August 9, 2013 -3 Elul 5773
Parshas Shoftim.
The eruv is unsponsored.
www.laeruv.com
Double Take
Campers from Camp Gan Israel of Los Angeles A & Beverly Hills enjoying the day at Knott’s Berry Farm.
Can you spot the 10 differences in these two pictures
Nursing Strikes
Sometimes, seemly randomly, babies decide to go on a nursing strike. It usually happens so quickly, and out of the blue, that moms are a bit shocked. “Everything was going so well, then little Chanie just rejected me,” is what a woman will proclaim. Nursing strikes are usually temporary but the mom needs to do some investigation work because there usually is a reason to for the baby’s refusal of the breast. If the baby is on a nursing strike here are the steps to take:
Here are the steps to take if the baby is on a nursing strike:
1. Visit your pediatrician to rule out the possibility of your baby having an ear infection or fluid in her ear. An ear infection can cause pressure in the baby’s ear, making it too painful to breastfeed.
2. Check to see if your baby has a stuffy nose. Since a baby’s mouth is entirely closed during breastfeeding, a stuffy nose can cause trouble breathing and create the uncomfortable sensation of suffocating while attempting to nurse.
3. Look inside your child’s mouth for cold sores—which can make breastfeeding very painful.
4. If your child recently bit you and you gave a startled, painful or angry reaction, as normal and reflexive as it might be, may have frightened your baby from repeating that experience.
5. If a baby had trouble breastfeeding, and rather than address any nursing issues directly, the baby was supplemented with more bottles, then this baby may want to choose the bottle over the breast.
Solutions:
• If the child has an ear infection or fluid in the ear, simply treating the ear problem should resolve the breastfeeding issue.
• If your child has a stuffy nose, try clearing the nose with saline solution, an antihistamine or an herbal antihistamine before you breastfeed.
• If your child has cold sores, they are the result of a virus that your doctor or natural practitioner can help you to address. While the sores are healing, you can maintain nutrition and hydration by giving your child breastmilk that you have frozen into the form of soothing popsicles.
• If your child bites you and you scream, you should look your baby in the eyes, being firm and direct, and gently say that you hurt mommy when you bite, so let’s try it again without biting.
• If your baby stopped nursing due to an inability to breastfeed properly, then working with a breastfeeding expert is a good choice. Using an SNS (supplemental nursing system) first on your finger to hydrate your baby, then putting the SNS on your breast may be the answer. See Tools-Finger feeding and Tools-SNS.
A very successful approach to getting the baby back on the breast after a nursing strike is:
Taking a bath with your baby
• Taking a bath with your baby to get your baby to re-latch onto the breast is also called a re-birthing. There is something about you and the baby being in the water together that creates the environment that encourages the baby to breastfeed again. So fill up the bath tub and get in, and then have someone hand you the baby. Hold the baby so the baby’s head and face are always above the level of the water. Gently splash the baby with water. Offer the breast to the baby. Do not push the baby to breastfeed, just offer the breast. Most babies will breastfeed after engaging in a re-birthing. Some babies breastfeed after one bath and some need to take three or four baths over a period of a few days, before they start nursing again.
By Sara Chana, IBCLC RH (AHG)
Sara Chana Silverstein, IBCLC RH (AHG) www.sarachana.com is a Lactation Consultant, Classical Homeopath, and Registered Herbalist with twenty years of experience. She migrates from New York and spends her summers in Los Angeles, seeing clients from newborns to the elderly. She helps with all medical conditions and specializes in woman’s and children’s health. She can be reached at 917-587-0262 or Sarachanala@gmail.com
5th Annual Puah Los Angeles Brunch salutes LA Young Leadreship!
Puah Institute has been helping the Jewish community find solutions for family building since 1978, when the first IVF baby, Louise Brown, was born. Guided by the late former Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliahu z”tl and led by Rabbi Menachem Burstein, Puah Institute has helped forge the halachic path to fertility treatment for thousands of individuals and couple all over the world.
Today, 1 out of 6 couples face some type of infertility challenge. These Fertility issues differ from other health difficulties. Not only do they impact 2 people at once, but also, often, have halachic implications. The problem becomes even more complex due to the natural sensitive and emotional needs of couples yearning to build a family. By nature, family building is a private matter – leaving those in search of a solution in a quandary: How best to find help?
