K4A News
Vayechi, 7 Tevet 5779
December 16, 2018

Tevet is the month during which the area of healing we focus on is our anger. Have you ever heard the old adage, "laughter is the best medicine"? Well it's true. The Talmud tells us that when the great sage Rabbah would teach, he would always begin with a joke to make his students laugh and to open their minds. Our sages teach that joy and laughter breaks through walls. We all have barriers that surround our hearts and minds. These can prevent us from learning, from growing, and from transforming. Whenever we give in to the negative emotions, especially anger, we strengthen these barriers. Every time we experience joy and laughter, these barriers are broken down. Dr. Michael Miller, a researcher at the University of Maryland, has been exploring the role of laughter and humor in reducing the risk of heart disease. In his research he found that mental stress and anger caused blood vessels to constrict and that when people laughed and were happy their blood vessels expanded. We always have a choice, when faced with any situation, of how we are going to respond. We can choose to get angry or we can choose to laugh. Why not select the best option for both our spiritual and physical health and just choose laughter and joy?

Shavua tov,