On My Mind

So I’m not one for grand openings, ribbon cuttings or even closings for that matter. As you might have heard, I’ll be moving on to become Editor of the Washington Jewish Week, to cover the Beltway’s exciting and diverse Jewish community and the importance of Capital Hill for all of us. There are so many words to write and so many people to thank that I think I could write a cover story of names of people to thank. But I’m going to keep it short, and make some of those thank yous either in person or by letter or email. I do want to thank, however, Gary Rosenblatt for hiring a 29-year-old reporter back in 1982. I also want to express my love and thanks to the Jewish Times’ late publisher Chuck Buerger, his wife Ronnie and son… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 06/19/11 at 09:54 PM

For Harry Kozlovsky, it was personal

My friend Harry Kozlovsky watched as we all did as the dream we once called Yeshivat Rambam came to an end. Harry was for eight years the president of Rambam. He would never admit it, but I am sure he spent a lot of nights without sleep staring at the ceiling wondering how this school, which was beloved to him, would survive in the future. I would see him around the community and at Rambam, when we both had children in the high school. But I never asked him what was going on in his head. I could also never understand how a person could work a full-time job, be a husband and father, and give everything there was to give of himself to any cause. For Harry, that cause was Yeshivat Rambam. Harry watched as in recent months,… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 06/15/11 at 11:53 AM

Can we move on now from Anthony Weiner?

I’ve got to say that I’m getting a little tired, make that a lot tired of the whole Anthony Weiner story. The man has a problem, he needs to work this through with his wife and those who love him or call him friend. Yes, he should be doing it on his own time, so he should resign. Meanwhile, there is still a Japan that is piecing itself back together after a tsunami, earthquake and nuclear accident. There are still Haitians living in awful poverty. There are still people from Joplin, Missouri who are probably suffering post traumatic stress syndrome after tornadoes destroyed people and property. We have a nation that is watching its economy grow all the more tenuous and we have gas prices that have impacted many of our lives. College students are looking for jobs, and… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 06/13/11 at 12:41 PM

Enid and the month of June

So, it’s June, and in recent years, I never know whether to love the month when summer comes in or dread it. My sister, Enid Jacobs Dame was born on June 28, 1943. She died when she was 60 and would have been celebrating her 68th birthday this month. The day she died, my family was in Israel. That’s where I received the news. It’s kind of ironic, because the one issue that divided us was Israel. She saw the Israelis as brutal occupiers, and I don’t. She saw the Palestinians as victims of the Israelis. I see the Palestinians victims of their own so-called leadership, not to mention the rest of the Arab world. Yet, we still debated, and we were still able to carry on as a loving brother and sister. I think of Enid all of… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 06/01/11 at 03:12 PM

Thoroughly Modern

Several years ago, there was a conference of Modern Orthodox Rabbis, held at the former Beth Jacob Congregation. Its rabbinic leaders were Rabbi Elan Adler, now living in Israel; Rabbi Chaim Landau, who announced his resignation from Ner Tamid, and Rabbi Gavriel Newman, who left Beth Jacob and the community. So flash forward to the closing of Yeshivat Rambam, and we are reading of fears that the Modern or Centrist Orthodox community is disappearing. I think that’s a little strong a perception at this point. Yes, the right wing of Orthodoxy is getting bigger. But I think that when one considers places to daven like Beth Tfiloh, the Beth Tfiloh chapel and Netivot Shalom and even Suburban Orthodox Toras Chaim. And Ner Tamid is still here, it hasn’t gone anywhere, and what about Moses Montifiore Anshe Emunah Hebrew Congregation?… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 05/31/11 at 03:46 PM

Watching Our Children Graduate

Last Thursday, was a day of days. It was the day that my daughter Emily walked across stage to receive her bachelor’s degree. On the way to the office today, I drove by Homewood Field and saw a sea of young adults in cap and gown getting ready for their big moment as well. All of us baby boomers are watching our youngest children graduate and enter the “real” world. So, there is not a thread of exclusivity to my writing this. We all remember those days when our children were so little. We remember dropping them off for the first time at nursery school. Like a stopwatch being stopped, the next thing we knew there was a bat or bar mitzvah. Stop time again and we’re watching our beautiful young men and women moving on from high school.… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 05/26/11 at 11:58 AM

