A Letter From Your Editor
We need some fresh material, new writers,
even
amateurs, some of which we are proud to have launched in a
writing
career! At this point, Yated can only pay people who can
produce a
tax exemption from the Income Tax Bureau (aside from short
poems),
but we would welcome typewritten efforts of people who would
like
to see themselves in print, have something to say to the
public, and
don't necessarily need remuneration.
Waiting...
Weinbach, Panim Meirot 1,
Jerusalem.
FAX 02-5387998.
HOT WATER!
A fervent plea from Rochel, a volunteer in
several
Jerusalem hospitals. At this time of year, the children's
burn wards
are filled -- with chareidi children whose
excruciating
burns over large portions of their bodies could have been
avoided.
They were caused by Shabbos water urns
tipping
over and their scalding contents pouring over children. She
suggests
several ideas:
Keep the faucet of your water urn turned
inward.
Too many sleeves and pockets catch on to the jutting tap to
dislodge
it.
If, at all possible and feasible, make a
large
(elastic) loop that will be anchored to the wall by two nails
and
hug the samovar so that it will not tip.
Warn children not to go near the stove or
hotplate.
Keep it as sturdy and inaccessible as possible and the water
towards
the back of the stove.
Don't wait until five minutes before Shabbos
to
remember your new safety measures. Experiment right now and
be prepared
at the right time.
And
an extra tip for emergency care for burns: THE BEST IMMEDIATE
THERAPY
IS COLD RUNNING WATER. This is treatment you will not find in
any
MDA center or emergency ward, so do this first for as long as
possible.
Keep affected area under running water -- lukewarm in the
winter
so child will not catch cold. Alternate with immersion in
pail/basin.
The affected area must be cooled to prevent further damage of
tissues.
For hours, even overnight.
AN IMPORTANT TIP ON HAIR
"My son began losing his hair at the age of
four but my doctor reassured me that it would eventually grow
back.
It didn't. He then told me to wait till adolescence when he
could
begin hormone treatment, but the child was miserable. His
classmates,
and even mere acquaintances, always made sure to mention his
baldness;
many asked if he was having chemotherapy. He didn't have
hair, but
he did have ears, and feelings!
"We decided to switch schools. It was better,
since the principal prepared the children the day before he
came,
but when I asked my son how it had been he said, `One child
kept picking
up my kipa and touching my head.' By this time he had
no payos,
eyebrows or hair and his kipa kept falling off. A
slight breeze
would cause his eyes to tear and rain bothered him terribly.
I never
realized how protective hair is.
"We tried homeopathy, tested for allergies.
My last stop was a doctor who suggested I have his hair
analyzed.
HA! He didn't HAVE a teaspoon of hair to send. But in the
past, it
had grown a bit at times before falling out. After a vigil of
a few
weeks, it happened, and I waited to have enough of a crop,
which I
shaved off and sent to the lab.
"The results showed that my son suffered from
a severe zinc deficiency. My doctor gave me a prescription of
220
mg. of zinc sulfate daily and told me to restrict his milk
intake,
since this inhibits the effectiveness of zinc. But we made
sure that
he ate chicken, fish and liver, high in natural zinc.
"And that was the answer. Today at eight,
we continue to give zinc supplements to keep his red thatch
on his
head.
"I hope that this can help others suffering
from the same problem."
R. from Tzefas
ONE TWO THREE LANGUAGES
R. F. from Jerusalem has been enjoying our
articles
on language and would like to share her ideas and experiences
with
the readers. She first notes that Glen Dolman should be taken
with
a grain of salt. He used to be one of the big proponents of
`patterning'
back in 1975. This, afterwards, was proven to be a huge waste
of time
and effort.
Language is important as a means of
communication,
even with ourselves. The gemora discusses whether
people think
in terms of words or ideas. A child's thinking is of a
different quality
once he masters words. Lehavdil, the linguist Noam
Chomsky
also write about this at length and to this day, I remember
one example:
Polynesian islanders whose life centers on fishing have at
least 20
words describing the different shades of blue [so does
Crayola] because
it is so important for them to discern changes in the sky and
water.
