BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

By Tali Loewenthal Kindness is often presented as a central virtue of the Jewish people. Abraham, the hero of our parshah, together with his wife Sarah, is a paradigm of kindness. One sees their hospitality to wayfarers at the beginning of the parshah, and later G-d says that He loves Abraham because "he will instruct his household after him to keep the way of G-d, doing charity and justice" (Genesis 18:19). "Charity and justice" signify acts of kindness, and the Talmud cites this verse when it declares that there are three distinguishing features of the Jewish people, the descendants of Abraham: They are 1) modest, 2) merciful, and they 3) do acts of kindness. "Anyone who has these qualities," the Talmud goes on to say, "is fit to join the Jewish people." There are different opinions among the Sages as to whether these qualities are natural to the Jewish people or are special "gifts" from G-d. It is also clear that they are ideals t...

FROM: Pauline Lewis, Human Resources Director TO: All Employees DATE: 4 November 2009 RE: Christmas Party I’m happy to inform you that the company Christmas Party will take place on December 23rd, starting at noon in the private function room at the Grill House. There will be a cash bar and plenty of drinks! We’ll have a small band playing traditional carols …. please feel free to sing along. And don’t be surprised if the MD shows up dressed as Santa Claus! A Christmas tree will be lit at 1:00pm. Exchange of gifts among employees can be done at that time; however, no gift should be over $10.00 to make the giving of gifts easy for everyone’s pockets. This gathering is only for employees! The MD will make a special announcement at the Party. Merry Christmas to you and your Family. Pauline ********************************************************* FROM: Pauline Lewis, Human Resources Director TO: All Employees DATE: 5 November 2009 RE: Holiday Party In no way was yesterday’s memo intended ...

I f we as a society, are going to condemn the sexual terrorism done by our government - then we must recognize and take steps to hold the perpetrators of emotional abuse, which includes 'sexual terrorism' accountable. Should we give Tiger Woods a pass? The way Obama gave Bush a pass? We need to stop blaming the victims and saying 'they agreed to it' or 'they knew what they were getting into' and hold those who destroy the lives of victims as well as their peace of mind -- accountable. SEDUCTION. The offense of a man who abuses the simplicity and confidence of a woman to obtain by false promises what she ought not to grant. 2. The woman being particeps criminis , has no remedy for the mere seduction, nor is there, to the discredit of the law, a direct remedy in her parents. The seducer may be sued, though not. directly or ostensibly for the seduction Just as adultery lingers in the criminal codes of some states, so does seduction. 5 Harr. & J. 27;...

I hadn't lived in NYC a full year when Mark David Chapman ended the life of one of my Upper West Side neighbors - John Lennon. This year I celebrated living in NYC 30 years... more than 1/2 my adult life. This year, Lennon is gone 29 years. My Favorite Lennon Song: by Kyle Anderson Today is the anniversary of the murder of rock legend John Lennon, who was killed outside his apartment building just before 11 p.m. via five gun shots. The killer, Mark David Chapman, had been stalking Lennon for months and even had contact with him earlier in the day (Lennon signed a copy of Double Fantasy for the guy who would take his life only hours later). Chapman's motives remain unclear to this day (the film Chapter 27, starring 30 Seconds to Mars frontman Jared Leto as Chapman, didn't offer many suggestions), but he remains incarcerated in a state prison in New York and has been denied parole five times, often because of campaigns lead by Lennon's widow Yoko Ono. Lennon's legacy ...

by David Warren President Barack Obama announced this week, in his latest glamour speech -- this one choreographed among cadets at West Point -- the substance of the new U.S. "Afghan strategy." I last wrote about this on Oct. 28, when we'd been waiting seven months for particulars to accompany the glamour-speech "comprehensive, new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan," that was delivered last March. I suggested that Obama had shown himself to be a president unable to make hard decisions. He makes speeches instead -- vacuous speeches that sound very grand to a poorly-informed mass audience, but on reading we find only posturing narcissism. This is a serious flaw in the "leader of the free world." But even presidents who can't make decisions get cornered by "events," and eight months after his initial rhetorical offering, with much additional posturing, Obama finally gave the U.S. and allies a policy of sorts. It was designed to provide ...

The Body's Ways to Express Traumatic Memories & Feelings That Can Find No Other Outlet I am totally disabled ( though I often look fine ) and the crash is always inevitable. My M.S. is in flare after every activity and all the overlapping syndromes that come with it. Sleep can't come fast enough - but the guilt & blame are right on top of me immediately. I lay in bed - which is where I am most of the time; upset that my children don't have a better put-together mother; and I think about what brought me to this point. I was exposed to a lot of toxins at my last job and coupled with a lifetime of emotional verbal, psychological, sexual & physical abuse, repressing my anger and "not telling" ( aka - being a good girl ) -- my immune system snapped. My body snapped along with it. Pain for me is endless & relentless. I spend a lot of the time I am not with my kids - coping with what illness is doing to, has done to or may do to me. I get so fed up wit...

by Amy Siskind It's not been a particularly good press week for two well known misogynists: Rick Warren and Larry Summers. Both men were early selections of President Obama. If we are to judge our president by whom he surrounds himself with, then what do Obama's selections of Warren and Summers tell us? That Obama's version of diversity does not include gay and women's rights. And in fact, the selection of Warren and Summers will likely be a continual source of salt on the wound of inequality. President Obama's Inauguration was presided over by Rick Warren. Although Warren is perhaps best known for his opposition to gay rights, he also believes that women are second class citizens. Specifically, Warren's Saddleback Church has encouraged battered wives to stay in their abusive relationships. Hundreds of viewers wrote on our blog about their personal experiences at the hand of Rick Warren's church. Saddleback Church's advice to abused wives: "she...

By BARRON H. LERNER, M.D. Lucy, one of my longtime patients, has a neurological ailment she believes I have been unable to adequately diagnose. Although I hope to make further progress on her case, I have also told her that there may never be a definitive answer. Not surprisingly, she is feeling pretty frustrated with me. Why do doctors and patients often approach the diagnosis of disease so differently? Part of the answer lies in the concept of triage — the notion, originated in wartime, of caring for the sickest and most salvageable patients first. Once they were saved, attention could be turned to less drastic cases. A similar strategy has evolved in emergency rooms, where physicians are trained to “rule in” or “rule out” severe conditions. Thus, doctors immediately consider heart attacks or pulmonary embolisms for patients with chest pain, and intestinal rupture for those with abdominal pain. But what happens when these conditions are ruled out? In such cases, doctors proceed to se...

One thing 15 years of an unpredictable. excruciating disability has taught me - is to prioritize. Get straight what is important and what isn't. As a single, divorced mom and an advocate for abused women I get overloaded with requests. Of course my children come first. That is something I make very clear. But I am good at my advocacy. And being good at something can be a blessing and a curse. Very often I tend to overload myself with work. However, in the years since I was paralyzed on the left side and couldn't walk to the last few years where I have been extricating myself from a very abusive & controlling partner - I've learned to say NO. I don't ask much for myself. Like I said, my children are my primary focus and then my health. The latter tends to DEMAND I pay attention or it literally makes me sicker than the white noise of physical pain and feeling lousy I do most of the time. My friends are always telling me to do more nice things for myself and to...