Caught With The Apple Red Handed – Confessions of A Ben Torah
Rarely in my life have I been so ashamed as I was this Shabbos morning eventhough no one knew about it except me. I am a working man closing in on the big 40. I consider myself a Ben Torah spending a reasonable amount of time learning each day. Part of being a Ben Torah in my opinion is having Torah and Yiddishkeit as the center of my world with rest of the outside world revolving around it and not vice versa. That being said, during these days of Sefira a Ben Torah focuses on occupying his mind and preparing himself for the upcoming Matan Torah. We are supposed to be excited about it and elevate ourselves day by day. So as a Ben Torah I'd like to think that I am on that path. At the very least I look forward to Shavuos, as I count each passing day of Sefira.
I am also a gadget man and like to keep abreast of the latest technology. Lately I have been following the hype surrounding a new mobile phone that will soon be released on the market. Being that I haven't had a new phone in four years I decided that this could be my dream phone. Lately I spend time every day checking out the rumors and any new information about the secretive features of this new phone. June 9th is the big day that the phone is supposed to be released amid lots of fanfare at a big conference. So I keep following and waiting impatiently.
I don't follow the English date much but as we get closer to Shavuos the dates take on a greater clarity. So much so that when I woke up Shabbos morning a scary thought dawned upon me. Shavuos is getting closer and so is June 9th. Uh Oh, I thought, could it possibly be? I ran in a panic to my trusty calendar and 'lo and behold' my worst fear was realized. June 9th is exactly the day of Shavuos! What a wake up call. Here I am making believe I am Mr. Frum counting Sefira and this year I am anxiously awaiting Shavuos more than ever before but not for the Torah, for a mobile phone. Oy Lanu MiYom HaDin Oy Lanu MiYom HaTochacha!
Maybe I took Shavuos for granted. Maybe I didn't really think about what I get on Shavuos. The Seforim HaKedoshim say that Shavuos is the Rosh HaShanah for Torah and Hashem decides what we get next year. What does that mean? We ask Hashem in davening "V'Sein Chelkeinu BiTorasecha", every one has a certain allotted portion of Torah. On Shavuos Hashem will decide if my portion includes some Tosfos and Rishonim. Will I finally learn Halacha from the Shulchan Aruch like I should? Will I be zocheh to somehow fall into the right place and the right time and actually get introduced to Zohar and Sodos HaTorah? Will things work out at my job so that I will have sufficient time to learn B'Ravchus without many worries in the office? Will my family life be tranquil and not disturb my learning.
This little coincidence was a real Yerida L'Tzorech Aliya for me. It took a mobile phone to teach me what it means to get excited about Shavuos. I will put June 9th out of mind for now and keep focused on the real significance of next Monday. It will be Vav Sivan, the day the world stood still for the most dramatic product release ever. B'Ezras Hashem I hope this year on Shavuos, Hashem will give me lots of processing power to learn torah and many Gigabytes of memory so hopefully I can get to 40 with a little torah knowledge. Then I can start already start dreaming about next year's new models!
Showing posts with label Priority in life . . .. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Priority in life . . .. Show all posts
Friday, June 23
Spotlight on Children of working mothers
Hi out there! If you are a family whose mother works outside the home then this article is just for you....
The adult Mishpacha dedicated many articles speaking to working women fnding out how they were coping. We at Mishpacha Junior felt Hey what about the kids? Let them have their say. I therefore interviewed and chatted to many children whose mothers are currently working and I must say I was pleasantly surprised to see how positive and upbeat those children felt. It was a most wonderful experience - you see I myself am a working mother and I got to interview my own kids too. It was lovely to find out that they did not feel disadvantaged in the least.
Take for instance Mascha Aksler. Talking to her was really uplifting. She feels that because her mother is a working mum her house is more organised and life for her follows a very predictable pattern on Friday and knows exactly what to buy since its the same every week. On special occassions she even gets to choose the flowers which she loves doing.
Mascha shared with me that she actually feels that her parents both give the family more quality time. when I asked her to explain she told me the following. “Most mothers are with their children the whole day so they don’t feel its necessary to dedicate time only to be together. My mother, because she’s out at work alot makes a point of taking us out so that we can enjoy each other’s company properly.”
ide. She must always remember to replacethe keys for the next time. She explained that it was not pleasant to disturb the neighbours since her mother was
Most of the children felt that because they had a working mother there were certain advantages they had. Esther for instance whose mother is a teacher says that her mother can help her with her homework such as school projects and writing assignments. Others had free access to interesting trinkets, novelties or souvenirs etc which they could share with their classmates when the need arose ie for a school party or Siyum.
Mascha’s sister Esty claims that she is fortunate to have a sister close in age. Therefore even when their mother
Miriam claims that because her mother works she is much more independent then her friends whose mothers are home all day. From the early age of twelve she was already cooking and baking in order to help out. She loves it and the family actually depends on he
Shopping was a problem for children of working mothers. There was hardly any time for relaxing choosing with their mothers. It was either done in a great rush without comparing what other stores had in stock. or they just had to buy it themselves and ask if they could exchange things if their mother wasn’t happy with what they had chosen. That never happens says Rifky because my mother hardly has time to fuss over the clothes that I wear. Sometimes she gets to see my new things properly on shabbos and by then its obviously to late to change her mind.
