Welcome Back - to YOUR Life!

B'SD

11 Nisan, 5775

I haven't blogged in a bit because I've been busy helping people not feeling well at this hectic time of year. I've been matching people up with outtathebox solutions, preparing for Passover and enjoying gorgeous sunshine, too.

Several of my friends and some of the people I've helped asked me how I can remain upbeat despite the setbacks of my own life.

The answer: Practice. I've cried out my pain, consulted with people who persevere, and worked on increasing my inner strengths.

This graphic pretty much sums up how I look at life.

Go on. Take your life back. And if you need ideas on how to do that, read cost-cutting, sanity-saving

Get your grin back. Buy the E-book or print edition of EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge. 

And if Pesakh/Passover cleaning and preparation have you feeling down, refresh your spirit with

Face Your Medical Problems with Dignity. Face Your Future with Optimism.

Fight back at despair with what you desperately need: A sense of humor.

HH-appy Hanuka!

B'SD


25 Kislev, 5773

Today this blog and I are hosting the Haveil Havalim Blog Carnival. Check the date! It's another kind of auspicious day, too.

25 Kislev's a colorful event on 

Jewish calendars:    

The first night and day of

 Chanuka/Hanuka! 

  חֲנֻכָּה   חנכה

 and sometimes spelled חנוכה

The first candle was lit last night.

The holiday comes close to the end of the Kislev month, days before the new month of Tevet begins. Batya Medad addresses the timely situation in her blogpost, aka an invitation for celebration, The Moon is shrinking Again... 

Paula Stern's always sensible Point of View addresses To Palestine from Israel. 

Paula's having More thoughts on Stuck.

Let's light up more brain cells with Paula's illuminating explanation of the History of E1.

Batya Medad's interview with a foreign journalist makes you wonder "Which half of the word GOD doesn't MSM understand?" Read all about it in Jewish Right to the Land of Israel, Historic Perspective.

Now for a 10-shek look at Pseudonistan: A Pseudonymous State!

Tomer Devora Thinks About a LOT.

Keep reading.

Lorelai, the fun and spiritual owner/ operator of Radio Free Nachlaot gives us musical poetry with Morning in Jerusalem.

Marina Shemesh sends you a colorful Bat Galim postcard from home.

Rachel Moore does Mommyhood right, riding the Perfect Wave.   

Considering worldwide insults to the Light Upon the Nations (aka the Jewish People), our ancestral homeland and beloved capital city, Batya Medad’s Political Tit for Tat Plan gets my vote and probably yours, too. 

(Yocheved opining here: I'm still hoping the UN building falls in the Hudson. I wonder if my Hanuka wishes will come true this year. Sorry fishies, you hardly deserve the insult. But the Hudson's muck and the UN's occupants do).

OK, OKAY, here's the correct Peh-appropriate sivivon, sharp-eyed readers (the miracle of Chanuka indeed happened here in the Holy Land, po!). 

History lesson coming up: Who saves Am Yisrael time and again and gets little press for it? WOMEN! Read The Heroines of Hanuka.

Listen in to Rav David Bar-Chayim address (in English) The Gaza War: Why Were Rabbis Silent?

Ever hear of the Aliya Tip Sheet I once produced? Colorful coupon-loaded thing packed with info the average aliya shaliakh would never tell to potential olim (why scare them more than necessary?). 

It held this line "Go before you leave, and carry fresh paks of tissues plus hand sanitizer with you. Israel's public restrooms are too few and very far between. Sanitary conditions therein tend to be iffy, considering the international travel going on around here." 

OKAY, now you're in the mood for the Bus Stop Pisher's Guide to Jerusalem (heck of an intro I gave you, eh, Batya Medad?). 

Getting philosophical, here, I alert you to a GREAT Chanuka-related site by Rabbi Pinchas Winston, and two spiritual alerts:

1) 
Click the cute menorah to learn The History of the Menorah's Oil.

2) At this point in history of Tikun Olam, 

we're at the point of Yesod, 

the spiritual feet of the sefirot 

connected to creation. 

Yesod is about relationships. 

Considering the decades-long 

singles crisis (and too many messed-up

relationships for anyone to count), 

plus its multifaceted dimensions, 

let's zero in on Aviva Blumstein's look at 

Undue Parental Pressure. 

Here's a conversation-starter from Yitzchak Sprung: Lemony Snicket and the Latke that Couldn't Stop Screaming. 

If you know the saying "2 Jews 3 opinions" and ever sat in on a Torah-studies class, you'll appreciate the debates that I'm sure will break out after reading Do Dreams Matter? (share your thoughts with Yitzchak, not me. I'm just the messenger)

What do you think of Rabbi YY's suspicion that Dreams Could be the DVD of Your Life?

Hey! Ever thought of Bend it Like Beckham for Israeli FOOTBALL? (psst - keep the soccer ball off the field UKers. Yalla! We're talkin' Uh-merican football)

You're having a thoughtful Hanuka, huh? Have some fun when you click on this Techno-lit Hanukia.

I'm waiting to see if Syria's chemical weapons stockpile 

blows up all over that country and its Iranian supporters. 

I wonder if the Techno-kids have an app for that... 

or if anybody can count as high as the number of Syrians already dead at the hands of their fellow citizens...

The UN has never condemned that, 

to my knowledge.

Jerusalem's envoy to Vienna proves in an
offhanded way that, frankly, 
Syria's Assad doesn't give a damn 
about morality.

Next time someone impugns "The Jews" 
share this message with them
Jews Have Healthy Hanuka (and yearlong) SHINE!

Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem. GOD knows we need it!

ATTENTION BOOK PUBLISHERS: I'd sent the manuscript for The Comfort Foods Cookbook: Recipes to Calm You Down FAST Without Widening Your Waistline to Dr. Daniel Eisenberg who'd endorsed the EMPOWER Yourself book. I asked for his approbation once again. I received this delightful reply from his wife Janet: 

"Yocheved your chatty style is 

packed with information and 

a pleasure to read. I truly felt you 

cheer leading from my corner! 

A motivated dieter/lifestyle changer 

will enjoy your writing and all that 

you have to offer. It feels like 

you are working on their team."

The manuscript has been praised by medical and mental health professionals, too. 

Contact me with your publishing proposals. And yes, there's a lo-cal latke recipe in the book ;^ D

What about your health or someone else's? Buy the E-book or print edition today for a soothing, brighter look at life and the whole holiday season: Click on the words EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical (Disability, Convalesence and/or Mental Health) Challenge.

Face Your Medical Problems with Dignity. Face Your Future with Optimism.