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Dec. 1, 2008

Max Freidlander, as told to Jacklyn C. Wadler: India Inkings

Mark Steyn: Whodunit!?

Nov. 28, 2008

Rabbi Ahron Rapps: An evil seed that didn't have to be

Melanie Phillips: Carpe diem --- or can we all relax now?

Nov. 26, 2008

Michael Feldberg: Meet the Orthodox Jew who laid groundwork for scientific development of ordnance that undergirds America's current world leadership

Andrea Simantov: Shades of life

Nov. 25, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : Getting Emotional For Influence

The Kosher Gourmet by Ethel G. Hofman : Thanksiving feast!

Nov. 24, 2008

Rabbi S. Binyomin Ginsberg: 'I just Became a grandchild!'

Barry Rubin: Don't flatter your enemies, protect your friends

Nov. 21, 2008

Rabbi A. Henach Leibowitz: Money matters?

Caroline B. Glick: Civilization walks the plank

Nov. 20, 2008

Rabbi Avi Shafran: Bronfman's blindness

The Kosher Gourmet By Linda Gassenheimer: Portobellos add a hearty flavor to pasta with pesto

Nov, 19, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : Spread the wealth? Jewish tradition and income equality

Elliot B. Gertel: 'Mad Men': Tackling prejudices or reinforcing them?

Nov, 18, 2008

Dr. Debby Schwarz Hirschhorn: The End of the Age of Reason

Jonathan Tobin: Does Barack + Bibi = Disaster?

Nov, 17, 2008

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The End of the Age of Reason

Diana West: Gulling Americans into making terror legit?

Nov, 14, 2008

Rabbi A. Henach Leibowitz: The Power of Spiritual Inertia

Caroline B. Glick: The perils ahead

Nov, 13, 2008

Stratfor Intelligence Briefing: How Bush and Obama together could change the Middle East dynamic

The Kosher Gourmet by JeanMarie Brownson: Sweet and savory, crispy and meltingly tender bestilla

Nov, 12, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : Tyrannical Co-Workers

Michael Doyle: High Court to consider today donated monuments that may have religious messages in public parks

Nov, 11, 2008

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Will Obama stop government officials considering institutionalizing financial jihad?

Jonathan Tobin: They Will Decide Their Own Fate

Nov, 10, 2008

Rabbi Avi Shafran: $8 billion, modern-day Tower of Babel being built?

Barry Rubin: A letter to the president-elect from a Middle East realist

Nov, 7, 2008

Rabbi Francis Nataf: Of Children and Immortality

Caroline B. Glick: Livni's Obama strategy

Nov, 6, 2008

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: How I tricked a classroom of apathetic students into grasping the fallacy of moral relativism

The Kosher Gourmet By Gina Kim: Tips for making the perfect soup --- includes recipes

Nov, 5, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist By Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Destitute Debtors

Bruce Weinstein: 'Religulos': Bad title,even worse movie

Nov, 4, 2008

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Treasury Dept. submits to Shariah law

Frida Ghitis: A surprise for Obama in the Middle East

Nov, 3, 2008

Jonathan Rosenblum: Who says Jews are Smart?

Jonathan Tobin: Was He Wrong About Everything?

March 22, 2007

J-Rhythms with Avraham Rosenblum: JWR's cutting-edge music program showcasing performers -- singers, song writers, musicians, and bands -- who learn and live the Torah lifestyle (OUR NEWEST IGODCAST !)

Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review August 11, 2008 / 10 Menachem-Av 5768

Teenagers

By Mona Charen


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | They told me — back in the days when I had three little boys ages 4 and under — that while those early years might be tumultuous and exhausting, the payoff for crazed mothers and fathers comes in the teenage years. Then, while parents of girls are being whipsawed by operatic mood swings and battling over tube tops and short shorts, we parents of boys would be kicking back and enjoying life. I am here to report that it's true!


Okay, not entirely. David was moody and irritable for pretty much his entire 13th year and while he has now reached the sunny uplands of 14, he still has his moments. Jon, 16, has developmental disorders of various kinds so that no age is without challenges. But for the most part, the teen years here are actually — and one doesn't want to tempt the evil eye but — fun.


Well, of course, as the parent of a teenager you do have to have a sense of humor about certain things — like socks. They either fail to wear them when they should, or leave dirty ones in places they should not. They are heedless of their appearance and submit only reluctantly to daily ablutions. They consume prodigious amounts of food but regard two stalks of broccoli as a huge portion. When their hair is falling over their foreheads and tumbling down over the eyes to somewhere near the nostrils, they pronounce it "too short." And they have a peculiar sense of time. After three hours on the computer they will wail plaintively, "I just got on!" But after six minutes of practicing the trumpet or clarinet they will affirm that they spent a half-hour.


And yes, as the mother of a music-obsessed 14-year-old, I do yield radio control to whoever has first called "shotgun" in the car and thus am subjected to more heavy metal than a middle-aged woman should be expected to endure. Did you know that there are genres of heavy metal? Oh, yes. There's hair metal and death metal and thrash metal and God knows what else. I once asked David whether every song amounted to its own genre. He was dismissive. David is very quick on the trigger. He knows my views and standards and after a year and a half of listening to heavy metal in the car, I don't think I've heard a single swear word.


But enduring heavy metal is an investment because this boy also loves Rachmaninoff, Beethoven and Rimsky-Korsakov. We split our time between the rock and classical channels. David can play Hummel and Haydn on the trumpet, and after spending three glorious weeks at Interlochen music camp this year he returned appreciating opera, dance, and even (his mother's skepticism notwithstanding) Mahler. If I can listen to Metallica and Rush for David's sake, I can certainly give Gustav another go.


Ben, at 12, is not technically a teenager yet, but that hardly matters since Ben is one of those people who was born mature. This is not to say he's solemn. Quite the contrary. Listening to the news on the car radio the other day, the announcer intoned, "Next, is Bill Clinton a racist?" "He can't be," quipped Ben, "he's the first black president." I guess it's possible that adolescence will transform this smiling prankster (I got an alert on my PDA recently that read "Buy Ben presents") into a brooding shadow at least some of the time. But it's hard to imagine. He has the gift of buoyancy, a talent for keeping busy (most underrated in this screen-dependent age), and too much impishness to remain morose for long.


I so admire parents who are more rigid and disciplined that I. Certainly for three boys a bit more martinet would not go amiss. (My husband is better, but he works long hours.) And I do look at teenage girls who seem to keep their notebooks so tidy and their hair combed and their permission slips signed and think — it's a different world.


But I'm not complaining. I get in my car and the GPS spits out directions to our favorite sushi restaurant and I think "Ben!" After haggling with David about practice time, he finally puts the trumpet to his lips and out comes real music, beautiful music. Jonathan is learning the bass guitar, helping out with the younger kids at synagogue, and earning pocket money by gardening, cleaning, and caring for the four animals in our household. He's so contented when he's working hard, and that is no small thing in this world.

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