I Remember Irene

Posted on: December 1st, 2010

The first time I met Irene Klass, of blessed memory, was in Israel. I was an olah hadasha (new immigrant) in 1971, and she had come to visit her daughter Naomi, who at that time lived near me in the Jerusalem suburb of Kiryat Moshe. "What do you do?" she asked me. "Well, I'm a writer, but haven't found much work in Israel. In Australia, I was helping my husband in his pharmacy as a Revlon Beauty Consultant."

Remembering Irene

Posted on: December 1st, 2010

I was in Brazil, speaking to the Jewish community of Sao Paulo, when the sad news of the petira of Irene Klass reached me. Many memories, many scenes, many conversations and experiences flashed through my mind. With Irene's passing, a whole era - a whole way of thinking, of values, of goals, of idealism - disappeared. Irene had a sense of mission and never allowed politics, petty jealousies or territorial considerations to influence her.

Legacy Of Unassuming Chesed

Posted on: December 1st, 2010

As someone who was intimately involved with the trials and tribulations of this newspaper for over a decade, both as a reporter and editor, I was privy to many of the fascinating stories that revolved around Rabbi Sholom Klass, zt"l, and his rebbetzin, Irene Klass, a"h.

Irene Klass: A Pioneer At The Jewish Press And In Life

Posted on: December 1st, 2010

Irene Klass, the cofounder and publisher of The Jewish Press, the first nationally-distributed Orthodox Jewish newspaper in the U.S., died last week. She was 94.

In Tribute

Posted on: December 1st, 2010

On Monday November 21, the 15th day of Kislev, at 11:00pm, Mrs. Irene Klass, the Publisher of The Jewish Press and Editor Emeritus of The Jewish Press Magazine section, passed away. At the same time, her daughter, Naomi Klass Mauer, was at the airport, getting ready to escort the aronof her husband, Dr. Ivan Mauer, to his final resting place in Eretz Yisrael. Mrs. Mauer wrote the following hesped for her mother while on the airplane.

Mrs. Irene Klass, A”H

Posted on: November 24th, 2010

It is with profound sorrow that we address the death of Mrs. Irene Klass - publisher of The Jewish Press, wife of Rabbi Sholom Klass, zt"l, the newspaper's founder and longtime publisher, and daughter of Raphael Schreiber, a"h, the paper's co-founder.

Compensatory Strategies

Posted on: December 2nd, 2009

When one is blind one learns to use Braille to read. When one cannot walk, a wheelchair gives mobility. Sign language allows a mute person to speak and ocular implants assist in hearing when one is deaf. These are all compensatory strategies that help a person function despite his disability. But compensatory strategies are not just for physical problems. Understanding our psychological weaknesses and setting up our lives to ensure that we are not tempted to repeat our past mistakes, is as necessary as any aid to the disabled.

Be Careful What You Wish For

Posted on: November 25th, 2009

Well spouses have often discovered that their friends and relatives, despite their closeness to the situation, often don't realize the tremendous emotional impact living with chronic illness has on the family. With the best intentions, suggestions, ideas and criticism are offered, based on the non-experience of those with healthy families. Even when the good intentioned get a taste of the difficulties, it is sometimes not enough for them to then identify and understand what the family of the chronically ill must face on a constant basis.

Coping With The Loss Of Hope

Posted on: November 18th, 2009

Over the past two weeks I have shared letters from a therapist and a well spouse. Both of the letters gave personal insights into the process of losing hope, how we react when that happens and some ways of coping when test scores, diagnosis and just simple repetitive behavior indicate that change for the better is impossible.

Neuropsychological Testing: A Therapist Responds

Posted on: November 11th, 2009

Dear Ann, I've read your last few articles on psycho-neurological testing (Oct.8-22) with interest. As a therapist who has counseled couples dealing with chronic illness, I'd like to give you another perspective.

Comments on Neuro-Psychological Testing

Posted on: November 4th, 2009

Dear Ann, Your articles on the Neuro-Psychological Testing were right on (October 8-22). My husband underwent testing twice and your articles explained it things exactly the way they were. Besides the test, we also tried therapy.

Sweating the Small Stuff

Posted on: October 28th, 2009

Very often when we can't face our big hurts or big loses we focus on the little ones. We can discuss those. We can cry over the small loses, be angry at the smaller hurts even though it may look trite and sound ridiculous to others.

Psycho Neurological Testing And Counseling

Posted on: October 21st, 2009

Over the last two weeks we have been discussing one way in which well spouses can determine whether behavior displayed by their ill partners is caused by their illness or is a way they have chosen to act. We have focused on Psycho-Neurological testing, what it can tell us, as well as its pros and cons.

Psycho-Nerological Testing: What to do With the Results

Posted on: October 14th, 2009

Last week I discussed a question that haunts many well spouses: not knowing if the difficult and often inappropriate behavior frequently displayed by their partners are caused by the disease and therefore not-controllable, or if the behavior is a choice the spouse makes and can therefore be changed. This doubt can be the source of much frustration and many marital disagreements. One way of alleviating this doubt is by having a psycho- neurological work up done. But that path is not so simple.

Psycho-Neurological Testing

Posted on: October 7th, 2009

Many well spouses have written to say that their partners' behaviors has changed drastically, making life very difficult for the entire family. "What in my spouse's behavior is choice and what is a result of the illness and beyond my partner's control?" It is a question that tortures many spouses of the chronically ill.

Thoughts of Suicide

Posted on: September 30th, 2009

In the past, when I would interview members of well-spouse support groups the topic of suicide was one that was never discussed. However, I always felt it was in the air, just hovering above the group and something very often hinted at in our discussions. Talk of self-neglect, of deliberately doing things detrimental to one's health and avoiding things that were healthy, would come up repeatedly.

A Recipe for Failure

Posted on: September 23rd, 2009

Last week I wrote about how, through keeping a gratitude journal, we can program ourselves to experience more happiness in our lives. However, just as we can program ourselves to be happier, we can be programmed to be miserable and think less of ourselves. This can happen when someone we trust and respect tells us we cannot accomplish what we have set out to do. When our mentors or role models tell us that we do not have the intelligence or creativity to succeed, we begin to see ourselves as inferior. We begin to think less of ourselves, surround ourselves with a sense of failure and accomplish less because we feel incapable. After all, people rise to the height of their own expectations.

Happiness Is A Gratitude Journal

Posted on: September 16th, 2009

You're cooking or cleaning and the radio is on in the background to keep you company. You really are not listening and have no idea what's being said, but suddenly "Israel" is mentioned and you rush over, turn up the volume and listen. How does that happen? What made you hear that word? What made you pay attention, while you had ignored the thousands of other words that might have been said in the minutes before? More importantly, how can we get that to work for us and make us happier?

A Response To Dr. G. (Part III)

Posted on: September 9th, 2009

For the last several weeks I have been sharing with you the perspectives of a doctor whose point of view made me revisit the reality of the caregiver's role. I want to thank this doctor for his candor and perspective. I believe what he wrote will help us all be more efficient in our care giving as we become more aware of the perspective and boundaries from his side of the stethoscope.

Commemorating The Start Of World War II

Posted on: September 9th, 2009

The official beginning of World War II was September 1, 1939. On that day German soldiers invaded Gdansk after bombarding the city with a military warship. As part of the Polish Government's official series of events marking seven decades since the start of World War II, Poland's Jewish community and the Jerusalem-based "Shavei Israel" organization held a special ceremony yesterday in the Gdansk synagogue to commemorate the outbreak of the war, which paved the way for the Holocaust.