“The Power of His Mind, the Softness of His Heart”

It was the first day of shiva. Three local rabbis came in and asked us, “How did your father raise you? We need to hear as much as possible!” That question was repeated throughout the shiva, and I began to realize that the true question was, “What was it like to have a gadol for a father?”

Hi, everyone - we figured it was time for an update (long overdue), in light of the current situation, so here goes.

Of course the past month or so has been horrific here.  First the three boys' kidnapping, the awful 18 days of waiting, and then the tragic result.  Then the killing of the Arab boy and now the war.Despite all of this, life goes on - kids go to school/camp, people go to work, shopping, etc. But you can see it on everyone's faces - waiting for the next siren, knowing it can happen at any second.

Hamas, the ruling government of Gaza, and, de facto, the most popular movement in Judea and Samaria, is in trouble. The financial support they thought they would gain by linking up with the Palestinian Authority has not materialized. Their hoped-for hostage deal with Israel fell through when the kidnappers killed the hostages. Their smuggling tunnels have been blocked off. The Egyptians oppose them, and are poised to execute over 500 protesters who, if not Hamas members, are similar.

Once more Hamas is desperate for some way to change its bad luck. They don’t like Jews, and, considering that they don’t terribly value their own lives, they have little to lose at this point by attacking Israel. Thus, after a few years of keeping their bombing of the Israeli South to an “acceptable” level, they have just now begun once more to provoke Israel by bombing the Israeli South massively. Worse, for the first time, their bombing is being accompanied by large-scale unrest in Arab areas of Israel, itself. In a word, Israeli Arab citizens are openly aligning themselves with the Arabs of Judea and Samaria. Israel seems headed for war.

I have always been fascinated by stories of life on the American frontier, as described by Laura Ingalls Wilder in her Little House in the Big Woods children’s classics. The author mentions her mother making candles, soap, flour, butter, cheese, and bread, and even weaving the fabric to sew their clothing. Her father knew how to dig for fresh water, build a house out of prairie sod, plant crops, and shoot partridges and rabbits for the family’s meals. In contrast to these pioneers, if we landed in the prairie without our indoor plumbing, effortless heating, and supermarkets, most of us would be about as independent as newborn babies!

The denizens of the Old West were self-sufficient by necessity, but even today, some people choose to do things the old fashioned way – just because. Although they can buy vegetables in the supermarket and readymade clothes in the mall, they prefer to plant a garden and sew a wardrobe. Although they can hire a caterer and a cleaning lady, they prefer to cook for their own simchas and clean their own houses.

“Water is the most precious substance on earth, extraordinary for its remarkable aspects and unique properties. All living things require water. The Hebrew word for life, chaim, is composed of two words, chai, living, and yam, sea. Life is living water, and water is the matrix for spiritual and biological processes.” From Living Waters, by Y. Pinchas

Water has a central role in Jewish tradition; the Sages have compared water to Torah. Water enables and promotes physical growth, and all living things are made predominantly of water. Torah enables and promotes spiritual growth, and our spirit is housed in our physical body. Allegorically and practically, water and Torah are bound together.

To the Shadchan:

I am hoping you can help me with my serious problem. For quite some time now, most of the boys who have been redt (suggested) to me have been saying no. I didn’t understand why, since I am considered a good catch: I am pretty, have a good job, come from a nice family. Still, everyone kept saying no. Recently, a friend told me that a person in town is spreading rumors about me. My friend refuses to tell me who she is, claiming that it would be lashon hara to tell me. How do I handle this?

Hello to all readers: Nu, what can I tell you?. The Ribono Shel Olam created many creatures, and I was one of them. Why he gave me six legs, vehr vais (who knows)? Go ask questions…

Thank G-d, I found myself living in the household of a shomer Shabbos – how I got into this house, vehr gedenkt (who remembers) – but I eventually suffered from anti-Semitism, nevertheless.

One morning, a Yid named Isaac was reviewing sedra of the week, so I peeked into the Chumash he was holding. Who says a stink bug doesn’t deserve to learn? For some reason, my thin legs faltered, and I tumbled onto the page of the sedra and got all shook up! Nu, even a stink bug needs mazel!

Given the ever increasing cost of college and the high unemployment (or underemployment) rate of new grads – not to mention the anti-Israel and anti-free speech activities occurring on college campuses – young people and their parents are beginning to ask, is college really necessary?

The days of a college degree as an automatic ticket to a good job are over. The job potential of the liberal arts – the soft majors like sociology, psychology, history, and philosophy – is mostly a thing of the past (at least for now). Rather, the 21st century economy is one where burgeoning industries like healthcare and energy are changing at a pace we haven’t yet absorbed, and fields such as engineering, business, and technology are the new ticket to vocational success.

The question young people should be asking themselves as they plan their careers is not whether to go to college but, rather, what does our economy look like, and how am I making myself marketable to enter it?

It all began with the best of intentions. And ended in three rounds.My beloved uncle was niftar (passed away) mid-week in Israel. It was a devastating shock when I received the news. He had had a very short illness of which I had not been informed, and his passing was utterly unexpected. A sister of his lived in New York, and so began my deliberations about going up for a shiva (condolence) visit.You see, traveling is difficult for me. Over the years, I have developed tremendous anxiety about driving long distances alone, especially over bridges. I am a single mother, so unless my adult son is available to drive, I am faced with deciding whether I can manage the journey on my own. This week, my decision was complicated by my car needing some repair work, which I had been putting off for financial reasons. Nevertheless, I undertook the repairs, and by week’s end, the car was given a clean bill of health.

Depression is a well known mental health disorder. Still, it is a disorder subject to some confusion, because everyone feels down or sad now and then. Clinical depression is much more than that; it is a serious illness. When someone has depression, it hinders his daily life and causes pain to the depressed individual and to those who care about him.

Most people cannot fathom the pain of depressed individuals. As the British poet Giles Andreae once said, “Here is the tragedy. When you are the victim of depression, not only do you feel utterly helpless and abandoned by the world, you also know that very few people can understand, or even begin to believe, that life can be this painful.”