PUAH Institute responds to every referral and inquiry on an individual basis. Its primary objective is to provide counseling, and, when needed, to help the individual/couple navigate through the multiple options which are available. The scientific development of reproductive medicine has been significant in the past 20 years – and Puah has been helping couples all along find the best way to have the child of their dreams, al pi halacha. Genetic issues as well as fertility preservation are two areas where there have been major medical developments which benefit the community greatly.
Puah Institute is honored to facilitate a vital component of these services which will guarantee healthier babies and healthier families. For example, when a young adult is diagnosed with cancer, Puah is part of the team to help preserve the genetic material before treatment, and provide hope and possibility of generations to be born.
All these efforts will celebrate our 5th Annual West Coast Brunch, hosted by Rafi and Esther Katz on Sunday, August 11, 2013 at 10 AM. This year, PUAH Institute will salute the Young Leadership team who has helped support Puah’s efforts in building future generations:
Jonathan & Tzippora Coronel
David & Ahuva Goldstein
Ezra & Margot Grabie
Kenneth & Shoshy Klein
Racheli & Shua Lebovics
Simcha & Karina Mann
Yaakov & Avigail Rosenblatt
Joshua & Rachel Tomaszewski
Elliot & Ahuva Deena Zemel
Rabbi Gideon Weitzman, director of PUAH Institute, is the guest speaker. He is available for private and free consultation whilst in Los Angeles, from Sunday August 11th until Tuesday August 13th.
For appointments, please call Lea Davidson 718.336.0603 or email puahfamily@gmail.com
It is truly gratifying to know that our joint, seamless efforts and goodwill will result in the fulfillment of dreams and in the perpetuation of Am Yisrael. We are confident that working together will enable PUAH to reach out, educate, alert and inform parents, physicians, rabbis, and the greater Jewish community about the ever growing opportunities of fertility treatment, and to do so according to Halacha and Jewish ethical teachings.
OHEL’s Annual Retreat to Bear Mountain State Park
On June 12, a large group of adult men and women from OHEL’s residential and psychiatric programs traveled to Bear Mountain State Park for what has become an annual picnic and barbeque.
3 coach busses full of over 150 residents and staff went up to the park, which included residents and participants of OHEL’s Kadimah Clubhouse, Fort Hamilton residence, 41st residence, and OHEL’s supported housing programs.
Once all the busses arrived at Bear Mountain, the residents all enjoyed a fun and relaxing day in the sun and fresh air. A delicious picnic lunch was served and participants played sports including games of basketball and softball. OHEL’s Yitz Elman commented that “the day provides a unique and informal atmosphere where individuals both socialize with one another and with the staff.”
In addition to the sports and activities, there was also hiking in the beautiful, scenic trails of Bear Mountain.
It was a fun and exciting day, and rejuvenating to be in the fresh country air. All of the participants are already looking forward to next year’s exciting trip!
For more information about OHEL and their many services which you can benefit from, please contact OHEL today at 1800-603-OHEL, askohel@ohelfamily.org or visit www.ohelfamily.org
Supporting Women, Supporting Schools
In previous editions of Community Links I wrote articles titled “The Cost of Jewish Living” and “Giving Our All.” The articles touched upon the challenges revolving around the cost of Jewish day school education and how our community might come together to alleviate this burden. The responses I received from the most recent article, “Giving Our All” were remarkable and I wanted to share.
The overwhelming majority of the responses were positive encouraging the concept of coming together as a community to address this difficult issue of the expense of Jewish day school education. All of the responses were from women. Women offered their homes for workshops, offered to assist in spreading the word on any upcoming events and to help at those events. Every single woman who responded did so with compassion and acknowledgment that we, as a community, face a significant challenge in the continuously rising cost of educating a Jewish child.
On the flip-side, there were three emails that were not negative, however were constructively critical and bringing attention to several points highlighting that many individuals and business owners in the community do already contribute goods and services to the day schools above and beyond what the general community is aware of. In addition, points were made about the day school system in general being “broken” in many ways in regards to the costs involved, and that throwing additional money at an unstable system would not necessarily address the larger picture. All of these emails highlighted valid points, and happily all of these emails ended with words of encouragement and support for the idea of addressing these matters.
