Tag: cancer

Having been raised in a home where Yiddish was spoken as often as English, I can say with some confidence that I understand mamaloshen quite well. But I have to admit that the first time a friend, "Chaya" in a tentative, hushed voice, stated that a mutual acquaintance had "yene machlah," I was confused. I knew that she unfortunately had cancer, so why was "Chaya" saying in Yiddish, THAT illness? Why the reluctance to use the actual medical term for the disease. Why not just say it - like when someone has a stroke or a heart attack.

JERUSALEM - Doron Sheffer, 37, one of Israel's greatest basketball players, shared his story of return to religious observance with a group of Jewish educators.

On December 31, 2009, my father was diagnosed with cancer. Sadly, almost everyone will be touched by this horrible disease in one fashion or another. I have had many friends who have been affected by cancer, but they were younger and stronger than my dad, or Tatinke, who is 84.

The phone rang. It was a call I'd been dreading. "Well, are you going to pick it up?" asked my wife after the third ring. Bobbie, my dad's wife, was calling as we had agreed she would in the event of a life-threatening emergency. My father was dying of stage-four colon cancer. "Well, are you going to pick it up?" asked my wife after the third ring. Bobbie, my dad's wife, was calling as we had agreed she would in the event of a life-threatening emergency. My father was dying of stage-four colon cancer.

Cancer. The disease that shall not be named. Hospitals and terminal illness are often associated with the elderly, those who have already lived a joyous and prosperous life. But what if your life has just begun? What if you are only on the brink of adulthood? What if you wake up one morning and feel two hard lumps on your neck and laugh while you force your friend to feel these lumps, the teacher in the front of the room shushing you to be quiet? What if you are just an ordinary girl in class one morning and then diagnosed with cancer the next afternoon?

Not too many rabbis spend their day trying to cure cancer. Fewer still own three dogs and a killer fish named Shalom on the side. But Rabbi Dr. Robert Shorr does and sees no inherent conflict or tension between his various activities.

It is that time of year again when you can find in your supermarkets a large selection of fresh and frozen turkeys.

It is that time of year again when you can find in your supermarkets a large selection of fresh and frozen turkeys.

When Mark Podwal showed the galleys for his book "Doctored Drawings" to a former culture editor at The New York Times (he has drawn for the op-ed page for 35 years), he suggested Podwal remove eight drawings with Jewish symbolism.

This past week I took time out from my daily activities to have a medical checkup - something I highly recommend.

The Days of Awe are quickly approaching, a time that we focus on what the future will hold for our families and us.

Our Shameful 'Leaders'A wave of nausea overcame me as I read that 'more than 70 prominent Jewish religious and communal leaders, with direct ties...

A fascinating 'coming-of-age' story, The Hebrew Kid and The Apache Maiden is first in a series of young-adult novels written especially for young members of Torah-observant families.