BCAC needs votes to win a $500,000 prize

Usually I don’t promote organizations and their fundraising so blatantly. But this time I’ve got to. The Baltimore Child Abuse Center has a chance to win $500,000 in a unique vote sponsored by Chase Bank’s Chase Community Giving Program. In the interest of transparency, I’m a former board member. This organization saves lives of children who otherwise wouldn’t stand a chance against the monster of child abuse. BCAC has already won $25,000 for being one of the 100 national finalists, Maryland’s only non-profit to reach this level. The voting is done on Facebook, so you have to visit http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving or go to http://tinyurl.com/votebcac to cast your vote. Each organization had to present a “Big Idea” in the competition. BCAC’s big idea that every kindergartner in Baltimore along with their parents and teachers are taught st rong personal safety habits.… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 05/23/11 at 10:14 AM

Israel and the Holocaust and Our Teens

I’m concerned about Israel and the Holocaust. What is worrying me is that not enough of our children know enough, and yet we’re depending on them to tell the story of the Holocaust. This current generation could possibly be the last who can have contact with a Holocaust survivor. Some of the teens I’ve asked have told me that they sometimes feel “Holocausted” out or “Israeled” out. Teachers teach them about both, and it’s mentioned again and again. I think for some kids, it’s like they are saying, “okay, I hear you, enough.” Yet when they are asked if they’ve ever heard of the “Six-Day War,” the answer is clearly “no.” When you ask them about how the Holocaust even happened, “well, there was this guy named Hitler.” That’s just not good enough. I’m beginning to think that just… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 05/18/11 at 12:11 PM

Missing Rambam Already

I’m going to miss Yeshivat Rambam. It’s painful and personal and part of my family’s life. Both of my daughters are Rambam alums. I remember before we moved back to Baltimore from Detroit, bringing them to the school so they could have a shadow or a try-out day. They both loved it so much that Head of School Dr. Rita Shloush invited them back for a second day. My older daughter graduated in the first high school graduating class in 2001. After going to seminary, she was a Phi Beta Kappa at Goucher, lived in Israel and then moved back to go after her graduate degree at Yale. Her younger sister is getting ready to cross the University of Maryland commencement stage in two weeks. My wife and I believe that both girls took so much of what they… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 05/08/11 at 10:07 PM

Bin Ladin, a Historic Night

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On Sunday night, our phone rang from our daughter who now lives in New Haven, Conn. She was calling to confirm what both my wife and younger daughter had just learned, Osama Bin Ladin was dead. Almost 10 years ago on September 11, 2001, my older daughter DeDe also called. She was studying in a seminary in Elkana, Israel. She was asking me what was happening in the U.S. She heard something bad had happened. When I told her what was going on, she took her cellphone and held up so I could hear explosions coming from a nearby Arab village. It was fireworks celebrating what Osama Bin Ladin’s Al Queda had done to the United States, killing 3,000 people. I remember then telling her that I felt the world had changed already and might never be the same.… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 05/01/11 at 11:23 PM

Cancer as Mitzrayim

On Friday at about 3:45 a.m. the phone rang. My friend Bob called with the news we were dreading. Our dear friend Judy Ference, suffering from cancer, had passed away. I had spoken to her husband, Scott, seven hours earlier, and there was no “Judy could die any hour” immediacy in our conversation. Judy was a healer, a nurse who had a fascination for the treatment of wounds. I wish I could have her help me with the feelings I now have; they are nothing short of emotional wounds. She and her husband raised five wonderful children. When Judy’s face was filled with happiness the whole world seemed happy. When her daughter Eliana was married, I’ll never forget the utter, pure joy bursting forward from her eyes and smile. I remember eating meals in her sukkah, but first she’d… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 04/27/11 at 09:08 AM

Thinking about Gov. Schaefer and Rabbi Poliakoff

I don’t know why these events seem to happen in bunches. We mourn the loss of one of our greatest political leaders in Governor William Donald Schaefer. Many learned of his passing as they came out of Passover observance Wednesday night. And then today we learn of the passing of Rabbi Manuel M. Poliakoff, a man with a love for the Jewish people, and a leader, who like Gov. Schaefer, reached back and touched many, many generations of Baltimore’s Jewish community. It’s difficult to believe that we’re going to go on with Rabbi Poliakoff not here. He was a man who was not afraid to be brave, to speak his mind, but to do so in a respectful manner. He was a Torah leader here in Baltimore before Baltimore became a large center of Torah study. Certainly we know… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 04/21/11 at 11:19 AM

Passover’s Meaning In Real Time

If ever I needed an understanding of what all “this” is about, it happened to me in the Beth El chapel Sunday afternoon. While most of my friends were “preparing” for Passover by searching for that elusive Honeynut Cheerio underneath a sofa cushion to rid their house of the slightest bit of chametz, I saw Passover happen for one of the few times in my life right before my eyes. I was one of many blessed on Sunday to witness the baby naming of Joss Eskedar and Bronsten Muluken Buerger. My colleague and friend Andrew Buerger, who I have known since he was a teenager, and his beautiful wife and partner Jennifer brought their 10-month-old children to the bima to receive their Hebrew names. Their journey to Baltimore originated from their birthplace, a small village near the Nile. The… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 04/11/11 at 04:03 PM

Shutdown Issue an Indication of How Out of Touch Elected Officials Are

Out of touch. Simply out of touch. I’ve done my share of reading about the federal government shutdown of operations approaching, and I wonder if the representatives even in my own districts clearly know the names and circumstances of many of the people they represent. The government is one of the “factories” for this town. Many of our friends and neighbors go to work each day for agencies such as the Social Security Administration. They have kids in school, some in religious day schools, they are looking at a huge expense in our holiday of Passover. And here we have many people, who aren’t familiar with the conversations happening in the living rooms and dens and indeed the bedrooms of married couples who are finding it difficult to make ends meet even when they are getting paid. Yet, this… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 04/08/11 at 01:47 PM

Dr. Weinreb and Rambam

In the living room of Dr. Saul Weinreb’s home is a framed copy of Maimonides’ Prayer for the Physician. How ironic is it that Dr. Weinreb, a U.S. Army Reserve major commissoned to the Army Medical Deparatment Professional Management Command, returned recently from three months of service in Iraq. He was stationed at the 25th Combat Support Hospital in the northern Iraqi town of Tikrit. A big part of this irony is that with the Maimonides prayer in his home, he is a frequent speaker, sharing his stories with the children at Yeshivat Rambam, the Maimonides Academy of Baltimore. He is a living, breathing “showing tell” example to the children. He came back after healing people, because this is what he does. But as important as the work he has done overseas, Dr. Weinreb, a physican at Franklin Square,… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 04/03/11 at 10:57 AM

A Lesson of Life in Line at the Pharmacy

I was in a pharmacy several weeks ago. I waited in line to pick up a prescription. Sitting near me next to the free blood pressure machine and watching the wall-mounted TV was a young man and woman with a toddler. The little boy was so tired and so sickly, coughing and sneezing and even crying at times that I worried that he should have been home in a warm crib in his pajamas with a warm blanket. But this wasn’t the case. I was just recovering from the flu, myself, so I had a recent feeling of what misery was all about. Sitting on the other side of the small waiting area was a very quiet young lady. I remember noticing tattoos on the tops of her hands, and a stud piercing in her nose. But during the… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/28/11 at 11:12 AM

God I’m tired of this labeling

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Observant Jew. If I read or hear another person ostensibly rate one Jew compared to the next by calling one more observant than the other, I think my head is going to explode. Some self define as “frum” Jews. Others use words like “das Torah.” Can we just stop this talk. HaShem isn’t interested in whether or not your shirt is white or blue. Are you a good person? Do you treat other people with respect and integrity? I know observant Jews who go to shul, but who offer respect to others and give back to the society in which we live through volunteerism and philanthropy. Somehow the word “observant” has been co-opted to mean Orthodox, because it is believed that Orthodox Jews observe more mitzvot than other Jews. But that might or might not be the case at… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/17/11 at 09:23 PM

News Cycles

I hate sometimes news cycles. Yes, I admit an addiction to round-the-clock coverage. During a recent bout with the flu, I was riveted to the CNN coverage of Egypt. This spread to the coverage of unrest in Libya. So going from one mad man to the next, leave it up to Charlie Sheen to knock Muammar Gadaffi off of the front pages. It reminded me of a couple of summers ago when the unrest in Tehran was bringing to light the truth of the brutality of Iranian’s so-called leader. But then, all of that attention, all of that needed support was knocked off of our short-term memories by the death of one Michael Jackson. I don’t think the Iranian unrest has made back to our TV news cycles since. So now, before we can even get a discussion going… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/16/11 at 11:40 AM

Rabbi Herman Neuberger, a Hall of Famer

One of the outstanding honors that our Jewish Community Center gives in recognition to community service is the Baltimore Jewish Hall of Fame. There are some names who have been inducted to this Hall of Fame who have saved lives, literally kept people from starving, helped cure disease and made Baltimore a major center for what can be right about the human spirit. There are names such as Shoshana Cardin, Henrietta Szold, Zanvyl Krieger, Joseph Meyerhoff and so many others. So it pains me to learn that when the nominating committee came up with the name of the late Rabbi Herman Neuberger, they were basically told “no” by the Ner Israel powers that be. I’m sure Ner Israel had their own reasons for that decision. What a powerfully wrong call by Ner Israel. Since 1997, I have heard Ner… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/11/11 at 02:15 PM

Rabbi Dratch’s Wonderful Presence

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Where was everybody? On Monday night at Beth El Congregation, Rabbi Mark Dratch spoke to a group of about 60 people on the issue of molestation and trauma. The event was co-sponsored by the Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore; Chana; the Shofar Coalition; the Baltimore Jewish Council and the Baltimore Board of Rabbis. The Associated did a great job of publicizing the event. I was worried about finding a place to park. I remember a community meeting a couple of years ago where 500 people came to hear David Mandel of New York’s Ohel and Dr. David Pelcovitz, the well known therapist, come and speak about this topic. What we came away from that meeting with was Mr. Mandel’s telling us not to call the police nor a therapist when there was suspected abuse, but instead to a… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/10/11 at 04:28 PM

Re-invent America Eats For Israel

So today is the Yeshivat Rambam sponsored event America Eats For Israel. Today, certain kosher restaurants will take 10 percent of their profits and forward them to Meir Panim, an organization feeding the poor in Israel. The restaurants include: Accents Grill, Caramel Pizza and Ice Cream, Cocoaccinos, David Chu’s China Bistro, Dunkin Donuts, Eden Café, Goldberg’s Bagels, the Knish Shop, Kosher Bite, the Kosher Subway, Mama Leah’s Pizza, Me Latte, Milk and Honey Bistro, the Royal Restaurant, Tov Pizza, Umami Bistro and Van Gough Café. On Thursday, March 10, America Eats for Israel will be held in suburban Washington, D.C., California, Georgia, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania. There used to be a ton more media exposure given this event. I don’t know, maybe it’s become “inside baseball” among the Orthodox community. Most will… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/08/11 at 03:33 PM

Sometimes It’s Difficult and Complicated

It’s been over a week since I sat in a movie theater in Atlanta and watched Scott Rosenfelt’s documentary “Standing Silent.” This is a film that covered the Jewish Times coverage of our investigative series of molestation in the Jewish community. I sat in the middle of this beautiful theater. The people of the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival could not have been nicer. There is a huge difference in seeing a film on your 19-inch TV than watching the same film on a movie screen. Heroes came across in the film. Yacov Margolese, Rabbi Avraham Twersky, Rabbi Yosef Blau, Rabbi Elan Adler, Gennendy Radoff, Tamir Weisberg, our Shofar Coalition Survivor’s group, therapist Lisa Ferentz, the people who spoke on the phone to me who couldn’t come forward publicly and others. There were many winds blowing in that room those… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/27/11 at 10:44 PM

Standing Silent Screened in Atlanta

Last Thursday and Friday, the documentary film “Standing Silent” opened at the 11th annual Atlanta Jewish Film Festival. The film, which took over two years in the making, is produced by Scott Rosenfelt. It traced the journey of the Jewish Times’ work of covering the difficult issue of sexual molestation within the Orthodox community. I want to thank the Atlanta Jewish community for putting on a magnificent film festival offering some 60 movies to choose from. It was done with such class. The film offered what seemed like two different emotional fronts. There was gratification from seeing attention brought to this topic. But there was also a great deal of sadness felt from the topic of molestation itself. After the film was screened, four of us were asked questions and answers by the audience. It was such a wonderful… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/23/11 at 10:24 AM

Listen At The Benediction To Rabbi Katz

Rabbi Dovid Katz is delivering the benediction at Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake’s State of the City address. Before I go on, I want to say good job to our leader. She came into office after the tumult of former Mayor Dixon and was greeted by the worst snow storm in anyone’s memory. Several years ago, I had the honor of chairing a scholar-in-residence event at Congregation Tiferes Yisroel. Our scholar that year was Rabbi Dovid Katz from nearby Hertzberg’s Shul. A noted scholar, an incredible historian, and an even better speaker, we all knew that this was going to be a great evening. Then the one word that puts angst into the hearts or Baltimoreans more than the word “Steelers” started blipping on the radar screen. “Snow.” It was forecasted for the weekend Rabbi Katz would speak. We had food… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/07/11 at 01:02 PM

JobLink - Finding Employment Its Priority

I really didn’t want to go out to a meeting on a cold Sunday night with slippery, icy roads. By the time the evening was over, I was so gratified that I had been invited to attend. Joblink of Maryland was holding a parlor meeting to further identify its important purpose and hopefully raise funds. The meeting was graciously hosted by Jerry and Susan Wolasky in their beautiful home. Rabbi Yissochar Frand of Ner Israel was the keynote speaker, and was just amazing in his message. Joblink provides employment related services to all Jews. In the past two years it has: • Provided employment-related services to over 700 individuals • Placed or supported 163 individuals in jobs with an aggregate compensation of over $9.4 million. Joblink’s annual budget is approximately $155,000. • Each placement costs Joblink approximately $1,734. •… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 01/31/11 at 02:56 PM

Why is Rabbi Eisemann Still on Yeshiva Lane?

