HOME & FAMILY

The recent terrorist attack on the No. 2 bus from the Kosel is being referred to as the "attack on children," due to the many children killed, injured or orphaned in the bloody attack.

The Perpetual Teardrop
Childlessness -- Part II

The tear finally rolled down my cheek; maybe it was the other tears waiting behind it. The Rosh Hashona prayers did not allow me to hold back this time. There had been so many, many, many years of trying to have a child, only to bring us the hurtful news. We courageously kept growing somehow, while constantly working hard at convincing ourselves that everything is for the best.

Procrastination is the Thief of Time
by A. Ross, M.Ed.

New Year Resolutions, anyone?

About a stitch in Time-Frame-NOW... And crying about spilt sugar and split peas when it could easily have been avoided... And paying grocer bills when you always seem to have more month at the end of the money...

Mindy
by Sudy Rosengarten

The children were eating supper in the hall that they used as a dinette because the kitchen was so small. Leah was diapering nine- month-old Mindy in the bedroom... The phonograph was on and Naomi was humming along in the kitchen, where she'd started cleaning up. She was so happy to have finally gotten to Israel. Now her children would grow up in the Holy Promised Land.

Dollar Signs From Heaven
by Fruma Grossman

A widow makes the quantum leap across the ocean to Eretz Yisroel, the Land upon which Hashem focuses from the beginning of the year to the end, and learns about...

To Speak (Hebrew) or NOT to Speak
by Sheina Viner

You're here in Israel already X amount of years, if not Y... and you still can't speak the language. It must be some mental language block. But how much longer can you go on this way, with the kids growing up and being ashamed of you... And you, feeling like a perennial foreigner, when you want, with all your heart and soul, to feel at HOME.

How about the spiritual incentive -- to understand your prayers better?

BOOK REVIEW
How Tehillim Speaks to Us
Rhythm of the Heart
by Rabbi Yitzchok Reuven Rubin
Reviewed by Yonina Hall

Tehillim -- the precious companion of every Jew. Wherever you go, you'll see this small sefer cupped in people's hands, receiving their prayers and tears like a faithful friend. While the familiar words and cadence of Dovid Hamelech's verses give us comfort and hope, how much more solace could we gain by truly identifying with the concepts embedded in every word?

Seeing the Light
a story by Rosally Saltsman

Rosally wrote this for Chanuka but we couldn't let you wait until then...

"By the time lunch had arrived, I felt as if I had been keeping Shabbos my whole life or that my whole life had been that one Shabbos..."

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

Seizures are basically short circuits of electrical energy in the brain. Typically they present with shaking and loss of consciousness followed by a period of confusion. They can be due to any problem in the brain: infection, trauma, stroke, metabolic problems (most commonly low blood sugar) or reasons that are unknown. Usually they can be well controlled with medication. These people generally live normal lives and I would not hold up a shidduch on this basis.

Kiwi Gold
by Dr. Reuven Bruner, Ph.D.

You've probably tried kiwi fruit, that furry-skinned, green- fleshed orb that tastes kind of like a tart strawberry. But now New Zealand is pushing a yellow-colored version we think is even better. It's marketing under the name Zespri Gold, it's sweeter than peach or mango, but at the same time has fewer calories (40 in one medium fruit versus the original version's 50). And as with the green types, a two-fruit serving has more vitamin C than an orange and more potassium than a banana, along with a variety of antioxidants.

POET'S CORNER

To Moriah

by Ruth Fogelman

At sunrise Master saddles me
Sacks of provisions
He straps to my sides,
And with two sons and servant
We set forth.

Over barren hills I plod,
Over parched land,
Under beating sun,
For three days we journey north.

"Here is the wood,
Here, fire and knife,
But where is the lamb?"
I muse.

Before us, mountain looms,
"Sit here with ass,"
Master tells his men,
"I and lad on foot will ascend."

I lie, munch fodder,
Son and servant at my side,
We rest
From burdened wandering.

My ears prick up --
I hear distant bleats
Of distressed ram.
Silence.

My nostrils twitch and tingle --
The pungent scent
Of burning meat
Carries through still air.

Sun crawls
Towards crest of hill,
Master and son, shaken,
Return.

Divine Mercy

by Tziporah Zien

Hashem, Your world is based on loving-kindness.
You grant each soul its life to work and earn.
If we should sin, perhaps it means that blindness
Has caused us to forget Divine concern.

Your mathematics will be quite exacting
And one plus one will always equal two.
If punishment our sins are not extracting,
I guess that means we mean a lot to You!

For love of You, mankind could well return!
You've given us an easy life, not less.
And yet, we choose Your chosen path to spurn
While chasing after nebulous success.

Let hollow man perceive his piteous state,
He claims belief in nothing save himself.
Though, deep inside, he knows You did create
His life, his world, and all its hard-earned wealth.

What You would have us learn we fail to see
And therefore, You regard our sins with blindness.
You choose to grant a blanket clemency,
And wait for our return with loving-kindness.

"A Gebensht Yohr!"

To Morah _______

by Tziporah Zien

As the new year commences, every mother knows that thanks are due to the unsung heroines of Jewish Education, who wipe away the tears of separation and occupy the toddler every day in their homes with a wealth of activities.

Fill in the blank and send to the gan/mishpachton with your child next week!

Though our children we do miss
We release them with a kiss
As they trot off every morning without fear!

From their faces we can tell,
Without doubt, you treat them well,
And we're grateful to you, Morah Plonit, dear.

How your talented creations
Spark the child's imagination!
They come home so full of stories every day!

Hashem's wonders you unfurl
As they learn about His world
And the miracles of nature as they play.

Thus in wise consideration
You give them a firm foundation
For the future rests securely in your hands.

We entrust them to your care
As we whisper this, our prayer:
Please, be blessed by Him,
On Whom the whole world stands!