Later this week, I’ll have the honor of traveling on an Israir-sponsored trip to see Sderot and Ashkelon, the two Israeli cities hit by rockets coming from Gaza.
This will be a quick trip lasting on a handful of days. It will give me, however, an opportunity to see and sense the impact of the missile barrages.
I’ve been told that I can bring letters to citizens with me and that I can bring small, new toys with me as well.
I’m also going to ask in as polite a way as possible for money. I cannot give you a receipt. I do not plan to buy you a gift from Sderot. Instead, I will give the money to families I meet in both Sderot and Ashkelon who are in need of help. At very best, I’ll try to take a photo of the family for you with my digital camera.
So, please, if you want me to take a small toy, a letter, or a small amount of money, call me at the JT (401-468-2711) or email me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and we’ll make arrangements for you to drop it off.
I will be writing and taking photos, and I’ll hopefully be able to bring back the essence of what the people there are going through.

When my late sister, Enid, was a senior at Forest Park High School in the early 1960s, she committed to attending what was then called Towson State Teachers College.
There was back then a program where students who would commit to teaching for two years out of college would have all or most of their tuition paid by the state.
Enid went on to graduate magna cum laude from Towson. She would teach for two years in the city school system, one year at Forest Park High School, the other at Edmonson. Then she would move to New York, where she’d go on to earn her master’s and doctorate at City College of New York.
Of great concern to many parents of yeshiva or day school parents here in Baltimore is the issue of quality teachers.
Unfortunately, finding and keeping a teacher of quality is extremely difficult for many of these schools, especially in the areas of secular studies.
We say that our children are our top priority, yet in many cases, we place inferior teachers in front of them. So much so that the daunting expense of tuition is only made worse by additional tutoring fees that parents must pay because in some cases the schools aren’t doing their jobs.
We are an intelligent community. We’re spending time looking into strategic planning at the Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore and even at individual Jewish institutions.
So why can’t we come up with a strategic plan that involves teacher training. Why can’t we think out of the box for a change.
There are many high school juniors and seniors who would do well to attend college at least partially at our expense if they would commit to turning around upon graduation and giving at least two years back to area day schools and yeshivas as classroom teachers, certified classroom teachers with college degrees.
Going to Israel for a year doesn’t automatically qualify anyone to manage a classroom.
But I implore the community, especially the Orthodox community. We all know that many days or weeks don’t go by without a person knocking on our doors at home with a blue card from the Vaad asking us for money to take back to Israel.
Suppose we kept half of that money back here in Baltimore.
And suppose we worked with area colleges to help broker scholarships so that we could send students with a real desire to teach into these institutions. The payback to the community would be marvelous. Classroom management skills, true knowledge of a subject, plus a desire to really want to be in the classroom.
So many times while I met the teachers of my own children, I got the feeling that they were here because they couldn’t make it somehow in the public school systems or they were at the end of the line in their careers.
I heard a woman say the other day that her child has had four different Algebra II teachers, and she has to spend money on tutoring to augment her child’s math skills.
I listened as a man talked about the lack of qualified Advanced Placement teachers in his child’s school. And then another story of a teacher who had to return to her native country, because her green card expired. Why wasn’t this known.
And I can remember when my child’s fifth grade teacher all but emotionally abused her entire classroom. The school was quick to hire but slow to fire.
But when firing does happen, it’s tough on the children. It takes an emotional toll, and one gets the feeling that the schools are scrambling to find bodies to fill spaces.
So let’s talk about sending our graduating seniors into scholarship-aided university teaching curriculums. Why wouldn’t we want our younger children to see that their schools produce great teachers?
We could make it happen.
That is, if we really wanted to.

So it seems like two seconds after we put away our Purim megillot, every grocery store in our local universe is unveiling its Passover product displays.
Conversation has quickly turned to house and car cleaning.
With the added dimension of Pesach commencing after Shabbat this year, there is even more to do than ever.
We need to make sure as always that Pesach is more than getting that last corn flake out of the sofa crevice.
Keeping kosher for Passover is tremendously important.
But that effort should never be placed ahead of taking this time of year to deeply inspect what is going on inside of our own lives.
There is plenty of work to be done. Saying sorry to a relative or friend, helping a family in need financially afford this holiday, aiding a frail or elderly person in the cleaning of their homes.
All of this is what underscores the freedoms we have as Jews. The Exodus is also a story of self-improvement and helping one another out.
Don’t get so caught up in the washing of the silver utensils that you forget as a man to help your wife every step of the way prepare for this holiday. Some of us seem to find a reason to disappear for our loved ones, using the excuse of preparing for what will be said at the table.
Don’t go there.
Instead, help your wife.
Instead, find someone to invite to your home who would normally be alone.
Find a way to make this year’s Passover memorable.
It’s so much more than matzah and horse radish.