Several weeks ago, my wife and I were planning on returning to our shul for Shabbat services. Since the molestation series emerged in the Jewish Times it hasn’t been easy to go very many places and feel HaShem’s protection. One of the reasons is that I just can’t lose the fact that Rabbi Moshe Eisemann, a man who allegedly molested two friends of mine is still living on Yeshiva Lane, and is still an Artscroll Publishing author. I write the word “allegedly” only to cover myself legally. Charges were never pressed as far as I know. Yet, as the noted psychologist Dr. David Pelcovitz noted, people don’t make these allegations up. That 99 percent of those say they were victims of molestation or trauma, were. And molesters don’t typically molest just two or three people, they molest, many, many… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 01/28/11 at 03:43 PM

Mr. Bernstein’s “Jewish” Connection, the Law, the Torah

So now that the State’s Attorney’s office has dropped a felony assault charge on a Jewish man accused of allegedly beating a black teen, it was reported that the word for some outside of City Hall yesterday attributed the decision to the city’s top lawyer’s ethnic background. Gregg Bernstein is Jewish, and so is the defendant Eli Werdesheim. Hmmm. Rabbi Dovid Katz is allegedly attacked by a group of eight black teens on Taney Road while walking to his synagogue for afternoon Sabbath services. The State’s Attorney at the time was Pat Jessamy. She is an African-American woman. I didn’t get my invitation to protest outside of City Hall that justice was never done after the rabbi, a city resident, was pelted with stones. Baltimore City Police officials, however, brought people together and discussed the matter in a spirit… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 01/25/11 at 11:35 AM

My Second Ballet

Okay, I admit it. I’m not into ballet. The last time I attended a ballet was in Detroit to see Tchaikovsky’s ,”The Nutcracker” and I went because my wife and two daughters made me go. It was on a Sunday when the Detroit Lions were playing. I told my family that this was a “big” game. But the Lions were like 2-11 at the time. So, how about I need to work around the house? I got the stare from my wife, the one that says forget it, you’re going to the ballet. And okay, so I ended up liking it. I never told the guys I played ice hockey with what I did that Sunday afternoon, so can we just keep it between us? So fast forward and here the movie “Black Swan” is all the talk with… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 01/24/11 at 04:18 PM

A Morning in Court

It’s at times unsettling, incredible, reassuring, emotional and so many other words to describe a scene in a court room. On Thursday, while waiting for the pre-trial hearing of Eli Werdesheim, there was an opportunity to just sit and look around and maybe observe nuances. The judge and the staff of bailiffs and other court personnel in conjunction with the state’s attorneys, court appointed lawyers and private attorneys along with their clients are like a scene in a drama. Many clients come to the table having spent just a little time with their attorneys. Others are well versed in what their lawyers want and expect of them. I feel the most sorry for those who walk up to the bench without representation, and for those who must be taken away if found guilty. It’s a lesson for us all… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 01/20/11 at 11:31 AM

Just Some Rambam Names Coming To Mind

There were so many great students, teachers, faculty and staff who came out of Yeshivat Rambam’s high school. These days when we learn of the high school’s closing, names need to be mentioned. I’d like to take space on this blog here to personally thank Clarence Brunt for keeping an eye on the school, helping it run and making it safe and warm for the children. Michelle Schwartz was the backbone of Yeshivat Rambam. She made it run like clockwork. I honestly don’t think the school could have operated a minute without her spirit, integrity and passion. Peshi Katz was an unsung heroine at the school. Her work was the work of a quiet professional, getting her work done and done well. Avi Staiman and Avi Goldberg, my two favorite Avi’s at the school, invented America Eats For Israel.… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 01/17/11 at 10:02 PM

