Tag: body

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Tel Aviv University Professors Yona Keisari and Itzhak Kelsonhave developed a tiny radioactive wire which irradiates tumors from the inside out.  The cancer-killing "cluster...

As a Baal Teshuva who discovered the “emes” about eight years ago, I am often asked by my FFB friends in my very FFB neighborhood to describe what inspired my wife and I to take the plunge and more specifically, what it feels like to lead a Torah observant life after so many years of living on the “other side.”

During Yom Tov, the great majority of Jews are surrounded by family, friends and neighbors. Whether in shul or at the table, we share the holiness and festivities that define our holidays with the ones we love and are connected to. The hours fly as we daven, and later feast on a succulent variety of fish and meat dishes, kugels, salads and desserts. The day is full of warmth, color and noise as adult banter mingles with children's chatter.

Old age is terrifying. When people grow old they frequently lose their memories, their ability to move, to take care of themselves, and then they die. Some people are lucky and do not fit this mold; they will live a very long time, not getting sick, living independently, and die peacefully in their 100's. This is all determined by their genes.

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We play the odds all the time, don't we? We may not consciously think about it as such, but in effect we do. Hashem rules the world and controls the odds; we have to do our hishtadlus. We get behind the wheel of a car, board a plane, or cross the street knowing there are risks such as car accidents, plane crashes and pedestrian injuries.

Fair Lawn, New Jersey's Ezra Fineman is looking for his perfect match. He is smart, has brown hair, and a great smile. Ezra is also two years old and is looking for a bone marrow donor. After contracting a severe case of pneumonia at five months old, Ezra was diagnosed with Hyper IgM syndrome, a rare primary immune deficiency. Affecting only one in every one-two million people, the syndrome keeps his body from producing antibodies, leaving him with a heightened susceptibility to infection.

Even with Osama bin Laden gone, al Qaeda operatives, some actively collaborating with more-or-less kindred groups, are planning terror attacks against the United States. These attacks could conceivably involve chemical and/or biological weapons.

The article last week in The New York Times concerning the explosion of anorexia and eating disorders in the Orthodox community highlights a tragedy that has long been buried.

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Back in the fall of 2002, nine years after my initial diagnosis of thyroid cancer - the last four of those being told that I was cured - my doctors discovered a tumor in the area where my thyroid used to be. (My malignant thyroid been removed via surgery.)

In the always complex discourse of nuclear strategy, critical thinking is a "net." Only those who cast will catch. To calculate Israel's best strategic options in the months and years ahead, the capable strategist must continue to ask and answer difficult questions persistently, patiently, and above all, systematically. Only by drawing together, seamlessly, this interrelated body of queries and replies, can the serious military analyst ever hope for a coherent and comprehensive body of military and diplomatic theory - a strategic master plan from which particular policies and decisions can be suitably extracted. The only alternative is the usual patchwork quilt of journalistic or reportorial "explanation," an arbitrary mélange of more or less disjointed information and factoids lacking even the rudiments of predictive thought.

Our 18-month-old son, Ezra, has a rare primary immune deficiency called Hyper IgM Syndrome. His body is unable to produce certain antibodies to protect him from infection. Thankfully, he has been doing well with the medical treatments that he receives. However, serious complications can arise and the prognosis is unclear. A bone marrow or stem cell transplant is the only cure. His doctors recommend a transplant provided a suitable donor can be found. Right now there is no donor in the registry that is a perfect match to Ezra. We are starting a campaign to find his perfect match and we need your help.

Our 18-month-old son, Ezra, has a rare primary immune deficiency called Hyper IgM Syndrome. His body is unable to produce certain antibodies to protect him from infection. Thankfully, he has been doing well with the medical treatments that he receives. However, serious complications can arise and the prognosis is unclear. A bone marrow or stem cell transplant is the only cure. His doctors recommend a transplant provided a suitable donor can be found. Right now there is no donor in the registry that is a perfect match to Ezra. We are starting a campaign to find his perfect match and we need your help.

While studying the anatomy of the heart in Machon Biotechnology in Israel, I had some thoughts: The four holiest cities in Israel - Jerusalem (fire/aish),Tzfat (wind/ruach), Chevron (earth/adamah), and Tverya (water/mayim) - seem to correspond to the four chambers of the heart.

As I was sitting at the computer writing about my dream baby, I suddenly wondered, "Where is she? She is too quiet." So I turned around to see what she was doing. I had left her sitting behind me with toys to keep her busy, and she had been playing nicely. As she was no longer there I went to look for her, and found her happily sitting on the bathroom floor, surrounded by a pile of ripped tissues. Okay, back to my story. Now you might wonder who "they" are. It's those folks who come up to me and say that my baby's feet are cold without socks; her head is baking in the sun without a hat; she's too hot with that blanket over her. Oh, the joys of living in Israel, where we are all family.

"There is a thin line between love and hate," the saying goes. Two opposite emotions, yet one can so easily transmute into the other.

As we have discussed over the past few weeks, it is essential, especially in these times, that parents take an active role in teaching their children Torah ideas in regards to sexuality and modesty.

In the past several articles we have discussed the importance of parents taking an active role in teaching their children Torah ideas about sexuality and modesty. This is because it is essential that the first images to that fill their developing minds on these concepts must be appropriate ones. There is so much invasive exposure they experience from secular culture, and much to be concerned about in regards to the existence of sexual predators in our midst. If children do not possess clear knowledge and an age-appropriate understanding of the parts of their body and how they can be used or misused it is hard for them to protect themselves.

The man walked slowly into the beit midrash. He glanced around and found an empty seat next to my son, Rafi. So began a very special relationship.

Rabbi Mendy Rosenberg, a Viznitzer chassid, stands outside his Williamsburg tire shop in rain, sun, sleet and snow, repairing flat tires and replacing old worn ones. Located in an area that was once an industrial area, the shop seems to be out of place on an island sandwiched between towering new building complexes, part of Williamsburg's building boom to accommodate the ever growing Chassidic population.

We are back to that time of year again. The winter clothes are going to the back of our closets and the summer clothes are starting to come out. This is the time to make changes, so we will be prepared for summer.

Last week I wrote about the difficulty of enforcing a tznius standard in some of our schools. I reported the stories of two children of the chronically ill, who by circumstances not of their doing could not meet the "tznius" criteria set by the school and kept being fined for infractions.

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The entire downtown business district would pour into the streets around 5:30 p.m., clogging the already congested traffic lanes of Chicago's bustling Loop. Blaring horns of Checker taxicabs and city buses made it hard to hear one's own voice, but I always heard my father's voice...

I'm not a doctor, nor a biological scientist, but I do know that people under stress produce a hormone called cortisol, which helps the body deal with a stressful event by increasing energy and immunity and even lowering sensitivity to pain.

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My day begins as a perfectly sunny, breezy, late summer morning. But then we meet.

Question: Every year, new non-edible kosher for Passover products arrive in stores. Have we gone too far, or are we simply being justifiably stringent in observing Pesach?