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Nov. 6, 2009
Rabbi Berel Wein: Choosing to hear
JWisdom.com Zero to 1/60th: How to Empower An Hour with Gavriel Aryeh Sande (7 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick The mullahs' big week
Suzanne Fields A Fallen Wall for Fallen Man
Nov. 5, 2009
The Kosher Gourmet: Three scrumptious -- but simple -- butternut squash dishes
JWisdom.com Hidden Hints: Unlocking Faith & Prayer with Rabbi Jay Yaacov Schwartz (10 minutes)
Nov. 4, 2009
Tom Hamburger and Kim Geiger: Should prayers be covered?
JWisdom.com When God played peacemaker With Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (5 minutes)
Nov. 3, 2009
Martin Peretz: Beware, Barack. Beware, Rahm. Beware, Axelrod
JWisdom.com Are you are closet idolater? With Sara Yoheved Rigler (10 minutes)
Nov. 2, 2009
Paul Greenberg: The Holocaust is now on Facebook
JWisdom.com Abraham's Strange Change With Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer (5 minutes)
Oct. 30, 2009
Rabbi David Aaron: Secret to Immortality
Caroline B. Glick Silencing dissent in America
Oct. 29, 2009
Lini S. Kadaba: Do tactics avert flu or reduce humanity?
JWisdom.com We Must Revamp our Religious Vocabulary With Gavriel Aryeh Sanders ( 10 minutes)
Oct. 28, 2009
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Atheists in Bubbleland
JWisdom.com Why what we wear impacts who we are With Rabbis Mordechai Becher, Menachem Golberger and Aliza Bulow ( 10 minutes)
Oct. 27, 2009
Paul Greenberg: The United Nations Is Outraged Again, Or: Department of Mideast Static
JWisdom.com The Science of Love With Rabbi Jonathan Rietti ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 26, 2009
The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Damaging disclosures with a twist
JWisdom.com Wisdom and Wonks With Rabbi Eytan Feiner ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 23, 2009
Rabbi David Aaron: Are you ready for the ultimate pleasure?
JWisdom.com Watermark and oneness with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 4 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick Stop using limited powers in a way that expands our enemies' advantages over us
Oct. 22, 2009
Steven Emerson: Terror Cases Share Desire to Kill Americans
JWisdom.com No More More Family Fights --- Really? By Sarah Chana Radcliffe ( 5 minutes)
Oct. 21, 2009
Tonya Alanez: Holocaust denier sues survivor, calling Auschwitz memoir 'vicious lies'
JWisdom.com Meditating Jewishly: A Panacea for Success by Sarah Yoheved Rigler ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 20, 2009
Dennis Prager: Obama and Dalai Lama: Why Israel Worries about U.S. President
JWisdom.com Abraham was not religious By Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer ( 6 minutes)
Oct. 19, 2009
JWisdom.comWhy Good People Do Bad Things By Rabbi Eytan Feiner ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 16, 2009
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The Perfect Number
JWisdom.com Hearing Voices By Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 5 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick How Turkey was lost
Oct. 15, 2009
Jeff Jacoby: Peace vs. the 'peace process'
JWisdom.com: Former MTV producer and stand-up comedian Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff: Taming a Control Freak (A VERY fast 15 minutes)
Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

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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