Day Schools, Yeshivot Need To Open Arms For Rambam Students

Saddened to learn that Yeshivat Rambam’s high school was going to call it quits after this school year. Some really great kids came out of this high school program and excelled in so many different ways. I “invested” both of my daughters in the high school. My oldest is now getting a master’s at Yale. My youngest is getting ready to graduate at U of Maryland. But here we are still reeling in the “great recession.” Rambam ran into that recession and gave it, with help from donors, parents, staff and the Associated everything it had to keep its high school open. Don’t think it fair to shed blame anywhere for this. But what I do wonder is how this figures into the Associated’s recently released demographic study that reported an Orthodox community making up about one third of… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 01/16/11 at 01:37 AM

Helping Australia

I have a feeling that if the horrible traged in Tucson wasn’t on our front pages, our social networks and TV news stations, that the story we might be talking about with more urgency is the flooding happening in Australia. There are those of us in the Jewish community who have little trouble sending our college student children for a semester “Down Under.” We in Baltimore’s Jewish Community have had a long history and connection with the Jewish communities of Australia. We urge you to find a way to help, because this flooding that is going on is being compared to Hurricane Katrina. People are losing their houses. Synagogue officials are moving the Torahs to higher ground. Store shelves are bare. One of the best websites I’ve seen so far covering the situation is Chabad.org. Perhaps we should all… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 01/14/11 at 09:30 AM

A Year Later…Despair

A year ago, I wrote an article about how difficult it was for many Jewish families to survive the economic recession we were facing. He is a father with 11 children, at the time unemployed, with prospects of at best becoming underemployed. Here’s what I received on my email me this week: “I wanted to share with you about how things with my family have progressed since that article was written. In the article I mentioned that finacnial assistane from JCS and Ahavas Yisroel were instrumental in keeping our family financially afloat. A month or two after the article appeared, we were told by our financial counselor at JCS that as I was not making sufficient efforts to find a job, in their opinion, our financial assistance was going to be curtailed shortly. I find this hard to understand… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 01/13/11 at 10:34 PM

Blood Libel? Sarah, Please!

From the woman who brought us the word “refudiate,” now we have “blood libel” used by the former Alaska governor to describe what the media and others are perhaps accusing her of since the tragedy in Arizona. Sarah, is someone advising you? Do you know what a blood libel is? Did you check it out before you decided to use it in a sentence? It is an extremely sensitive issue for people of civility. By now I hope you know that one of its connections is to the belief by some that Jews killed Christian children and used their blood in religious rituals. Uh huh, there were and probably are people who really beleived that. Look, we know you are angry that your cross hairs map could be in any way associated with six murdered and many more wounded,… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 01/12/11 at 02:32 PM

Palin and Beck

Surveyor marks? Sarah Palin, do you think this country is as dense as you are you? Since when have cross hairs from a gun scope been confused for surveyor marks. I know it doesn’t matter to you, but this time I think you have blood on your hands. Yes, we can call Gabby Giffords’ shooter and the killer of six, including a little girl, deranged. But Sarah, you have granted him permission to kill. You knew better. You knew your words had power behind them. And with that, you irresponsibly threw them out there in the form of that “map?” “Let’s reload?” That’s what you said. Don’t retreat, reload?” What are you going to say next, “it was a laundry reference.” Also, where have you been? Any coward can send a statement out there. You should have been out… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 01/11/11 at 03:41 PM

Finding a Connection to Tucson

The threads by which we as Jews all live by came true on Saturday night. In a Catonsville apartment, I asked my mother-in-law Shirley Cohen, who had moved here recently from Phoenix, Az., if she knew anyone from Tucson. Mom went to her address book, and pulled out the name of her friend Clair Naftulin. Mrs. Naftulin’s daughter Arlene live in Tucson. A call was placed. Arlene Madsen and her husband Phil moved from California five and a half years ago to Tucson, Az. They were taken in by the beauty of the community. And they loved that they could be who they were, a Jewish family. On Saturday, the couple was attending the play “Wicked” in Tucson when during the intermission, they heard the news of the gunfire, the fatalities and the injured. “I wanted to cry,” said… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 01/09/11 at 11:26 AM

This Isn’t A Racial Carnival

In the District Courtroom on Monday a group of Jewish supporters came to be a presence for Eli Werdesheim. I know they were there to show support. I just found that some in the room were turning this into a racial carnival. That’s the last thing anyone needs. He was called to the courtroom 7 on Wabash Avenue because the state would ask him to forfeit his passport. All of a sudden, people who never had cause to step in the environment of a courtroom were there. The assistant state’s attorney did ask that Mr. Werdesheim, 23, turn in the passport, because he was in the state’s opinion a “flight risk.” His parents, indeed his fiancee’s parents were asked to pledge to the state some $50,000 that he would return on schedule for his January 20 pre-trial hearing in… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 01/06/11 at 04:51 PM

