Never Give Up Hope
The article on Chai Lifeline was informative ("To Help Jewish Kids Cope With Cancer, Chai Lifeline Does Whatever It Takes," Dec. 1998). They do a lot of chessed for sick children and their families.
However, the article mentions that a family whose child was being treated at Memorial-Sloan Kettering was told that nothing more could be done for their child. Chai Lifeline began the counseling the family "would need in the weeks ahead."
While counseling is helpful, it is important to first determine that there truly are no further treatment options. Therefore, one should seek an independent second opinion from another treatment center. Possibly the tragedy can be averted, or at least delayed.
I personally know of a situation at Sloan Kettering where parents were told to take a child home to die. The parents, acting under the advice of their rabbi, sought a second opinion. The child was subsequently treated at another institution. Within three months, he was in complete remission. The reason I know so much about the story is that the child was my son. While my son subsequently relapsed and passed away a year later, that year was a very happy and good one, in which, at the age of five, he was able to attend yeshivah. I urge anyone who is in a similar situation to seek another medical opinion and to obtain counsel from a rabbi familiar with medical issues.
Name Withheld Upon Request
On the LevelOn the cover of your Chanukah issue (Dec. 1998), you had a menorah that according to my knowledge is not kosher for use. I learned in school that the menorah must be level. The menorah you showed on the cover was slanted upward.
Esther Reidler,
age 13
Baltimore, MD
Thus, the Rema writes that a circular candelabrum is perfectly kosher, since each light is separate. So is a round bowl with oil in it that has separate holes for each of the wicks.
The Mishnah Berurah writes that as long as each wick or candle is distinct from the others, the menorah is absolutely kosher. The menorah pictured on our cover has a separate lamp for each candle and is unquestionably kosher.
Some authorities also note that the candles (or oil lamps) should appear to be part of one unit, so that an onlooker can count the lights to calculate the night of Chanukah. Hence, a menorah with some lights higher and others lower is not encouraged. However, there is no question that even with such a menorah the mitzvah is fulfilled, at least minimally, since one discharges the mitzvah by lighting even one candle. In any case, the menorah on our cover, with its evenly ascending lamps, does not pose this problem.
Moving Story
"Beyond Cancer" (Sept. 1998) was one of the most moving pieces I have ever read. Barbara Barry took us, the readers, into her heart and soul. After reading her story, I felt that although she is a stranger to me, I had come to know her.
Ms. Barry's ability to rise above the circumstances in which G-d placed her is a testament to the fact that we have the power to meet our challenges. I look forward to more positive articles of this nature.
Rebecca Brown
Dover, DE
In the article "Travel Time" (Sept. 1998), OK Labs Senior Rabbinic Coordinator Rabbi Leizer Teitelbaum wrote that while most dried fruits may be eaten without kosher supervision, "exceptions include prunes with added oil, pineapples, pears, raisins, and apples." The article stated that this list "should not be taken as a permanent one," since production processes change.
Rabbi Teitelbaum has added papaya and mango to the dried fruits that require a hechsher.
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