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Haredi Public Shortchanged by Formula Freebies

July 2, 2011 by 28 Comments
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Q: How was the haredi public mekupach (shortchanged)? A: Because Superpharm, the drugstore chain, included only regular dairy infant formula in its giveaway for new parents. Haredi parents require mehadrin formula, produced under a higher level of kashrut supervision. Readers reported this "injustice" to the newspaper Hashavua, which contacted the formula manufacturer. In response the company offered to send a coupon for a free 900-gram package of mehadrin formula to anyone who left a name and address with the customer service office. I think the formula company got a good deal. With any luck, it will be seen as a champion of downtrodden haredi consumers. It also gets a list of … [Read more...]

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A View from Sweden: Covering as a Health Risk for Girls and Women

February 1, 2011 by 21 Comments
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This comment came to me from Maria Gellert, a Swedish reader, in response to The Problem with Putting Veils on Little Girls. I also found this article from Scientific American outlining the issues surrounding autism and Vitamin D. If the theory that lack of Vitamin is related to a rise in autism among populations who cover, I want to emphasize that the issue is Vitamin D deficiency during the mother's pregnancy, not in childhood. Muslim girls in Sweden usually don't cover their faces. When it has happened, the social authorities ALWAYS intervene. What I wanted to point out was that when girls dress according to strict modesty, and cover everything except their hands (which are … [Read more...]

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Reports: Widespread Damage to Remedia Babies 7 Years Later

November 16, 2010 by 6 Comments
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In November 2003 three Israeli babies died after having been fed Remedia soy formula, which turned out not to contain the essential vitamin B1. Dozens of other children suffered severe damage, with a third dying just two weeks ago. (The article that mentioned the recent death said it was the third one, but other sources from 2003 quote 3.) There have been recent developments in this story. The “Remedia children” have turned 7. The Globes business magazine contains a long expose about a large group of children who suffer from health and developmental problems including epilepsy, hypothermia, speech delays, and fine-motor delays.  Here’s a translation of a shorter article about the … [Read more...]

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Sending Sick Children to School: New Guidelines by Israeli Pediatric Association

November 4, 2010 by 24 Comments
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Mazal Tov to Jendeis on her new baby! She's extra lucky this week because she also won the giveaway of Kosher by Design for Teens and 20-Somethings. I used Random.org to pick the winner. Thanks so much to everyone who participated. The Israeli Pediatric Association has issued new guidelines about sending kids to school or daycare when they are sick. We all know there are some parents who let their sick kids infect everyone else. There are also gananot (kindergarten teacher) who send children home over minor issues. With their report, the pediatricians hope to make "seder" (order). Here are the new recommendations. Send children to school with: A runny nose, a sore throat, … [Read more...]

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Diabetes, Genetics and Shidduchim

July 25, 2010 by 22 Comments
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It's time for Part X in a series on dating and marriage in the religious Zionist community. Last week's edition of Torah Tidbits contained an article entitled "Diabetics and Shidduchim" by the Puah Institute for Fertility and Gynecology in Halacha. The article strongly discourages marriage to a person with diabetes. [Edited to add: As Rabbi Weitzman points out, the article doesn't say what to do. However,  I read the article as strongly discouraging such a marriage.] After pointing out the difficulties of living with someone who has a serious chronic illness, the author continues: ". . . one of the risk factors for getting diabetes is that it is hereditary. Therefore someone who … [Read more...]

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Tipat Chalav Survival Guide for Parents

July 11, 2010 by 37 Comments
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On Twitter, @mrsroth mentioned how a nurse handed her 18-month-old a cup and spoon. The little girl started to "stir" with the spoon, but failed that developmental task because she was supposed to pretend to eat from the bowl. Everyone loves to complain about Tipat Chalav, the network of well-baby clinics run by Israel's health ministry. Sometimes the staff gives silly suggestions, or even dangerous ones. And nothing is more upsetting to an anxious new mother than having her baby "fail" one of Tipat Chalav's many tests. Overall, Tipat Chalav does its job very well. It's important for new parents to understand Tipat Chalav's strengths and limitations. Tipat Chalav has several key … [Read more...]

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Junk Food in Gan as a Form of Neglect

April 26, 2010 by 20 Comments
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Yosefa writes: I've been reading your old posts under the "olim" (immigrants) section [in my new menu at the top of the page]. I was thinking about the ganenet (preschool teacher) saving NIS 800 a month. Maybe she should have used it to buy higher quality food.  At both my kids' schools, they get way too many treats. One night after the first week in school Adele threw up. She told me it was because she had too many treats in gan. When I stopped in on Mordechai's first day, they said I could peek in and see how cute he was. He was eating a lollipop--his first ever hard candy.  While I appreciated their concern for his happiness, I mentioned that I don't like him to have sweets. The … [Read more...]

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How I Do It All (Sometimes)

February 26, 2010 by 4 Comments

Image by epSos.de via Flickr My friend asked for a few posts on time management. “I don’t understand how you find time to cook, raise children, manage the house and write so much.” The subject has been on my mind since I was asked to speak on time management at the Kishor Social Media Conference for professional Jewish women, organized by Debra Askanese and Sarah Lipman. For a summary see my guest post, Staying in Control of Social Media, at Debra's site Community Organizer 2.0. I'm also going to be on the Afternoon Shmooze talk show on the Rusty Mike Internet Radio station this Thursday, March 4,  at 12:30 PM (5:30 AM EST). I'll be talking with host Nettie Feldman on how to … [Read more...]

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The Walking Schoolbus

August 24, 2009 by 6 Comments

This morning on the radio, a father from Kiryat Ono was interviewed about a project in his school called Ha-Otobus Hamehalech, or the walking bus. Instead of having each parent walk, or more likely drive, their children to school each day, parents formed a cooperative to walk large groups of children together. The organizers divided up the school's population into four routes. Parents take turns accompanying the first to third graders, with a ratio of one adult for every ten children. Gimmicks make the "ride"  more attractive. Children get a bus card that is punched (the father noted that these kids don't know what a bus card is—mine certainly do). And each day the children of the … [Read more...]

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Heart Attacks: Are Men from Mars and Women from Venus? Guest Post by Dr. Roy Schwartz

May 13, 2009 by 4 Comments

A few weeks ago my friend went to the doctor because of transient pain and shortness of breath. She was hospitalized for a few days, and thank God, all tests came back normal. The doctors explained that they are extra cautious with women because their symptoms of heart disease are atypical. I met Dr. Roy Schwartz, a medical intern, on Twitter (@diseaseaday) through my obsession with interest in swine flu. On his blog, A Disease A Day, he describes symptoms and treatments of common ailments. Because many readers are approaching the critical age I invited him to write a guest post about women and heart attacks. Heart Attacks - Are Men from Mars and Women from … [Read more...]

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