Category: February 2018

Actively solving problems for disabled and sick children   By Ilan Preskovsky ALYN Hospital has been treating and caring for children with disabilities and serious sicknesses in Israel for over eighty years now. From its earliest days as an orphanage/hospital for children suffering with polio, to the expansive paediatric hospital and rehabilitation centre that it is now, it has operated as an independent entity without government subsidies. As such, though it does have much of its expenses paid for by the local Israeli health funds to which every Israeli belongs,…

Losing our way…and finding it again   By: Aron Ziegler After the First Temple was destroyed, we found ourselves exiled by the Babylonians. Once settled in their land and posing no threat to their kingdom, we were able to enjoy a period of ease and calm from persecution, and able to live, once again, as Jews. We were citizens in their land and could build relatively comfortable lives there. The Babylonians, however, were a barbaric, primitive people who thought nothing of cruelly butchering our people and had no sensitivity towards…

Giving thanks for an illness suffered   By Chandrea Serebro Gratitude and appreciation. How many memes do we receive on a daily basis preaching just this? If I had a meme generator, I’d picture Desiree Levin and it would say: If I can feel it, so can you. Desiree puts all her feelings of positivity and appreciation down to something her father always said: “One needs to have hindsight to have foresight.” With hindsight, Desiree learned that what might have been a crushing blow to her life turned out to…

By: Batsheva Lea Mazal tov! Your son is now becoming a Bar Mitzvah or your daughter a Bat Mitzvah! Until I did my own, I had no idea how much was involved and how stressful it would be. At times, I even felt myself unable to breathe from the stress. I know people who have even become physically sick from the preparations. Part of the stress comes from not knowing what is involved and what is expected. Your child will come of age with or without massive fanfare. A boy…

Advice from people who’ve done it before… By Chandrea Serebro “What I could have done without…” Efrat Wald I should have invested the money‬ instead. Shelley Berman The insanely loud music. I don’t understand why it has to be so absolutely deafening.‬ Adrienne Bogatie Faribels!‬ Lara Baskin A three-course meal – at least I know my husband Justin would say that! Audrey Nowitz All of the above! I have seen elderly people who are only too happy to be out at a simcha, all done up, and leave as soon…

Hope is part of the human disposition. You have to live in the firm belief that love comes to all, whether fast or slow…   By Chandrea Serebro Waiting for love We often read stories about people, near or far away yet in another world, but never do we think it will happen to us. This is the story of Rachel and Greg Levy*, who not only had to wait for love, but also finally found the ultimate love in their baby boy. Rachel had been dating someone seriously for…

What sets Purim apart from all the other holidays? By: Robert Sussman For literally thousands of years, we have recounted each year at the Pesach seder the incredible open miracles that Hashem did for us when He took us out from Egypt. In fact, one of the paragraphs that comprises the Shema even serves to recall the exodus from Egypt more frequently for us than just annually – twice daily. Even the very first mitzvah of the Ten Commandments does not simply declare that Hashem is our G-d, but quite…

A light in the darkness   By Dovid Samuels What is the most important part of the megillah? Would it be the final judgement on Haman, when he and his sons were hanged on the gallows? Perhaps when Queen Esther went in to see King Achashverosh and pleaded for the lives of the Jewish people? Maybe it was before then, when the king chose her from everyone else in the world to be his new wife after killing Vashti? The question is an unfair one, as every single part of…