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Speaking Of Mayhem

H

e was always the peaceful
sort. I cannot imagine him
doing something like that.”
Does this reaction strike a chord?
It can be heard regularly any given
day on the newscasts. Following a
crime of any sort,
neighbors or friends
are asked for reac-
tions to the criminal
and they invariably
express shock and
dismay at the alleged
actions.
It should not be
Sy Manello
such a surprise to
Editorial Assistant
us that folks act
out. After all, just be
mindful of the many
expressions in our everyday exchang-
es that contain some references to
mayhem.
Have you ever been so desirous of
something that you said, “I’d kill for
that?” Or have you been so angry with
someone that you menaced, “I could
kill you?” Perhaps you have encoun-

Soldiers at the Western Wall after
Jerusalem was reunified

tered someone e who
was so upset that
hat
“There was murder
urder
in his eyes.” Well,
ell, “If
looks could kill”
l” …
When asked to
explain something
hing you
were not entirely
ely famil-
iar with, you may have
offered that you
u would
d
“take a stab at it.”
When you finish
nish your
ur explana-
tion, you may say, “Got a qu
ques-
q
es-
b careful;
f l offer
f f th
h
tion? Shoot.” But t be
the
reassurance to your listener that if
you have been misunderstood, you
will not shoot him down.
Are you a shopper? Then you know
when you encounter an item that is
a steal. More often you may note that
the price asked is highway robbery. If
so, you may scream bloody murder.
Let’s say you come up with an idea
for your business but the execution of
it fails. The idea was dynamite but the
plan was a bomb. You may not suf-
fer any more than a slap on the wrist

Course To Focus
On Six-Day War
And Its Effects

l your b
i d
unless
boss h
has an axe t to grind.
If being in the front seat of the car
is vital to you, you might try calling
“shotgun.” A more belligerent family
member might come back with, “Over
my dead body!”
If a favorite team suffered a defeat
and you were there, you may testify to
the slaughter. To do better, the coach
may have to light a fire under some-
one.
After all this, are you sure you are a
peaceful person at heart? •

commentary

In A World Gone Mad How Do We Help Our Children?

I

strong emotions and causes
f recent questions I’ve
uncertainty in all of us. As par-
gotten from my son are
ents though, we are in the best
any indication, then the
position to help our children.
world we are living in is an
To assist with this, we at
anxiety-inducing mess.
NATAL have recently put
“Dad, say things were to
together some tips on how
continue escalating with
parents can best help our kids
Russia or North Korea were
Jeremy Chwat
process their anxiety and con-
to have nuclear weapons…
Times of Israel
cerns. These tips have been
are they more likely to hit
prepared to provide broad
the East Coast or the West
guidelines to help in these
Coast?”
tough conversations. They are meant
“Dad, if anti-Semitic incidents are
as a starting point and are in no way
rising so much here in the U.S., are we
the only way to address these issues.
going to have to leave the country?
The first tip is to listen. Some chil-
Would we go to Canada or Israel?”
dren will want to talk about difficult
“Dad, how easy would it be for there
situations and some won’t. Both
to be a terror attack in Manhattan
reactions are common and natural.
like the one that just happened in
If they do want to talk, it’s important
England?”
to offer a comfortable way to share
Clearly, the state of the world is
their thoughts and questions. For
weighing heavy on his mind, as I
those who don’t want to talk, we can’t
know it is mine, and answering his
force the conversation. We should
valid questions was, and is, extremely
just continue to check in and let them
challenging. Recognizing this, it
know we are ready to listen whenever
became clear to me that in times of
they’re ready to talk.
adversity and turmoil, stress evokes

The second tip is to make sure we
don’t try and avoid the hard conver-
sations. Of course, we all love our
children, and as parents we under-
standably don’t want to cause anxiety
and distress in them. Still, this can
sometimes lead to avoiding difficult
conversations that we assume will
evoke these emotions.
It is very important for us to
remember that it is the situation itself
that is upsetting to our loved ones,
not the conversations about it. We
should invite the conversation with
open-ended questions such as: “What
would you like to know?” or “How
does this make you feel?” but should
also let our child’s interests and
thoughts guide the conversation.
Third, once the conversation has
begun, it is absolutely all right to
acknowledge that we don’t have all
the answers. It’s all right not to know
the answer to every question. If we
can’t answer the question, we should
be honest about it.
The fourth tip is to monitor the TV

continued on page 8

One fateful week in June 1967
redrew the map of the Middle East.
Fifty years later, Israel continues to
face existential threats and constant
condemnation.
Beginning the week of May 7,
Rabbi Shneur Silberberg of Bais
Chabad Torah Center, in partner-
ship with the Jewish Federation and
Hillel Day School, will offer a new
six-session course from the Rohr
Jewish Learning Institute (JLI) called
“Survival of a Nation: Exploring
Israel Through the Lens of the Six-
Day War.”
Classes will be offered each week
at three locations: 11 a.m. Sundays
at Bais Chabad in West Bloomfield,
7:30 p.m. Tuesdays at Hillel Day
School in Farmington Hills and
at 7 p.m. Thursdays at the Jewish
Federation Building in Bloomfield
Township. Cost is $80; scholarships
are available.
The course invites participants to
experience a captivating account of
what was then considered by many
to be the most improbable and
astonishing victory in all of military
history.
The course will tackle critical
questions raised about Israel today:
Why does Israel perpetually raise
the ire of the entire world? If Judaism
is a religion of ideas, why do Jews
care so much about land? And what
are the ethics of preemptive strikes
and collateral damage? The course
also inquires how Israel might pro-
tect itself against an enemy that uses
human shields, and explores Jewish
positions about Israel’s moral obliga-
tion concerning territories captured
in the Six-Day War.
“At a time when there is so
much misinformation out there,
it is imperative we invest the time
to study the history of the Jewish
homeland and gain a true under-
standing of what Israel is, and how it
does or should respond to the many
difficult questions and dilemmas it
has to face,” Silberberg says.
For course details and to regis-
ter, visit www.myJLI.com or email
Rabbishneur@baischabad.com or
call (248) 207-5513. •

jn

April 27 • 2017

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