HOME & FAMILY

Nowadays, if we want to buy a kosher chicken, we just go into the supermarket or butcher shop and pick one out, either packaged or fresh, with an assortment of supervisions from which to choose. We so rely on others to provide us with certain staples that I wonder how many children today actually understand what consitutes the kashrus we all take for granted.

PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE
Chess -- Game or Remediation?
by R' Zvi Zobin

There is an old joke which goes that there are three levels of chess masters. There are the Jewish chess masters, the Russian chess masters and the Jewish- Russian chess masters. Chess has always been the classic game of the Jews. It was the favorite relaxation for yeshivaliet and there are several famous stories in which chess plays a key role.

Career Women or Housewives?
by A. Ross

Pesach is over. The married children have left, some taking everything with them and even stripping the beds, others forgetting bottles under the bed and numerous pacifiers strewn in hidden corners of the house. The unmarried children are back at school, yeshiva or kindergarten and the house is clean and tidy again. Now the mother is free to continue to be a housewife at a more leisurely pace, and to enjoy the babies if there are still some left at home. Or she can go back to work.

CREATIVITY CORNER
A Lump of Clay
by Devora Piha

Clay, earthenware, pottery, the first vessels.

The Loshon Kodesh words for matter and clay are almost interchangeable: chomer and chaimor. Very probably, the very word `clay' comes from the loshon kodesh -- `kli', since that is the building material of the original, primeval vessel.

Which is what we, ourselves, are, the handiwork of Hashem, Adam m'ha'adama, made from clay!

Investing Wisely
by Rosally Saltsman

The gemora suggests putting one third of one's assets in property, one third in merchandise and one third in liquid cash. Depositing in free-loan gemachs is an excellent way of `salting away cash money' where no creditors can lay claim to it, and I know of one Boro Park millionaire who went bankrupt but was able to make a phenomenal comeback from monies he had `invested!' in a gemach. This article applies to the second `third'...

Poet's Corner

Mid-Life Musing
by Tziporah Zien

I saw the young girls dancing, the circle turned and swayed.
They watched the kalla's every step and followed as their hemlines swept
In swirling promenade.

We watched their joyful prancing, the circles wound and split.
They aunties followed slower trails while ribboned princesses' pony tails
Would bound and flounce and flit.

The kalla was entrancing, the circles gaily passed.
She blessed each guest while smiling; her beauty so beguiling
As throngs of girls amassed.

The band began a hora, the circles hopped and stayed.
Controlled were graceful heel and toe, the movement's vigor, breadth and flow

Both charm and joy conveyed.

The kalla's mother entered; the inner circle swelled.
Four generations' joys abound where toddling cousins scamper 'round
And radiant bubbies kvell.

The bochurim were playful; they leaped into the fray,
With mime and acrobatics, with juggling and theatrics
They made the chosson gay.

The throngs of friends competed; they raised the couple high,
Across the border toffees rained; their faces' glow was unrestrained
As each his half did spy.

The photographs were taken; the families joined in song,
These seven days of blessing, their obligations stressing,
Will nourish them along.

*

The joy is only starting; the work still lies ahead,
The echo of this joyous night, perpetuating Torah's light
Throughout the world is spread.

This edifice of giving brings purpose to man's life,
No man his portion earns alone, until he builds a Torah home
And takes himself a wife.

Now Pesach is all over; the crowds did dissipate,
No wedding halls now ring with joy, R' Akiva's students, thus destroyed,
Deserve our mindful wait.

Perhaps this time of respite, reminds us to reflect,
While younger structures wait to rise, the older ones should otherwise
Inspect and flaws detect.

A time for introspection, renewing where we've been,
We weave to wedding halls and back, unmindful how we lose our track
Amid the public din.

The privacy of every home, reflects the Temple's light,
The essence of our holy task, this precious wine inside the cask
Is hidden out of sight.

And so, dear seasoned couples; it's time to fill the cracks,
And oil those squeaky hinges, repairing after binges
Of breaches in our tact.

Respect he did embody! R' Akiva nurtured love,
If we succeed forgiving, Hashem might keep us living
Rewarding as we strove.