Style & Living

With Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur behind us, we are about to enter the chag of Sukkos, which is a time designated in the Torah for great happiness. Specifically, regarding the chag of Sukkos, Hashem instructs us, “v’samachtah bchagechah, v’hayisa ach sameach,” translated as, “You shall rejoice on your festivals​, and should be fully happy.”

Finding the Path Within Each of Us to the Rebuilding of the Temple This Tish’ah B’Av

L’ilui nishmos Dr. Reuven Rosenkranz a”h and Aliza Talia Sarah bas Dina Rachel a”h

We are a few days away from the climactic day of the summer, Tish’ah B’Av, and I can’t help but feel a mix of emotions as this significant fast day approaches. Most dread this fast, the heat, and the long summer day. In past years, I have always looked forward to it. Strange, perhaps, but being that my Hebrew birthday falls out the day before The Nine Days, and my English birthday usually within a few days of the Ninth of Av, intuitively I have always felt this made sense: Of course my birthday falls out this week; in the future, this will be the greatest holiday of all!

I love the connection of numbers and Torah. In macro-terms, Torah is the blueprint of the universe. What is the secret of six? According to the famous Passover song, Who Knows One?, one is G-d, two are the Tablets, three are the Forefathers, four are the Matriarchs, five are the Books of Torah, and six are the orders of the Mishnah.

Like most kids, ours spend a lot of time on their gadgets. We brought them into the world with the hope they might savor the gift of life. Or at least ride their bikes once in a while. For young people, plugging in is a divine right. After all, they will live forever, have all of their needs met, and perish the thought of enduring a vacant minute. G-d forbid the Internet is ever down!

Yael* was a 32-year-old woman who started experiencing “stomach issues” after the birth of the second of her four children. Although she had always had somewhat of a sensitive stomach as a teen (“I would pay the price if I would eat pizza, fries, and ice cream at once like my friends all seemed to be able to do”), her symptoms did not interfere with her life too much until that point. After the birth of her second baby, her symptoms of diarrhea with occasional constipation, post-meal bloating and burping, and frequent heartburn and stomach pain exacerbated to the point of severely interfering with her quality of life.

Numerous times weekly, I am contacted by individuals wanting to work with me for weight loss, but who suspect that they first need to treat an underlying digestive issue prior to starting another unsuccessful weight loss attempt. They are convinced, and I believe rightfully so, that their inability to lose weight despite tremendous efforts is stemming from unresolved gut issues. It is quite validating to them when I agree that their hypothesis has validity, as I often see that my weight loss clients with concurrent unresolved digestive issues often do not lose weight until we spend 3 to 4 months fixing up the gut. To quote Dr. Kenneth Brown: