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11 Sivan 5759 - May 26, 1999 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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HOME & FAMILY

Dear Diary - Part II
by R' Pinchos Kantrowitz

Irwin, dearest Irwin, really gave us quite a shock when he called from Israel the first time. We thought he was being indoctrinated into some sort of cult. We now expected him to have a crew cut, look gaunt from improper diet, and lackluster and weary from sleep deprivation (a popular strategy among the cults). Well, I must tell you, dearest diary, that we were quite taken aback when he greeted us at the airport. He looked like Irwin!

The Green Book
Submitted for anonymous publication by a Bnei Brak reader. Names are made-up.

At a Rosh Chodesh party in Bnei Brak for English-speaking women, the following comment was heard, "There should be a list. Someone must make a list of all the women who attend this gathering and photocopy it for everyone." Thanks to Chani, who took up the initiative, the Green Book was conceived.

An Idea in Honor of Shavuos
by Ann Onymous

Yesterday I made a siyum on all of Tanach.

Last Shavuos it occurred to me that Hashem gave us Torah, Neviim, Ksuvim for us to learn -- and to learn from. And that's when I started. It has taken me eleven months and four days to go through all of it, although I am sure Yated readers can do it in less time.

Tempest in a Half Glass of Water
by Malka Adler

It's another heat-wave and you answer the door to an unfamiliar woman.
Would you like a drink of water? Here, please...

There's the well known description of the optimist versus the pessimist. While the optimist will consistently see the glass as being half full of water, the other can only focus on the void that exists. While the pessimist's predictably non- positive view of the world is depressing enough, there are some unfortunate souls who take it a step further.

WHAT'S COOKING?
Watermelon Season
by Rivka Tal

"Avatiach, avatiach! Al hassakin!" We know that summer is here when we hear this call going 'round the neighborhood. Although no longer powered by a horse and wagon, the Watermelon Man's truck making its rounds joins hundreds of roadside watermelon stands and his colleagues in the shuk each summer, urging us to enjoy this juicy treat. Many of us would not trade a bite for any other food on a sweltering summer day.


Poet's Corner

Two by Ruth Lewis

The Great Canvas

Some prefer to view The Canvas
As a whole - the sheer size of it,
the sweeping grandeur,
the vast range of color,
design, variety.
But those who love the Artist best,
seek to stand close,
delight in searching out the Signature
in every smallest detail,
in every pebble's cracks and contours,
each spider strand, each grain of sand,
each infant's eyelash, every raindrop,
every blade of grass...

Sparrowsong

"A soul is like a bird. If it stops flying, it falls."
(Attributed to R' Yisroel Salanter zt'l)
Yes, but...
Birds rest.
They nestle, cozy in their nest,
Or find a branch, a twig.
No bird is big enough
to fly forever,
never
to rest.
No contradictions here, at all.
Birds must rest or they will fall.
Birds must rest, to fly once more.
Another day, to wing and soar.
Resting's a part of flying.
Resting's a part of trying.
I thought that, like the lark, I'd fly
above the clouds, so high, so high,
and sing sweet as the nightingale sings.
(Why did I think such silly things?)
Now what I think is:
time to fold my wings,
to find my nest, to find my rest,
so that tomorrow I may try
again to soar, again to fly.


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