What most impressed me about each and every email was the willingness to be known (in other words, no emails or calls were placed anonymously) and everything sent to me via email was done so with great thought and care. A few of the emails were over a page in length and in great detail sharing thoughts, feelings, and general information about the issue at hand. The fact that so many women in our community reached out gave me hope that in fact we can come together and make a difference, even if it is merely acknowledging that the community battles with how to cost-effectively educate our children. I thank each and every one of you who did take the time to connect with me, and I thank all of you who take the time to read what I have written.
As the summer reaches its mid-point and we approach the holiday of Rosh Hashanah at the start of September, I am planning the first workshop for women to take place at the start of October right after the holidays. It will be a great time for us to come together and talk about what we wish to accomplish in the coming year, both personally and as a community, and use the energy of the holidays to send us forward in a positive and powerful way. As always I can be reached via email at mia@bhcounselingcenter.com. Wishing all of you an enjoyable rest of the summer!
Mia Adler Ozair, MA, LPCC, NCC is a licensed clinical psychotherapist and educator with a private practice in Beverly Hills, California. Mia is licensed in both California and Illinois and she can be reached through her website at www.bhcounselingcenter.com or followed on Twitter @MiaAdlerOzair.
Dagesten Rabbi Give thanks after discharge from Hospital
Only one week and two days after he was shot and critically wounded in an anti-Semitic attack near his home in Derbent, Chabad-Lubavitchemissary Rabbi Ovadia Isakov was released Sunday from Beilinson Medical Center in Petach Tikvah,Israel. He offered his thanks today to the many people who acted on his behalf and prayed for his recovery.
In an Aug. 5 interview, Isakov thanked the communities and individuals throughout the world for their assistance.
“There is no doubt,” he said, “that my recovery is in the merit of the many who stood beside me, and I want to thank each and every one of them personally. For myself and on behalf of my wife, Chaya Miriam, and my four children, I want to thank them for their concern and their assistance, and for their comforting words to us in person and by phone.”
“Surely, the blessings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe [RabbiMenachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory] continue to accompany his shluchim(emissaries),” Isakov noted, “and we see that today with our own eyes.”
“I am sure that G-d saw how we are all one family,” Isakov continued. “He saw the mobilization of so many people on my behalf, and he saw that love that His children have for one another. It is through this that we merit His blessings and see them fulfilled so vividly. As we pray every day: “Bless us, our Father, all of us as one,” said the rabbi.
Isakov said that he particularly wanted to send his thanks and appreciation to the Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS, to the Ohr Avner Foundation, to those who head these organizations, and especially to philanthropist Lev Leviev and Rabbi Berel Lazar, the chief rabbi of Russia, “who did so much for me and for my family. May G-d bless them in all their endeavors,” said the rabbi.
Isakov concluded by saying that he wanted to give a blessing that one and all should be “inscribed and sealed for a good, sweet year.”
Recovery Follows Emergency Airlift
Isakov was shot near his home nearly two weeks ago when he was returning from performing a ritual slaughter for koshermeat. He had confirmed earlier that the attack was anti-Semitic. “There was one man waiting for me,” Isakov said, “and as I was entering my house, he shot me. He did not say anything and did not ask for anything. I do not remember anything after the shooting.”
“This is not the first time such attacks have occurred,” Isakov continued. “There have been attacks during Jewish holidays, and they even threw a bomb at our mikvah.”
After initial medical treatment in Dagestan, the Federation of Jewish Communities in the CIS arranged for an expert medical staff from Israel to be flown to Dagestan on an emergency medical aircraft. The team was taken by helicopter to Isakov’s bedside. After stabilizing his condition, the team of Israeli doctors and paramedics flew with him to the Beilinson Medical Center in Petach Tikvah, and after a series of tests, Isakov was operated on for hours, in a surgery that saved his life.
Despite the shooting and other assaults, Isakov claimed that Jewish community members in Derbent do not live in fear. The rabbi said he is looking forward to returning home and continuing his work as a Chabad-Lubavitch emissary.
“Life goes on as usual;” he said “I really want to go back there and continue my shlichus. There are many good people there and a very good community.”
chabad.org