Tikkun Olam

I don't know where to begin first; there are so many ideas that I wanted to write about, starting with Haveil Havalim #192 being UP and also the Kosher Cooking Carnival (KCC) at Baila's, and including the importance of naming babies in general and my new grandson's name in particular, the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday and as an adjunct, the horribly high price of kosher turkeys (don't know about you, but I sure can't afford $60 for a turkey), President Elect Obama's cabinet-building choices (will Hillary or will she not? Only her hairdresser ex-president-husband knows for sure), Barkat becoming mayor of Jerusalem (a right-winger after my own heart, though not religious), and a myriad of other topics all of which right now escape me.

But I just have no time: I am working, albeit it at a temporary job (whose pay doesn't cover my bills), I am teaching Ivrit twice a week and rehearsing four times a week for a performance to be given at a Chabad Women's Conv…

My son-in-law's mother, Chaya Marsha Rivka bat Yocheved (Marlene), died at home, Sunday, October 26th (27 Tishrei, 5769) almost three years to the day after her cancer was first diagnosed.

We received this devastating news (you know it's coming; you are never ready for it...) just when I was getting ready to go to a Torah Dedication Ceremony at our Chabad. My husband was already there, so when I got there, I had to break the news to him. We both began to cry, right in the middle of the celebration.

Marlene was a special, special person. She touched the lives of many people. She was very involved in her community, gave friends and family abundant love, helped others, gave much tzedakah and did many acts of chesed (she even helped me when I was feeling low).

She was a wonderfully strong wife, mother, and Grandma to her (and my) grandchildren, who in turn loved her very much. The grandkids, from the oldest(-being seven and a half and with Down Syndrome), to the middlest (she …