the (fingers holding)
inky pen
To be only
a vessel
only a vessel
again.

BEDTIME

by Rina Trellis

Why do I dread
the time for bed
when children need to settle down?
That final stretch,
that longest hour,
when mothers pray
in muted sounds.
The children, wound
as tight as tops
need mother's strength
to man the stops.
Their energy, which
though not spent,
won't lead to good
if they're not sent
to rest their heads
and say "Shema"
with stories told
by patient Ma.

(I wonder now
who that might be -
it does not sound
like anxious me.)
But if I'm strong
and daven well
they may just sleep --
one cannot tell.

And if I'm weak
and just give in
I'll regret the state we'll soon be in.
So before I face
this daunting task
I'll turn to You
and this I ask,
"Please give me strength
and keep me sane
and help me through this
once again!"