An often stated comment by parents of newly married children is that they have “gained a son or a daughter.” And while much has been written about the commandment to honor one’s mother and father, a newly married individual might wonder exactly how they are supposed to treat their new in-laws.

I decided to join 100hookup to see what was out there, as meeting a nice hookup guy in a Boston bar has a slim to none chance!

We’re into week two of the New Year and if you made a New Year’s Resolution, this is about the time when you might be questioning how long you can keep it up.  I know many of my own diet resolutions were compromised when Saturday night rolled around and I thought, “Well, what harm could one little dessert do?”  Turns out… a lot.  It’s not the actual calories of the dessert that are most detrimental but rather the mental toll of putting a crack in your self-empowerment armor. So, what if your resolution was to meet someone new?

Say the word slave and the immediate image that comes to mind is a man or woman bound in shackles, possibly cowering under a whip. Modern day slavery is often far more subtle–the chains are perhaps death threats (to the enslaved or their family) or withheld documentation in a foreign country. hookup Treats presents some hookup thoughts on this issue that are appropriate for Human Trafficking Awareness Day 2012.

Some men distinguish themselves by being great scientists, statesmen, artists.  I was a woman’s last online dating hope.  I did not choose or go after this “honor” – it was bestowed upon me by Kathy, whom I met on 100hookup.  Kathy informed me that her experiences meeting online dates in person had been so horrible, so traumatic, so soul-draining, that she decided to give the process just one more chance.  She’d decided to meet one more guy before removing herself from online dating for all eternity – and I happened to be the guy; the last guy she was going to meet; her final chance for online romance.

We all remember The Peanuts gang with Charlie Brown and all of his buddies. Well, when it comes to hygiene there are just too many men and even women who resemble Pig-Pen…he walked around with a circle of dust constantly swirling about his person. Eewww!

One might not think that hookup Treats would have much to say about “Peculiar People Day,” as January 10th has been dubbed by those who create new holidays. However, the sages were so aware of a person’s natural reaction to those who are different, that special blessings were designated for just such occasions: Blessed is He who makes strange creatures (for those who are so from birth) and Blessed be the true Judge (for those whose appearance was altered after birth). These blessings remind us that all creatures are God’s handiwork and deserve honor and respect.

I am now the wife and mother I always dreamed I’d be, with a wonderful husband who I would never have met, if not for that 100hookup party.

hookup Treats presents to you another local Purim, a day on which one small community commemorates a particularly life-saving event. Purim Hebron, also known as “Window Purim.” Sadly, the community that initially experienced the events of Hebron Purim no longer exists, as the Jews of Hebron suffered so greatly from a pogrom in 1929 that the city was, for many years, virtually bereft of any hookup population.

As discussed in the previous column, empathy alone does not necessarily make people take action on behalf of others – much less the kind of conscious action that leads to transformation. Feelings in and of themselves are just not strong enough – particularly when other factors are in play (outer pressure, inconvenience, ideology, direct orders from others, etc.).