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In this issue
March 19, 2010
Rabbi Berel Wein: The Divine is in the details
JWisdom.com Stewards of sacrifice with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (5 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick: Why Obama is waging war on Israel
March 18, 2010
Cal Thomas: Israel's New Enemy: America?
JWisdom.com Love me not? with Rabbi David Aaron (5 minutes)
Jonathan Rosenblum: Washington Throws a Tantrum
March 17, 2010
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Orwell, Santayana, and Me
Jonathan Tobin: How Many Lives Is Biden's Pride Worth?
March 16, 2010
Steven Emerson: Combating Lawfare
JWisdom.com How to perform a miracle with Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair (4 minutes)
Anne Bayefsky: Behind Obama's Dangerous Overreaction on Israel
March 15, 2010
The Jewish Ethicist By Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Father's obligations toward minor children
JWisdom.com Moody, Grumpy, Irritable Children with Sarah Chana Radcliffe (5 minutes)
Judith Graham: Get the whole picture before a CT
March 12, 2010
Rabbi David Aaron: You CAN have Heaven on Earth
JWisdom.com Manufacturing mediums with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (4 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick: The march of the Red-Green brigades
March 11, 2010
Glenn Garvin: Conspiracy theories, why people believe them and how they spread
JWisdom.com For Yourself, Not By Yourself with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (8 minutes)
The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer : Turn leftovers into tasty New England hash
Paul Richter: Biden promises 'viable Palestine' is in the offing
March 10, 2010
Paul Greenberg: Death Checks In
JWisdom.com How To Get A (Real) Life with Rabbi Warren Goldstein ( EXTENDED EPISODE)
Paul Richter: Israel exerts soverign right to its capital as Biden looks on astounded
Richard A. Serrano: 'Jihad Jane' indictment alleges threat from within U.S.
March 9, 2010
Wesley Pruden: Joe's Israeli adventure
JWisdom.com Free To Be (Responsibly) You and Me! with Rabbi Naftali Brawer ( 8 MINUTES)
David G. Savage: Supreme Court to rule on free speech in case of soldier's funeral
March 8, 2010
The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Make a fuss about those who cuss?
JWisdom.com Finding or Losing Yourself? Here's How! with Rabbi David Aaron ( 5 MINUTES)
Steven Emerson: America must learn from the UK about the future of Islamist subversion
March 5, 2010
Rabbi Berel Wein: Golden Calf still with us --- except it has multiplied
JWisdom.com The Limits of Eternity with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 4 MINUTES)
Caroline B. Glick: Biden's lost cause
March 4, 2010
Alan M. Dershowitz: How About A Real Campaign Against Abuses?
JWisdom.com Using Things, Loving People with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff ( 7 MINUTES)
Jordan "Gorf" Gorfinkel's Everything's Relative
March 3, 2010
JWisdom.com Grasping The Name of Your Life Game with Rabbi Warren Goldstein ( 8 MINUTES)
The Kosher Gourmet by Marialisa Calta : A cowboy's recipes for really good grub
March 2, 2010
Rabbi Avi Shafran: Someone's there
Diane Toroian Keaggy : Have we misunderstood Michelangelo?
March 1, 2010
JWisdom.com Whole in One with Rabbi David Aaron ( 5 MINUTES)
Michael Muskal: Hillary meets with Israeli official, discusses gefilte fish dispute
Feb. 26, 2010
Rabbi Francis Nataf: The Megilla of Spring
JWisdom.com A Biblical Secret for a More Powerful You with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 5 MINUTES)
Caroline B. Glick: When rhetoric rules the roost
Feb. 25, 2010
The Jewish Ethicist By Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: When walking away from your mortgage is both economically sound and makes ethical sense
JWisdom.com The Second Most Important Question in Your Life with Rabbi Yehoshua Karsh ( 5 MINUTES)
Seema Mehta : U.S.-Israel relations raised in California's Senate race --- by conservatives
Feb. 24, 2010
Rabbi Avi Shafran: The gift of the ‘prayer bomber’
Steven Emerson: Why Religious Freedom Commission is under attack
Feb. 23, 2010
Dennis Prager: Government, Yes! The Divine and Parents, No!
JWisdom.com The Last Laugh of Enlightenment with Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair ( 5 MINUTES)
Anne Applebaum: Prepare for war with Iran --- in case Israel strikes
Feb. 22, 2010
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Is it not refreshing Tiger Woods' career has crashed and burned so dramatically?
JWisdom.com Esther and the third Truth with Rabbi David Aaron ( 9 MINUTES)
Kelly Brewington: Going smoke-free may raise diabetes risk
Feb. 19, 2010
Rabbi David Aaron: Is the Divine beyond us or within us?
JWisdom.com Olympic Faith with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 5 MINUTES)
Caroline B. Glick: Israel and the West are perpetrators of a myth that endangers the Jewish State
Feb. 18, 2010
Cal Thomas: Who is Rashad Hussain?
JWisdom.com A Wedding Disaster to Remember with Rabbi Y.Y. Rubinstein ( 3 MINUTES)
Feb. 17, 2010
JWisdom.com Think your life is messed up? with Rabbi David Aaron ( 11 MINUTES)
Greg Logan: 'Greatest Jewish sporting event of all time since David versus Goliath' may be postponed because of bar mitzvah
Feb. 16, 2010
Anya Martin : Boy's 'cerebral palsy' fixed with diet
JWisdom.com Feet On The Street Spirituality with Gavriel Aryeh Sanders ( 8 MINUTES)
Marty Peretz: Let Europe Mind Its Own Business. It Brings Nothing To The Table Save For Mischief
Feb. 15, 2010
Herb Geduld: Lincoln and the Jews
JWisdom.com Are Our Children Really Ours? with Rabbi Mordechai Becher ( 5 MINUTES)
Susan King: 'Wolf Man' reflected writer's wartime Jewish experience