Similarly, someone who is fashion conscious will notice the
difference
between teal blue and turquoise, while her husband will lump
them
together as green or blue. She will discriminate what is `in'
because
the term has sensitized her to the difference.
I think successful bilingualism is also tied
to
this debate. Do we have a concept of `table' independent of
the label
we give it? I think children who grow up in a bi- or tri-
linguial
environment find it easier to understand that a certain item
may have
different names, be it table, tish or shulchan,
and
even uses and/or connotations [`tish' is not always
synonymous to
table], and still remain the same familiar item. Someone who
has only
heard one label might find it harder. We often see that
American-borns
who never heard any other language will find it more
difficult to
pick up a new language than Europeans who are exposed to a
multitude
of languages.
Another factor which affects a child's
becoming
bilingual is his parents' facility with language. If the
parent speaks
a very broken Hebrew, the child may be ashamed and want to
prove to
himself and others that he is not a refuge who just `got off
the boat',
and therefore insists on speaking only Hebrew, even in reply
to his
mother's English.
There is, however, an inborn linguistic
aptitude.
In the same family there may be differences between the
children in
mono- or bilingual vocabulary development.
No matter what your baseline is, I have found
the following to be helpful: I have often recommended to
young mothers
that they read the (kosher) Hebrew children's magazines. The
vocabulary
is simple, the story line is about familiar situations so
that you
can get the gist of it even if you don't understand all the
words
[and pick up some vocabulary as you go along], and the
intellectual
level is not too taxing after a long day with the kids. With
a bonus
spiritual message.
[At this point, the editor would like to
interject
the additional idea of READING ALOUD to your children from
these Hebrew
magazines or books, as we have presented in our series on
Bedtime
Stories. The added benefit, as R.F. points out, is the
mother's as
well.]
These magazines are educational, current, and
discuss everyday problems and pastimes of Israelis and help
familiarize
newcomers with Israeli society. For exercise, you may wish to
do the
quizzes or crossword puzzles in these magazines - with or
without
your children. This is a very togetherness activity.
I do feel that it is important for the mother
to speak her natural language to the children since she is
more comfortable
and in command of the dialogue and at the natural advantage a
parent
needs. She can express herself more freely and convey deeper
thoughts
and finer shades of meaning. Even if they reply in Hebrew.
A person may be technically bilingual but not
necessarily manage at all levels, like dealing with medical
terminology
or even talking to a repairman. Alternately, many Israelis-
born-to-Americans
might feel comfortable conversing in English, but get
completely lost
attending a lecture of a higher intellectual verbal level,
while the
American who got A's in Ivris and speaks more
grammatically
correct than an Israeli, may feel dyslexic reading a Hebrew
newspaper.
From my own experience, the more languages
you
know, the better access you have to a broader range of
people. That,
in itself, can be very educational and enriching. You can
enjoy a
larger circle of friends from different cultures of different
emphases
and perspectives. Yiddish, for boys, expands learning
possibilities
to gedolim linking to previous generations.
My trilingual children have found it easier
to
pick up bonus vocabularies: counting in French from their
dentist
who tried to distract them; Russian songs of emuna
from immigrants
they befriended; how to give directions to the yeshiva's
kitchen help
in Arabic or Rumanian.
My boys never learned to read or write
English,
but they worked out a system for letter writing to
grandparents -
they transliterate, that is, they write English words with
Hebrew
letters. The results are hilarious, but they communicate
successfully.
Lastly, don't be afraid of Hebrew. Israel is
a
nation of immigrants, and most people here have foreign
accents of
some kind. Israelis necessarily have a tolerance for
incorrect Hebrew.
So take a deep breath and give it a try. You'll see - it'll
get easier.
