Returning borrowed items

Hamodia ran an ad this week which began with two questions.

Busy Pesach Cleaning? Have you found any equipment that belongs to Ezra Umarpeh? Please return it now!
The same can be said of any items that you find during your Pesach cleaning that you may have borrowed and haven't returned as yet. Now is the time to return the book you borrowed over a year ago, the hammer, the sefer, the umbrella that was loaned to you on a particularly rainy day, etc. If not now, when?

Saving lives

A mother and five children were injured in a severe road accident between a private car and a semi-trailer truck at the entrance to Shoham on Route 444 on Monday.
http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?ID=213157&R=R1

An Israeli website published an interview ith the father in which he cautioned people to buckle up. Those who wore seatbelts escaped without major injury.
During a television interview Police Superintendent Shai Mizrachi stated it seems that a ten-year-old boy who was seriously injured was not wearing a seatbelt.
"I want ask parents to be strict about the wearing of seatbelts," said Mizrahi. "This is not a recommendation, it saves lives."
Click here to read the article in Hebrew.

So there you have it from a father and a man responsible for road saftey that it is important to wear seatbelts. Let's heed their words and not play with our children's lives. Let's resolve that, from today, we will be more strict about enforcing the wearing of seatbelts. May the young boy merit a full recovery.

Say what?

The first perek of Megila Esther tells us about the lavish party that Achashveirosh held. It describes in great detail the wealth, the vessels and the abundance of food available for every attendee. The party was suited to each guest's specific tastes.
The Manos Levi brings down an argument among Rishonim over whether the party had music or not. One reason they might not have had music is because with all the other senses, a person has the option of tuning out; but when it comes to live music, your ears would pick up the sound whether you wanted to hear it or not. Since it could not be separated according to each guest's personal preferences and desires, it must not have been there.
Some explain that the absence of music was as a result of the Yehudim having been invited to the parties. Since it was during the time between the first and second Bais HaMikdash, the Yehudim would not have attended had there been music. To ensure the Jews' participation, there was no music scheduled at the party.
Some say that music may be nice to hear, but that it takes concentration away from the "taste" process. Since it opposes the sense of taste, Achashveirosh chose not to have any at his party.
http://www.revach.net/moadim/megilas-esther/At-Achashveirosh039s-Party-Who-Turned-Down-The-Music/1936

Two weeks ago Hamodia published an article titled When the music is just too loud by Dr. Pesach Goodley, M.D. The doctor starts off by noting the following.
A chasunah should be an occasion of pure joy. It should not be injurious! Yet it often is because the music is pathologically loud.
He suggests various solutions to the problem.
There must be a commitment in our community to bring an end to the scourge of deafening music.
...Every time you are invited to a chasunah, call the baalei simchah with your mazal tov and add that unless there is assurance that the sound level will be maintained at safe levels, you cannot attend.
What an interesting idea. Dare we implement it?

Come in peace the crown of her husband

A number of years ago I heard about a wedding speech made by the bride's father in which he lauded the groom's parents. He spoke about their sterling qualities and ended his speech by talking about how he and his mechutonim had different minhagim about the mitzvah tantz at the end of the wedding.
"I won," he declared.

Rabbi Eytan Kobre wrote an article for Mishpacha about Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky as we approach the gadol's 25th yahrzheit later this month.
...when they spoke about the diverse customs for who accompanies the chassan and kallah to the chuppah, Rev Yaakov revealed that his minhag was a rather straightforward one: "Ich hob getin vos mein mechutonim hoben gevolt [I did whatever my mechutonim wanted to do]."

Going back to the bride's father, in all respect, I do believe the groom's parents won by being mevater for the sake of peace. As the bride and groom begin their marital lives, what better message can they take with them than the lesson of being willing to compromise and making your will the will of the other.
May we follow Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky's minhag of not causing strife and animosity and may we be merit participating in happy occasions.

Honk Honk - What's the rush?

This afternoon I was walking down the street when I heard the grating noise of a car honking. Curious as to what was happening, my gaze fell upon a young mother rushing to take her child out of a school van that had stopped in the middle of the street to unload a young passenger.
Why did the driver of the car behind the van have to honk unceasingly?
Recently Hamodia published a letter by a man who had problems with his feet. His wife had also gone through surgery on her foot. It took some seconds for them to exit the taxi that had transported them to their home. The man behind them began to honk. When the older man went to explain to the driver about the situation, the young driver didn't give a chance to explain. He shouted, "you are selfish," and drove off.
A few months ago my mother was driving in Borough Park. She was unfamiliar with some of the streets and drove at a slow pace. A young man behind her honked, passed her by and gave her the finger.
Can't we learn to be solicitous of other people? So, it will take us a few minutes longer to reach our destination. But, ultimately, when we reach our final destination, we will be accompanied by the testimony that we didn't cause unnecessary pain to someone else. And I'm sure that we are in no rush to reach our final destination.