Author: Reuben E. Gross, PhD

May 10th, 2015

In the legendary town of Chelm lived many philosophers and savants. The story is told about one of these ruminators who developed the fear that when he disrobed his distinctive garments at the public bathhouse, he would lose his distinctiveness, look like everybody else and lose his identity forever. In order to forestall this catastrophe, he tied a string around his ankle, but was thunderstruck one day when he noticed that the string was missing …
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Author: Reuben E. Gross, PhD

May 10th, 2015

A young man in his late twenties recently told me: “I don't want all the tea in China. All I want is some­one to love — and to love me." A young woman said that she was so bursting with love that she couldn't bear it any longer. Indeed, one poet believes that it is better to love than to be loved. “The pleasure of love is in loving. We are happier in the passion we feel than in that we inspire” What do these two single …
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Author: Reuben E. Gross, PhD

May 3rd, 2015

I doubt if a married person can pose a more vexing question to a marriage-minded Jewish single than the oft repeated quote, "So how come you're not married?" Other forms of the question include "My G-d, are you still single?" usually exclaimed with great surprise after meeting someone by chance some twenty years after the questioner originally met or dated the single and took a kind of liking to him/her, confident that he/she would have been snat …
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Author: Reuben E. Gross, PhD

May 3rd, 2015

In the musical "Fiddler on the Roof" the heroine is amazed when her husband presses her for an answer to the question: “but do you love me?” The play is bas­ed on the story "Tevye's Daughters" by Sholom Aleichem. In the Eastern European shtetl "love" wasn't a frequently discussed topic. Essentially, Golde's answer was, “what do you mean do I love you? I wash your clothing, prepare your meals and bear your children, how could …
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Author: Reuben E. Gross, PhD

May 3rd, 2015

At a Singles Exposition in New York City where I was a guest speaker on the topic "Cop­ing with the Dating Game" many years ago, approximately 3500 never-marrieds, divorced, separated and widowed gathered to meet each other, listen to lectures geared to their interests, and talk to coordinators or sales represent­atives at 108 booths catering to their specific needs. Most frequently represented among these booths were a variety of dating …
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