A Positive Morning For Eli Werdesheim

On Monday morning, Eli Werdesheim had an unexpected day in District Court. There, the State’s Attorney’s office requested that the Judge require Mr. Werdesheim, 23, to forfeit both his U.S. and Israeli passports over to the court. The asst. city state’s attorney argued that since Mr. Werdesheim’s arrest, circumstances had changed. The office had learned that Mr. Werdesheim, engaged to be married, had purchased an airline ticket to Israel. The date of purchase was November 9 for January 3 flight. The alleged assault he is being charged for happened on November 19. So the judge ruled that Mr. Werdesheim wasn’t a flight risk, and should be permitted to travel with his fiancé to Israel for their two-week planned vacation. Another rumor out there was that he had purchased a one-way ticket. No, it is a round-trip ticket. The judge,… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 01/03/11 at 02:47 PM

Cousin David

On Wednesday night, my family drove out to Great Falls, Virginia to have dinner with cousins. It wasn’t a New Year’s dinner nor was it for any holiday purpose. Next week, my cousin David, a U.S. Marine captain, is leaving his North Carolina base for eight months of active duty in Afghanistan. Around the dining room table, we told family stories, laughed, remembered with reverence people who had since died in our family. But we all knew we were there for a purpose, to wish Godspeed to our beloved cousin. I looked at David’s father Jon, and his brother Richard, and I couldn’t help but remember when we were all children and sat around listening to our parents tell stories. I always felt warm and safe with my family at my mother’s dining room table or my aunt’s dining… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 12/30/10 at 12:42 PM

Our Streets Aren’t Jewish Nor Are They Black. They Belong To Us All

So I’ve written about this before, but I want to try again. The streets of Baltimore don’t “belong” to any one ethnic group. As taxpaying citizens of Baltimore, they belong to us all. As free Americans, they belong to us all. There is no such thing as a racially white street or black street or Jewish street or gentile street. I grew up in Northwest Baltimore, attended Fallstaff Elementary, Pimlico Junior High and Northwestern High School. My wife Lisa and I live just blocks from where I was raised in the city. The only aspect that’s changed for me is my zipcode. I went from 21215 to 21209. I played at the JCC Park Heights when I was a kid. I had black friends, Jewish friends, and even an Asian friend who lived a block from me. Today Eli… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 12/28/10 at 04:21 PM

Previously From Balti-more

By the time this is in print, two people who made a huge, huge difference in Baltimore’s Jewish community will have made aliyah. Jeremy Staiman, since 1990 owner of Staiman Design and his wife Chana, a sonographer, are on their way to a new life in Israel. They were honored in recent years by their shul, Suburban Orthodox Toras Chaim. To know this couple, these people, was and is one of the greatest honors for thousands of us. Jeremy and Chana would blush if they knew I was even writing this piece. Because what they do and have done, isn’t for any honor. They do HaShem’s work, period. Their Shabbos and Yom Tov dining room table and chairs I’m surprised aren’t worn out from all of the meals they’ve served to so many diverse guests over the years. People… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 12/23/10 at 03:28 PM

A Great Shabbaton at Pearlstone

I am very proud of the Jewish Community’s recent Shabbaton held at the Pearlstone Retreat Center. Leaders of the Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore, as well as major Jewish denominations came together, had dialogue, had meals and meetings with the one thought of insuring that we are, indeed, one Jewish community. There are already initiatives in places coming from the weekend. Best initiatives of all, however, friendships were made. Stereotypes were broken down. Yes, we even have them within the same religion. My favorite initiative: language and lexicon. We are working to no longer be “ultra Orthodox” or “twice a year Jews.” Instead we are all Jews from Baltimore. That is music to my ears. Certainly, we have differences in worship and background. Yet, as these men and women and their families learned at Pearlstone, what we share,… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 12/16/10 at 05:30 PM

This is getting so old

This is getting old. Our enemies are loving every minute of it. We just keep on keeping on with the hate, and we’re going to find ourselves in a lonely spot in this country and this world. I’m not just writing to Jews, but to blacks, Asians, Hispanics, everyone. Outside on the parking lot of the Jewish Community Services building, the media met with about a dozen mostly black citizens who were concerned about a closed-door meeting being held inside. This was an opportunity for blacks and Jews to sit down and talk. Instead, one or two individuals distracted the meeting because they weren’t on the invitation list. We have blacks and Jews at a very angry place right now, and an elected official was livid for not being invited. Instead of the “tachles,” the truth, the meeting had… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 12/09/10 at 05:57 PM

