HOME & FAMILY

Reuven goes into the store to buy something to eat. The first thing he checks is the hashgocha on the package. Shimon and his wife are planning to eat out tonight. The first thing they check is the hashgocha of the restaurant. Yehuda is planning this year's vacation. Top priority is the hashgocha of the hotel.

ASK THE SHADCHAN
Where the Buck Stops: A Reply to Rabbi Sofer
by Mordecai Plaut

The presence of problems in any large system does not show that there is something fundamentally wrong with it. The variety within the human beings involved and the myriad circumstances in which they find themselves, almost guarantee that at least some of the results will fall short of perfection.

Teenagers
by A. Ross, M.Ed

"If parents have always listened to their children from an early age, and also talked to them and given them responsibility, in all likelihood these children will have a smooth transition from childhood to becoming adults."

SCHOOL DAYS
Teenager, Never Again

Shall I come home? What do you think? Shall I wear my white or pink?

I need a skirt, also some shoes, now, which color should I choose?

Going to Yeshiva — A Father's Prayer

In my eye, my benevolent eye of a father, there is a mother's tear.

These drops will strike the rock of hope, stones to be worn down by tears.

A Moving Test
by A. Flam

"Ima, You're not listening."

The ten-year-old had to shout and Hadassah turned her head in alarm. She turned the mixer off simultaneously and silence reigned in the kitchen.

LIFE JOURNEYS
by Sara Gutfreund

The Importance of a Smile

There is nothing extraordinary about my story. I'm an average housewife living in Brooklyn with my husband and seven children. The truth is that I never really wanted to live in Brooklyn, but it is a nice, frum community and we have learned to be happy here.

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

A recent article in an obscure journal echoed the feeling that megadose Vitamin C does little to prevent the common cold. I must say I am against all dietary changes that use megadoses of anything — that includes high fat diets of Atkins, vitamin supplementation in regular people and taking large amounts of B complex.

POET'S CORNER

Who Could Have Known?
by Zipporah Zien

dedicated to grieving wives and mothers

A soul enters the world
A star is born
Hope, love, expectation
Hover around the bassinet
Like bees attending the queen.

As this tender creation develops
Into a fine young student
All begin to wonder about his
Bright future, this rising
Sun on the horizon.

Where will a suitable helpmate
Arise to accept the challenge
Of assisting him to his
Pursuit of perfection.

Who will help him serve the
Awesome Creator of this
Promising, blossoming
World of knowledge, till 120?

Who will raise his sons
And daughters to see their
Divine calling and relinquish
The pull of worldly desires?

Who will teach them to look deeper
To plumb the depths of their
Souls to find life's true
Meaning and purpose?

Who would help him bear the pain
If one of their precious charges
Were to be called upon to suffer,
Or to return unexpectedly to the Throne of Glory?

Who will encourage him to continue
Praising Hashem for the myriad
Blessings which he enjoys
Despite the loss?

Who will accept all which the Creator
Planned for the inner development
Of his soul, and persevere despite pain,
Hardship and perhaps even misunderstandings?

Who will attend to his needs
In order to free him to pursue
The acquisition of the purest knowledge
Revealed to man, the Holy Torah?

And who will be willing to quietly grieve
The loss, when he is taken,
At whatever age, to receive his reconpense
For services rendered under any and all circumstances?

Who will shoulder this burden?
Who will bear this excruciating pain?
Who will thank Hashem for having been given
The opportunity to prepare this soul
For its heavenly reward?

We grieve with you and pray
That Hashem grant you the strength
And the wherewithal to carry on in your mission
To raise your children in purity, serving Him.

Hindsight

by Shira Yehudit Djlilmand

hindsight
is a wonderful thing
it enables you
to drive yourself crazy
thinking about all the things
you should have done but didn't
and all the things you shouldn't have done
but did

faith is a much more useful item
you don't have to think about all those things
or drive yourself crazy
just accept
with love
G-d's will