Although all the children interviewed felt that when their mothers returned from wo
Leah’s mother sometimes returns home from work so exhausted that she hasto lie down before she can chat with the children or prepare supper. I asked her if that disturbed her greatly. She said “not really its just that the atmosphere is so much nicer having my mother around chatting to us.”
Surie said that on very rare occassions when things had gone wrong at the office her mother would return with a headache. She then makes sure to keep the younger kids quiet. That’s hard she said because the atmosphere is
I interviewed several boys too. They did not seem to see what all the fuss was about. Zalmy, my son actually told me that it was good to have his mother working because I had no time to chat on the phone besides which it made him feel more secure to know that there was a supplement to the income.
When I finished interviewing him he said “okay mummy whats there to eat I’m hungry?!”
Well he had to fend for himself because his mother was busy typing... That actually summed it all up.
Most of the children interviewed, although they really didn’t mind having a mother who works all had this issue with food. Some wished that there was more home made goodies. At recess they envied their frien
All In all the advantages of having a mother that works far out weighed the disadvantages.
( Phew... sigh of relief)
Whilst I worked on this article the children had to take supper and go to bed on their own. (A little encouragement from Daddy) The baby was kvetching and had to be held by big brother. Big brother didn’t mind in the least just that he made the baby do the most hair raising aerobics it’ll take him a while to recover...The house is quiet now and at least I know that thousands of children have had something enjoyable to read.
Good Night just continue the wonderful support you are giving your busy mothers after all they only have in mind to give you of their best otherwise they wouldn’t be working in the first place!
The adult Mishpacha dedicated many articles speaking to working women fnding out how they were coping. We at Mishpacha Junior felt Hey what about the kids? Let them have their say. I therefore interviewed and chatted to many children whose mothers are currently working and I must say I was pleasantly surprised to see how positive and upbeat those children felt. It was a most wonderful experience - you see I myself am a working mother and I got to interview my own kids too. It was lovely to find out that they did not feel disadvantaged in the least.
Take for instance Mascha Aksler. Talking to her was really uplifting. She feels that because her mother is a working mum her house is more organised and life for her follows a very predictable pattern on Friday and knows exactly what to buy since its the same every week. On special occassions she even gets to choose the flowers which she loves doing.
Mascha shared with me that she actually feels that her parents both give the family more quality time. when I asked her to explain she told me the following. “Most mothers are with their children the whole day so they don’t feel its necessary to dedicate time only to be together. My mother, because she’s out at work alot makes a point of taking us out so that we can enjoy each other’s company properly.”
ide. She must always remember to replacethe keys for the next time. She explained that it was not pleasant to disturb the neighbours since her mother was
Most of the children felt that because they had a working mother there were certain advantages they had. Esther for instance whose mother is a teacher says that her mother can help her with her homework such as school projects and writing assignments. Others had free access to interesting trinkets, novelties or souvenirs etc which they could share with their classmates when the need arose ie for a school party or Siyum.
Mascha’s sister Esty claims that she is fortunate to have a sister close in age. Therefore even when their mother
Miriam claims that because her mother works she is much more independent then her friends whose mothers are home all day. From the early age of twelve she was already cooking and baking in order to help out. She loves it and the family actually depends on he
Shopping was a problem for children of working mothers. There was hardly any time for relaxing choosing with their mothers. It was either done in a great rush without comparing what other stores had in stock. or they just had to buy it themselves and ask if they could exchange things if their mother wasn’t happy with what they had chosen. That never happens says Rifky because my mother hardly has time to fuss over the clothes that I wear. Sometimes she gets to see my new things properly on shabbos and by then its obviously to late to change her mind.
Although all the children interviewed felt that when their mothers returned from wo
Leah’s mother sometimes returns home from work so exhausted that she hasto lie down before she can chat with the children or prepare supper. I asked her if that disturbed her greatly. She said “not really its just that the atmosphere is so much nicer having my mother around chatting to us.”
Surie said that on very rare occassions when things had gone wrong at the office her mother would return with a headache. She then makes sure to keep the younger kids quiet. That’s hard she said because the atmosphere is
I interviewed several boys too. They did not seem to see what all the fuss was about. Zalmy, my son actually told me that it was good to have his mother working because I had no time to chat on the phone besides which it made him feel more secure to know that there was a supplement to the income.
When I finished interviewing him he said “okay mummy whats there to eat I’m hungry?!”
Well he had to fend for himself because his mother was busy typing... That actually summed it all up.
Most of the children interviewed, although they really didn’t mind having a mother who works all had this issue with food. Some wished that there was more home made goodies. At recess they envied their frien
All In all the advantages of having a mother that works far out weighed the disadvantages.
( Phew... sigh of relief)
Whilst I worked on this article the children had to take supper and go to bed on their own. (A little encouragement from Daddy) The baby was kvetching and had to be held by big brother. Big brother didn’t mind in the least just that he made the baby do the most hair raising aerobics it’ll take him a while to recover...The house is quiet now and at least I know that thousands of children have had something enjoyable to read.
Good Night just continue the wonderful support you are giving your busy mothers after all they only have in mind to give you of their best otherwise they wouldn’t be working in the first place!
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