Rebbetzin Feldbrand fans, rejoice! And all you others out there who aren’t familiar with this beloved author’s style, listen up! Bitachon, Rebbetzin Feldbrand’s ninth book, has just been released.

Bitachon is filled to the brim with all sorts of practical strategies to help you acquire just that—bitachon in Hashem. You’ll love the stories and real-life examples that the author brings, which are all extremely helpful in modeling how one goes about acquiring this vital middah.

As we go through life, we see more and more how essential it is to have bitachon. Whether regarding getting a good mark on your Chumash test (if you’re a kid), or coming up with the money to pay the rent or mortgage each month (if you’re an adult), it’s clear that the happenings in our lives are not in our control. So why bother worrying about anything at all? Let’s all just—as the saying goes—“let go and let G-d!” With Hashem as our Driver, we’re in the best hands possible—so why not just trust His driving skills and sense of direction?

With Bitachon as your guidebook, you’ll learn exactly how to do so—and how absolutely amazing the dividends of it are!

Here’s an excerpt:

NEVER GIVE UP HOPE

There are certain factors which lead to despair. When a person is overwhelmed with suffering, he finds it difficult to believe that salvation is at hand. When a person requires something that would require a miracle, like having a disease disappear or acquiring something beyond his reach, he should still daven to Hashem to save him. Knowing that one has sinned should not prevent the individual from turning to Hashem. A person should never give up hope (Yefas Toar).

At one point in his illustrious career, Rav Moshe Sherer stood up to the powers that be who were determined to pass a bill that would have harmed observant Jews throughout the United States. The members of Congress and the president were determined to see that their amendment was ratified into law, but Rav Moshe used all the connections at his disposal to prevent that law from being passed. Read more…

“I promised to take my kids on a special trip, but something came up that leaves me no choice but to cancel the trip. I know my kids will be terribly disappointed. My husband says these things happen and I shouldn’t worry, but I feel so guilty about not being able to keep our promise to the children. How can I face their disappointment?”

“My thirteen-year-old daughter is a daydreamer. Whenever I ask her to do a chore, she’ll sit there and daydream instead of doing it. Is this something to worry about? How can I help my daughter stay more down-to-earth?”

“What should we do about our five-year-old, who takes what isn’t hers?”

Our fourteen-year-old son is short, and very self-conscious about it. When his friends make fun of his height, I feel like telling them to stop.  How should I handle this sensitive issue?”

Do these parenting scenarios sound familiar to you? When you read them, do you feel like saying, “Oh, my goodness, that’s me!” or “How did they know?! That’s my child!”? If so, you will find a new friend for yourself in Kids…will be Kids!

The above true-to-life examples are only a sampling of the parenting questions addressed to Mimi Schechter Kleiman, RCSW. In Kids…will be Kids! Mrs. Kleiman, a practicing therapist and social worker in the greater New York metropolitan area for the past twenty years, skillfully and sensitively answers dozens of common parenting questions. She starts by explaining the “why” of the problem and then goes on to share her secrets for how to successfully resolve the issue.

You’re a good parent. We all know that—and (hopefully!) so do you! So do a favor for your kids and for yourself. Pick up a copy of Kids…will be Kids! and watch Mimi Kleiman’s magic begin to spread to you and  your family!

Here’s a sample:

How can I get them to stay in bed?

For the past few years we have been spending our summers in the country. The one thing that is a hassle for me is getting the younger kids to go to sleep when so many of their friends are still playing outside.

During the year I stick to a tight schedule. All the kids, except for my oldest daughter, who is now 12, are in bed by eight o’clock. I am basically a night person, and when the kids are asleep I get all my work done in peace and quiet. Now, during the summer, after running after the little ones all day, I look forward to sitting out with my friends and relaxing in the evening.

I don’t have patience for the hundreds of excuses my kids always have for getting out of bed — chief among them that other kids are still outside playing so why do they have to go to sleep so early.

If I let them stay up later, they don’t get up in time for camp the next day. Then I have to rush them out or they’ll miss the camp bus.

How can I get them to stay in bed and go to sleep on time, for everyone’s benefit?

Fighting the Summer Sleep Battle Keep Reading…

If you’re the type who likes a good cry, and you’re looking to be inspired in a meaningful way, this new book, available in select stores before Shavuos and online, is the perfect book for you.

Forever with Me, by Shoshana Rube, is a moving memoir depicting the searing pain of a teenager who watches her mother suffer from a terminal illness and eventually succumb to it. In her honest account, the author shares personal letters written lovingly to her mother as disease swept across her mother’s body, as well as the letters she wrote even after her mother’s untimely passing. Through the letters, we watch a young girl struggle with pain, yet find strength for the future and emerge from the heartbreak in a hopeful and optimistic frame of mind.

This is a book that will bring you to tears, yet will uplift and inspire you at the same time.

The following is a sample letter:

Dearest Mommy,

I sit here alone in this hospital lounge room.  Panic and devastation has overtaken me.  I can feel my body shaking from the grim news and I feel as though my life is over.  I want to join you in your hospital room and hold your hand and hug you tight and cry on you, but I can’t.  Daddy is afraid that the news would be emotionally too difficult for you to deal with.

Daddy sadly informed us that you have less than one week left.  This can’t be! Keep Reading…

We love it when other outlets feature Israel Book Shop books. A few days ago, TheLakewoodScoop.com, and incredible website with all manner of Lakewood news, excerpted Emergencies in Halacha, a book about emergencies in halacha. They did it with permission, of course, like anyone who excerpts our books. And then they gave us permission to reprint it here. Select Lakewood Scoop comments follow the article. You can read the original piece at http://www.thelakewoodscoop.com/news/2009/12/fire-on-shabbos-what-do-you-do.html .

We all hear it all too often. The wailing of the fire trucks sirens and the roar of their engines. When a fire occurs on Shabbos (as it did for a Lakewood resident last Shabbos, as reported on Thelakewoodscoop.com) just as is the case of all other emergencies, people panic as they begin contemplating what to do. While we all know that pikuach nefesh takes precedence over all of the Torah at times of emergency and desperation, this clarity can become blurred. TLS got permission from The Israel Book Shop to reprint a section of their newly published Sefer Emergencies in Halacha which deals with the halachic issues of fires.
Keep reading…