HOME & FAMILY

Fear is something felt by everyone at some time or other. Since the ghastly incident of the Twin Towers, fear has stalked a large percentage of the world population. The fear can be rational or irrational. Frequently, it is stark terror, which is very difficult to fight, and can lead to breakdown.

Moriah
scooped up from a creative writer's gathering, an imagination- packed bus ride with Rechy Neiman

The first seats of the bus were full, but a fellow who was sitting alone on one of the double rows of facing seats that come right after the first seats saw me as I got on and made himself scarce, disappearing quickly somewhere towards the back. I felt my usual mixture of relief and consternation.

PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE
The Clothing Store
by R' Zvi Zobin

(A Modern Day Di-Version of `The Emperor's New Clothes', in the Purim Spirit)

LETTERS, EITZES, FEEDBACK

written on stationery with a lovely Jerusalem skyline backdrop

As a new reader of Yated, I want to tell you how much I appreciated your article on suffering. We made aliya four years ago and Boruch Hashem, have all the amenities including cranberries with our canned pineapple. Those of us who grew up in America have had it relatively easy and as you so aptly pointed out, have low tolerance for discomfort.

Love and Affection
by Rosally Saltsman

I'm feeling really good today, Baruch Hashem! I feel good because I feel I have love and affection in my life. And I wanted to share this feeling because many people feel that they are missing this. Difficult relationships with people close to them or the lack of certain types of relationships makes them feel unloved and unworthy of love. But that's a fallacy.

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

Continuing about letters:

Hand washing we said is critical in hospital situations, but has undergone a change recently. Iodine -- the active ingredient in polydine -- has been found to be less effective than chlorhexidine. Most hospitals have already made the switch. The newest rage is waterless alcohol solutions. This avoids problems of skin dryness and breakdown, as well as bacteria living on the moist surfaces of faucets.

POET'S CORNER

Purim Parade
by A. Reader

A view through the drinking glass, with poetic Purim license

Purim is here, the usual good cheer
The spirit is not Vanity Fair.
The outfits are great as they slowly gyrate
I watch each remarkable pair.

Chossid and bride side by side glide
In a rousing and lively fandango
Robber and saint, complete with greasepaint
Join them in dancing a tango.

King's page with epistle,
policeman and whistle
With bakers and clowns and some jesters
Arabs and priests, wild men and beasts
Mordechais and charming Queen Esthers.

Children cavort while mothers exhort
The hubub and clamor's unique.
Drivers all hoot as they start a dispute
I love this Geula mystique.

***

YOUTH and OLD AGE

by A. Reader

When you smile at the world, never mind who
When you spit out your food if it doesn't suit you
When you're busy all day and everything's new
You're trying to walk and have got your first shoe.

You're learning to play and can throw down your toys
You laugh and you babble and just make a noise
You crawl on the floor, (Mummy likes corduroys)
With a natural charm, you can do without poise.

And then you leave home to a playgroup perhaps
Or a nursery class where you meet other chaps
A sandpit to play in and so many taps
Outgrown are diapers and afternoon naps.

School is a great place for most under tens
There's books, erasers, pencils and best of all, pens
Wider horizons, so many new friends
Sometimes you fight but you soon make amends.

They don't understand you or love you, you say
A spot on the face is a cause for dismay
You often feel tense when you work or you play
Talk for hours on phone to your friends every day.

*

When you're walking along, admiring the view
And everyone else walks much faster than you
When people not only ignore your advice
But complain you've already given it twice
When you sit by the heater, feeling the cold
You're getting old.

When food doesn't taste like it used to taste
When you keep scraps of paper "because it's a waste"
When sweet children's smiles leave you unbeguiled
And you harp on the days when YOU were a child
When chassuna music leaves you cold
You're getting old.

When you wake in the night and it's barely dawn
You remember when Yankele's Yentie was born
When people mumble and won't speak up
When coffee spills from a half-empty cup
And grandchildren NEVER do as they're told
You're getting old.

When you scoff at the modern fashion trends
When strangers resemble absent friends
When you cannot remember your son-in-law's name
And nothing is right, things are never the same
Things take you so long as you run the household
You're old.

When knees and shoulders always ache
When once strong teeth just snap and break
"You're not getting younger" you often hear
And "Isn't she marvelous, poor old dear"
Possessions don't matter, not even gold

***

The Pigeons

by Batya Nadel

In his coat of grey and black
so handsome
He perches on the wall
and waits

Then just before sunset
She flies into view
A vision all in white

Each day with awe renewed
I see them
Clinging to the stones
Preparing for slumber
The loyal mates.

***

The Secret of Life

by Shmuel Kruskal

Thoughts swirling round your head
You don't know what's happening to you
You have this sense of forboding and dread
But in the end, all you seek is what's true

Chaos, confusion all around
No one knows where they're going
Your only wish is to be safe and sound
And to keep your ambitions growing

You try to ride against the tide
In a world where there's abundance and famine
Searching for a safe place to hide
You swim against the current like salmon

You wrestle with your doubt and fear
Your only hope is to believe
In a universe where only Hashem is near
You just have to strive to achieve

Your task: to keep on living
While your emuna you maintain
Your method: to be kind and giving
While closeness to Hashem you attain

Just accept all in a positive way
And maintain your faith in the One Above
Then all difficulties in life will fade away
And you'll discover the secret of His love.