HOME & FAMILY

The following is a true account, with names and details changed to safeguard privacy. In no way should halachic or medical decisions be made based on it.

The Chameleon
by Gita Gordon

My granddaughter came shopping with me. The expedition was successful and we were on the way home, laden with parcels. Suddenly, a bright green chameleon appeared on the path.

In Defense of Appearance' Sake
by Pennee Lauders

If I wanted to identify with the people who believed in the Torah from Har Sinai, and if I was eager to connect to other Jews wherever I might meet them, then why would I undermine that interest by wearing clothing which declared the opposite?

Confessions of a Convert

BOOK REVIEW
A Jew Returns Home
by Sara Soester and Ben Ami, 253 pp.
Jerusalem Publications, Distributed by Feldheim

Every teshuva story is fascinating, and every one is dear to Hashem. In a new book, A Jew Returns Home, the story of one Ben Ami (the pseudonym of a particular baal teshuva who now lives in Eretz Yisroel) is retold in a unique fashion. He is interviewed by Sara Soester, a former BBC interviewer who previously headed the English section of the Jerusalem anti-missionary department of Yad L'Achim.

The Black Sheep
by A. Ross, M.Ed.

Many families, whether they have numerous children or just a few, are blessed with one who seems to revel in being a troublemaker. He is one who will break up an almost completed jigsaw puzzle on which four children have worked for days. He will claim it was an accident: how was he to know that his football would land right in the middle of the board? He will keep the family waiting for Kiddush on a Friday night with no real excuse. The examples are trivial but very annoying to the rest of the family. Frequently, this phenomenon is reserved for the home! Outside, he is charming, intelligent, polite and helpful.

Head Tales
by Sara Soester and Ben Ami

"Sometimes, when you have to face something, you make it into such a nightmare in your mind that it paralyzes you and prevents you from doing what you know you must."

To all those women who haven't dared yet to step outside in anything but their sheitel...

Wigwarn vs. Wigworn
Our readers write...

While many women are waiting to see what to do with their wigs, most are replacing them temporarily with snoods and berets.

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

More letters. If I am against the random use of antibiotics, so what conditions really do and do not need them?

POET'S CORNER

Hats On

by A. Reader

"It's National Hat Week for the Jews," I heard a goy remark,
"They wear them on our buses; they wear them in the park,
There's fish nets, turbans, snoods, all sorts, I wonder what it's for,
Those Jews don't tell us anything, not why and not wherefore."

Oh, little do you know, young man, how great those women are
To disregard their feelings from countries near and far.
When they are told something's a law, they'll listen, come what may,
However inconvenient, they'll do what Rabbis say.
Courageous women do His will with gladness and delight,
Regardless of financial loss, they rush to do what's right.

Never ever has there been a subject so discussed,
Two women meet and then, of course, the topic is a must,
Synthetic, custom, human hair, unadulterated, mix,
Weighty problems will be solved with witty hermenutics.

They say Moshiach's going to come when women act like this,
That women are the ones who'll bring our everlasting bliss,
So ladies, know, believe me, too, we men could not compete,
With your pure faith in what is right, a veritable feat.

And in the end, you'll get them back, complete with hechsher, too,
You'll wear them modestly, of course, befitting to a Jew,
Some men will frown and say they thought they'd banished them for good,
But on the whole, we'll all be glad and admire Jewish womanhood.

Daughters of the King

by Lori Rubabshi

It's always been tradition, a sheitel on our head,
Instead of hats or tichels, I chose a wig instead.
But now the modest sheitel which I wore every day,
May not, in fact, be kosher! I'm throwing it away.

So now I'm buying tichels, what energy it took!
For me to go to business with such a different look,
I'm waiting for Rabbonim to clear up this affair,
Will only the synthetics be allowed to replace hair?
Perhaps they'll make some good ones, synthetics that look real,
And I'll go back to sheitels, where I felt more appeal.

But recently I noticed while wearing my new snood,
The atmosphere on Shabbos took on a different mood,
I saw my friends together, snoods covering their hair,
They suddenly looked regal, and royalty filled the air.
They radiated beauty, my heart began to sing,
An aura of kedusha, from daughters of the King!
It left me with a feeling, before, I didn't know,
That maybe wearing sheitels. is not the way to go.
So now I'm wearing tichels, no sheitel any more,
I've given up tradition for something much much more.

My Child

by Sara Gutfreund

You are my child
With your startled, gray eyes
And your hair full of the sun.
You are delicate, Adina, like your name,
And you give to others with a dancer's grace.
Find your own steps --
I will be there for you, as you grow.

You are my child
With your dreaming, hazel gaze
And your piles of colorful books.
You are a leader, Miriam, like your name,
And your soft voice holds wells of strength.
Find your own gifts --
I will be there for you, as you grow.

You are my child
With your smile full of tomorrow
And your worn blanket dragging behind you.
You are blessed with splendor, Tiferes, just like your name,
And your sweetness fills the room like the scent of baby roses.
Find your own beauty --
I will be there for you, as you grow.

I am Your child
With my arms cradling Your blessings
And my days weaving tapestries I never imagined
You are the Source of our steps, our gifts, our beauty.
Find me as I seek You
For I am Your child
And I know You are there,
There for me, as I grow.