HOME & FAMILY

Innovative ideas for capturing and sustaining children's attention: building a pyramid from 100 disposable cups . . .

Remembering Pesach in the Lower East Side
by Sudy Rosengarten

On Pesach, we went to Zeida Duvid for the Seder. The long hall that led into the narrow dining-room looked somewhat less severe in candlelight. and in the dark, we couldn't see the gloomy backyard, with sagging lines of faded laundry, rusting fire-escapes and hunch-backed alley-cats screeching and bellowing like mourning women.

ASK THE SHADCHAN
Child of Divorced Parents
By Rebbetzin Nomi Travis

Question:

" . . . Although I do have single friends my age that came from typical backgrounds, mine is more complicated. My parents got divorced after many difficult years with serious sholom bayis problems . . . I would like to ask you for advice . . . and encouragement."

How Do You Doodle?

Dear Rabbi Engel,

In order to advance at my firm, I was required to take a variety of examinations. (I got the promotion!) One test request, I felt, was quite odd: "Write a few sentences and sketch the doodle that you draw most frequently."

It's in the Air
by A. Reader

All this should be behind you by now, but read it just to feel good.

Only Messengers
by Chedva Ofek

Many seminars the world over will be hosting potential baalei tshuva. Let us pray that their introduction to mitzvos be everlasting!

"Although from time to time, he pricked up his ear, without meaning to, to hear the lecturers, but it was an ear pierced with an earring . . . "

BOOK REVIEW
"A Taste of Tradition"
Pesach and Beyond
By Tamar Ansh
Reviewed by Sheindel Weinbach

"Why is this cookbook different from all other cookbooks?

"In all other cookbooks, we see both wheat and matza flour, but in this cookbook, there are neither!"

Bedikas Hamozone Cahalocho — Volume 1 new revised and expanded edition
by D. Plaut

Since its appearance about seven years ago, the sefer Bedikas Hamozone Cahalocho (vol. 1 and 2) has become popular as the authoritative guidebook on avoiding the transgressions involved in consuming insects. Clear and comprehensive, and accompanied by hundreds of high-quality color photographs illustrating the text, it has earned its place in many homes as a reliable and useful source book for guidance in the day-to-day preparation of food.

The two Malachim
by Risa Rotman

Hashem has many malochim roaming this planet and one or two of them just might be your neighbors.

Putting Order in its Place
by Chedva Ofek

Part II

Adapting to Requirements

It's pleasant to live in a clean and tidy house but it's even more pleasant to live in a house where the atmosphere is one where understanding and caring among its members prevails. Occasionally, the atmosphere turns ugly because of the extreme and unbalanced fastidiousness of a housewife who is overly immaculate and pressures those around her who don't live up to her overly stringent standards.

A Visit from Eliyahu?
By Rosally Saltsman

The many good messengers of Hashem. Nisan, the month of miracles . . .

Expansion
by Sara Gutfreund

The message of matza — in a nutshell.

Interestingly, it is also the message of the succa — simplification, back to basics but with an expansive interpretation for life.

Reflections at the Kosel
By Rosally Saltsman

A Friday morning found me sitting in the early morning sunlight on a perfect spring morning at the Kosel. It was a friend's son's Bar Mitzvah and we were there to celebrate. A friend had given me a note to place in the cracks between the stones. For some reason, I don't do this for myself. The plaza was not crowded and I easily wended my way to the Wall, gingerly tucked the note in between the stones and returned to my place.

Snooze And Lose Weight!
By Dr. Reuven Bruner, Ph.D.

Can sleeping more help you lose weight?

At first, the idea seems counterintuitive. But research shows that sleep deprivation can cause hormonal and metabolic changes that can lead to weight gain. Plus, when you're feeling sluggish you're more likely to crave empty calories like chips or cookies, and less likely to have the energy to exercise.

LETTERS, FEEDBACK

Hello Mrs. Weinbach. I meant to write sooner, but didn't get around to it. i just wanted to let you know how much I was inspired by the article on the importance of Amen that you had in the family section a couple of weeks back [Parshas Pekudei, also ParshasTetzave: review on Just One Word: Amen].

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

I was asked to comment on the Schiavo story: a woman who was "brain dead" and had her feeding tube removed and about ten days later died. This story made waves.

POET'S CORNER
You, the mother, open him up, develop his strengths . . .

The Third, Fourth and Fifth Sons
by Pennee Lauders

Of the scholars, not the quickest,
Nor the smartest, nor the best,
That's my son, the first or second,
Third, fourth, fifth with whom I'm blessed.

They excel, each one, in something,
Though in grades it never showed
How their great, distinctive talents
Would, with age, begin to grow.

How I sat there, year for year,
As their friends earned higher grades,
And the school presented prizes
To those who'd won the accolades.

Maybe next year, or thereafter,
One of ours would sit on stage,
And would answer with assurance
Like an old and seasoned sage!

Though that year has not yet entered
Where a son of mine, rehearsed,
Would get up and join his classmates,
On the Torah dais, well versed . . .

I would never trade my nachas
For the other mothers' boys.
I was granted precious treasures
Which don't cease to give me joy!

If they never reap great honor
For the Torah they expound,
Let them quietly continue
Spreading happiness around.

Let them serve their Rosh Yeshivos,
All the day and into night!
Let them earn an honest portion
Absorbing Jewish warmth and light.

And while doing their best at study,
May they also give to others who do.
Great reward awaits the people
Who support the Torah, too.

*

Shir Hashirim — a rejuvenation of our love for Hashem

Come, My Friend

by Nechama Emmett

Come gladly into the courtyard,
Come share with me the light,
Come listen to the music
And we will dance

Come run through the gates
Come speak with the angels
Come talk with the wise
And we will learn

Come walk in the beauty
Come see all the wonders
Come love all beings
And we will create

*

Pesach, the Festival of Springtime

Green Gold

by Nechama Emmett

Roaming through the rolling fields
Of pastures old and new
Flourishing green is a sign for life
The gold we never knew.

Stretching out before our eyes
Almost reaching to the sky
The thriving growth we see
Is the proof we'll never die.

Sunbeams penetrating through the clouds
The heat beats on the wheat
A single swaying stalk stands high
Like the roots we want to meet.

Life springs forth from cracked, dried earth,
Droplets of water seep in
In the distance a snake does slither
Sorry for his sin . . .