Last week in Judge Miller’s courtroom, suspects were herded in and out for various crimes, including attempted murder to drug possession with the intent to distribute.
The one constant sound in the room was the jingling of the chains connecting the leg irons while the accused made their way into the courtroom escorted by armed prison guards.
One of the only members of the fraternity of the accused not wearing handcuffs or shackles was Yisroel Shapiro.
Tall, bearded, wearing a yarmulke and a suit, he stood out. He could have been a court employee, an attorney or just another spectator.
Here was a man who was about to be given a guilty sentence for two counts of molestation. While the majority of the other suspects in the room left with their “jewelry” locked on their wrists and ankles, Mr. Shapiro, after hearing the sentence and hearing the emotional words of his accusers sauntered out into the courtroom hallway.
He was free to go.
He will not spend a second in jail.
He will not be listed on a sex offenders registry.
Shapiro got a good deal. Again, my oft-remembered words of Ephraim Shapiro survivor Murray Levin, “it’s all reward and no risk” came to mind.
Until we get the law to change. Until we can get our legislators and our Jewish organizations such as the Jewish Council to understand Monday’s true failure of justice, Yisroel Shapiro goes unshackled.
The survivors of sexual molestation in the state of Maryland, are very much handcuffed.
The template for justice must be changed to unlock those cuffs, so that survivors are free to live their lives. Until someone in the organized Jewish community or the political community gets “brave” I worry that I’ll never see it happen.
I “hear” the sounds of chains dragging across the floor. Only it’s the innocent who wear those chains, not guilty felons such as Yisroel Shapiro or his ilk.
There’s something very wrong about that.

Apologies in advance for showing this sort of favoritism.
But I feel I have to.
Sunday afternoon at the Owings Mills JCC, some very talented, hard-working women, including several Shomer Shabbat, put on a show called “Five Acts of Kindness.” These women all spent hours of their own time into providing a first-class theatrical presentation.
Biased? Yes, I am. My wife, Lisa Jacobs, was one of those women.
Unfortunately only 13 people came to the JCC’s performa theater to see this production.
Almost all of them were connected in some way to the actors on the stage.
Thirteen is a tremendous letdown.
There was no Ravens game. It was still too cold to spend time in the garden. What better way to support Jewish theater in this town by then supporting the Jewish Theater Workshop.
I urge you to come out 7 p.m. Tuesday to see the second and final running of this show.
It was not just well acted and directed, but it gave over stories of something many of us seem to have forgotten, how to do the small things in life it takes to make someone else’s life just a little better.
The show costs $10. We’d like to see you there. You’ll be pleasantly surprised.
And maybe you’ll want to join and contribute as an actor or writer technical person yourself.
Or if you can’t do that, do what I do, be part of the audience.

One of this community’s student activity gems is coming up on March 11.
It’s called America Eats For Israel, and it is an effort involving high school students and restaurants from all over the United States and Canada. The program was created and continues to be operated largely by Yeshivat Rambam students.
Simply speaking, when one eats at a kosher restaurant in the Baltimore area, 10 percent of the establishment’s gross revenues will go to the charity Meir Panim. This is an organization that feeds many of Israel’s poor through soup kitchens, and provides important social services as well.
Local participating restaurants include: Accents, Amanda’s, Caramel’s, Coccoaccino’s, David Chu’s, Eden Café (both JCC locations), Knish Shop, Kosher Bite, Mama Leah’s, Milk and Honey Bistro, The Royal and Tov Pizza.
America Eats for Israel has its own website at americaeatsforisrael.org. And questions can be emailed to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

This is the best Italian food in town. We have tried many others and nothing can top Fazzini’s. Everything is fresh, homemade and delicious.

The pizza here was undercooked and really doughy.
entrees on other tables looked good though.

we like fazzini italian kitchen because of good wait staff and consistently good italian food. everything there is homemade; pasta, sauce,bread,pizza dough,etc.  large portions and reasonable prices and no ambiance!