HOME & FAMILY

"To make matches, you have to be caring and daring."

This is straight from the shadchan's mouth. Caring, because if you really care for someone, you try to help him/her, rather than discuss him, pity him and go on with your life. Daring, because many a matchmaker has to ignore superficial impressions and stereotypes before he dares to suggest a match that others would have questioned, ridiculed or scorned.

Oz V'hodor Levusha

If the Chofetz Chaim were alive today, he would proudly admit that shemiras haloshon is no longer a mes mitzva, a mitzva that is virtually dead, with no one to promote its observance. While it once seemed beyond expectation to refrain from forbidden speech, today one has a hard time finding a receptive ear to listen to a `juicy' piece of gossip without being interrupted.

LETTERS, FEEDBACK

From a reader in London:

I write to you concerning an article by Chavi Dumas in which she describes her child changing a light bulb. While I enjoyed its gentle humor and message, I feel it is important to convey the following Health and Safety advice of which many people are unaware.

Not Like Any Other Dance
by Varda Branfman

[This piece is exclusive to Yated and does not appear in Varda's new book, I Remembered in the Night Your Name which is reviewed this week.]

At the Splitting of the Sea, Miriam led the Jewish women in song and dance to celebrate the great miracle. Dance -- a form of exuberant spiritual expression.

Service with a Smile
In Memory of Rebbetzin Malka Isbee Gurwitz z'l
by S. C.

So much has been written and said on the subject of a smile. It is a hallmark of great people, an emblem of bitochon and joyful acceptance, a mark of good middos. A smile is the road to any friendship, an asset for [sometimes necessary] comic relief.

Learning Styles and the Visual Learner
by Devora Piha

Part III

Some children/people ingest information through seeing, others through hearing, others through touch, or by rearranging information through sequence and so on. Children may be very bright, but if the educational approach does not access their method of learning, they may not grasp the material fully. What to do?

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

What causes the kidneys to fail? Kidney failure comes foremost from poor blood supply and, as such, is often seen after resuscitations where there is a period of very little blood flow. Diabetes is also a cause as are certain medications, infections, severe untreated dehydration and obstruction of the urinary system. This obstruction can be from a swollen prostate or tumor.

Poet's Corner

Perek Shiri -- or -- I Sing, Too!

by Tzipora Zien

You ask if I can sing!
I humbly answer: "No."

I'll never join those gracious choirs
Whose glorious tones the heart inspires
Nor even share a simple tune
Which friends might hum at Shabbos noon.
Though once upon a time I heard
That when one fails to put in words...
A FLOOD of
Love
or Awe
or Rue
Just bubbles up to storm the brink
and bids one:
SING!

If this be true...
then I sing, too!