Jewish World Review April 4, 2008 / 28 Adar II 5768

Love on 4 Paws

By Greg Crosby


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | The following is a love story. Love can come in all shapes and sizes. And very often it comes with a wet nose, a hairy face and on 4 paws. I received a wonderful, heartwarming letter from a reader awhile ago, it touched me and I would like to share with you. The letter was signed Dorothy Wilber and she titled it "Love on 4 Paws." She was writing me about her daughter Cynthia's dog, Hanz, a small miniature schnauzer. Hanz is a very special boy - he is a therapy dog.


Cynthia devotes her Saturdays and Sundays off of work to take Hanz to Los Angeles Children's Hospital, Shriner's and St. Joseph Hospital nun's nursing home. You can imagine how the kids love to see Hanz whenever he walks into their rooms. Of course many of these children and teens are extremely ill, some terminally. These children are hooked up to tubes, some can't move, some have been in serious automobile accidents.


For many of the children a visit from Hanz can be the highlight of their week, and Hanz has a pretty good time of it, too. Hanz is among 15 other dogs in the program, each pooch wears a green vest when they visit. But thanks to Cynthia, Hanz stands out a bit more from the rest of the pack of therapy dogs. Now I know this might sound crazy, but Hanz walks in bedecked in various outfits.


Figuring the kids could undoubtedly use a good laugh, Cynthia decided to dress Hanz up in a doctor's outfit complete with glasses and a stethoscope. One child in particular, a little boy who never seemed to smile, was told by Cynthia that there was a new doctor who needed to see him. Then in walked little Hanz in full doctor costume and the little boy squealed with delight. Hanz has been known as Dr. Love ever since.


Once Cynthia dressed Hanz up as a Harley Davidson biker wearing a leather jacket and sitting on a motorcycle. She took pictures of him and made stickers from them so that the children could stick them up in their rooms. Needless to say, the kids loved seeing their favorite Dr. Love posed on his very own motorcycle.


Stories about Hanz have been written up in newspapers and he even came in as a semi-finalist in the National "My Pet, My Pal" contest - chosen by Lassie, no less. Yup, Hanz is quite a celebrity. But mostly to all those children at the hospital, Hanz is just simply their best friend.


Meanwhile at the nun's nursing home, Hans is bringing enjoyment to another generation altogether. It's funny, but one doesn't tend to think of nuns as getting old and needing nursing home care, but of course they do. Nuns are only human. They need as much love and attention as the kids in Children's Hospital. An 81 year old nun needs to feel the warmth of a little dog like Hanz just as much as that 6 year old little girl with a debilitating illness.


Whether it's Children's Hospital or the nursing home, everyone loves Hanz and his buddies. They bring a sense of love and happiness to those who most need it. You can't buy that kind of fulfillment for any amount of money - you can try, but it will never happen. As I say, these puppies are special. Very special. But then people such as Cynthia are pretty special too.


As I said, love can come in all shapes and sizes - and in all breeds. Animal therapy has been shown to have real health-giving results and helps patients to recover faster. For kids and seniors who are sick and think they may be forgotten, it is more than a heeling experience, it is a Godsend. If you would like to know more about therapy dogs, visit their web site at: WWW.LOVEON4PAWS.org

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.


JWR contributor Greg Crosby, former creative head for Walt Disney publications, has written thousands of comics, hundreds of children's books, dozens of essays, and a letter to his congressman. A freelance writer in Southern California, you may contact him by clicking here.

Greg Crosby Archives

© 2006, Greg Crosby

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