BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

Writing has always been a personal passion. For years I didn't even dare really do it consistently in dread of bringing down the wrath of my ex who would pick apart and demean everything. When I was younger it was my mother - and I wouldn't write except when I had to because my diaries were opened and made fun of and journals became frustrating when I learned I had to edit myself to keep secrets. Teachers would read my words and evaluate them. But every day what we write & say is being evaluated by the hearts and minds of those who hear them, as well as the One who hears everything. I believe words have energy. In my Torah classes we often discuss how something was written, why it was used once or twice, how the sentence was constructed and its deeper meaning. No matter how many times we read passages, I still find something new in them. And Gematria breaks down the numerical value of words and names to their cosmic elements and energy. How we use language can...

My Nana, of blessed memory, was fluent in Polish. Her mother (whom everyone says I look and act like!) was fluent in Polish, German, English and Yiddish. I didn't realize until I was in my 30s that my Nana's Polish was sprinkled liberally with Yiddish terms, picked up from her grandmother - that I heard so often I assumed they were Polish. Rozumiesz? The Yiddish language is a wonderful source of rich expressions, especially terms of endearment (and of course, complaints and insults). These are some of their wonderful words you have to learn to use: 1. baleboste - A good homemaker, a woman who’s in charge of her home and will make sure you remember it. 2. bissel - Or bisl - a little bit. 3. bubbe - Or bobe. It means Grandmother, and bobeshi is the more affectionate form. Bubele is a similarly affectionate word, though it isn’t in Yiddish dictionaries. 4. bupkes - Not a word for polite company. Bubkes or bobkes may be related to the Polish word for “beans”, but it really me...

In the past weeks we have discussed various commandments that are related to speech, such as lashon hara. Another, less well-known command relating to speech is the prohibition of ‘hurtful words’, ( Onas Devarim in Hebrew) .There is a well-known saying that, “sticks and stones might break my bones but words can never hurt me.” This is not the Torah approach; speech is a very powerful tool that can be used to cause great good or great harm. In a certain way, harmful speech can actually do more damage than causing physical pain because speech can penetrate deep into a person’s inner being. Anyone involved in a long relationship can testify that a few harsh words can be remembered for several years. There are a number of different forms of Onas Devarim . The most obvious is speaking harshly to a person. It is forbidden to speak in such a way that will cause emotional damage to a person. Thus, raising one’s voice, or shouting are forms of speech that are almost always prohibited. A person...