Author: Aaron E. Glatt

What does halachah say about recreational vaping with THC-containing products?

While female writers became increasingly prevalent in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, many chose to use pen names, leave their work unsigned or refrain from publishing their work altogether. However, perhaps the greatest barrier to female writing was the issue of literacy.

Transplant surgery is one of the wonders of modern medicine. Persons who, in the past, would have died because of the failure of their hearts, livers or kidneys can now have years added to their lives. Persons who would have been condemned to blindness can now have the gift of sight. Horribly disfigured burn victims can begin the return to a normal and productive life with the aid of skin grafts. The tragic death of one person can give life and hope to as many as eight people.

It can happen in the best of families” is an expression often heard in regard to rebellious teenagers. Indeed, when a teenager goes “off the derech,” we tend to blame the teenager himself, bad friends or negative influences. We tell ourselves that even a youngster from a “good home” can be swayed by a decadent culture.

The bitter servitude of the Egyptian exile profoundly diminished the spiritual awareness and level of the Jewish people. In the words of the Rambam, (Laws of Idolatry, 1:3), “The root that Abraham had planted was almost entirely destroyed and the children of Yaakov were on the verge of reverting back to the idolatry of the nations.”

Across the street, near the Kiryat Arba bus stop, two people sit companionably on a stone park bench. The bearded poet leans back in loosely-sweatered contentment. The youngster beside him is lithely bent double, her dark curly-haired head resting on her corduroy-covered knees. Her face is turned to catch the soft sunlight. It’s half-past three and the healing rays soak up the exhaustion from her tired shoulders.

We often assume that the residents in nursing homes wait for death, but I have found that they can give new life and understanding to those who visit them.
Sarah was in a wheelchair, smiling beguilingly at me. Her soft gray hair was carefully styled and her eyes twinkled with anticipation and intelligent curiosity.