Let’s Move Forward Together

One warm evening, I remember seeing one of the greatest acts of bravery I’ve ever seen in person. A former Shomrim member raced down the steep decline of the Greenspring Avenue quarry, dropped into the cold water, and saved the life of a young man who was attempting suicide. That same former Shomrim member on that same night helped the Baltimore City Police identify a suspect in the shooting of an off-duty City Police detective. This, I believed, was what Shomrim was all about. In November of 2009, almost 3,000 Jews, blacks, Hispanics and just plain old neighbors got together at Northwestern High School. There was a flag football game going on between a Shomrim team and the Northwest Police District. But nobody really cared much about the score of any game. Because there were pony rides, children’s activities… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 12/02/10 at 09:09 PM

Fear of Getting on the Plane

Like so many other survivors of sexual molestation, this entire TSA screening issue has me on total edge. I don’t have any flights scheduled in the coming weeks, but there is one that possibly could come about in January. Already I’m nervous. Is somebody going to touch me where I absolutely cannot be touched? Am I going to have to go through a screening device? How do I know with absolute certainty that the guy who is gazing at my body scan or touching me, doesn’t have the background of a molester? Seems like these are going to be the most wanted jobs on the jobs list for some of these people. They get to gaze and/or touch and get paid for it. Some of us who get use every bit of emotional energy we have just to use… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 11/23/10 at 02:57 PM

A Modest Suggestion

This Saturday night at 8 at the Park Heights Jewish Community Center, Jewish Theatre Workshop of Baltimore is going to offer something worth your comment. It’s going to be the reading of “A Modest Suggestion,” a play written by Ken Kaissar. So, what would it be like if four businessmen were having a routine office meeting, eating donuts, when the supervisor starts the meeting’s agenda with the words, “Should we, or should we not kill the Jews?” Office politics play come into play with the three more junior colleagues working to get the inside track on the boss’s good side bringing everyone into agreement that finding and killing a Jew somehow made sense. The play, directed by Etan Weintraub, is a reading. There will be a discussion afterwards. I play the supervisor in this production. And I can’t help… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 11/16/10 at 01:06 PM

A Cousin Heading Off To Afghanistan

Earlier this week our extended family received an email blast from my cousin David. He is a U.S. Marine Captain, a Battalion Judge Advocate with the 2nd Battalion 8th Marine Regiment. In a month he’ll be heading to Afghanistan. His parents are going to Camp Lejeune to help him close down his house while he is away somewhere in Helmand Province. In his letter, he writes, “I’m beyond excited to be deploying with the 2/8. It’s a great battalion with highly trained dedicated Marines. I know you’d be proud if you had the chance to meet them. If anyone would like to know how to send care packages to the Marines, please let me know. Once I get a mailing address for myself I’ll be sure to send that out as well. Again, thank you for all your continued… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 11/11/10 at 11:32 AM

We Could Have Done Without the Word “Shvartze”

When my oldest daughter was a student she used to come home and tell us over the dinner table that one of her teachers, a rabbi referred to black people as “shvartzes.” In my family saying the word “shvartze” resulted in a mouth full of hot water, soap and a dish rag. It was a word that brought forth a visceral reaction more intense than any other word I knew. My dad wouldn’t allow other people to say the word, especially in front of us. He didn’t buy the whole, “this is just a Yiddish expression describe black people. No, he saw it instead as nothing better than the “n” word. On a carpool afternoon, my daughter’s teacher came over to me and asked me if I could call him to make an appointment for us to get together.… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 11/09/10 at 03:38 PM

Rikki, You Should Live In The District You Represent

A Sunpaper article brought up “the big elephant in the room” that we’ve reported on this blog in year’s past. Rochelle “Rikki” Spector doesn’t live in the fifth district. Instead, she lives in a Harborview condo with her companion Oscar Brilliant. The Sun wrote on page one on Monday that Ms. Spector might have had something to do with dismissed citations for mold. She lives there in a penthouse apartment and there was a concern that any citations would result in reduced property values. The Sun also reported that should Mr. Brilliant die, the Councilwoman would be entitled to live in another unit Mr. Brilliant owns for the rest of her life. Now, I don’t know about you, but I want my elected officials living in my neighborhoods and communities. I’m not writing here that Ms. Spector is breaking… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 11/09/10 at 11:16 AM

Associated’s High Marks

So, look I’m proud of the Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore. Here we are, watching the recession bring so much of organized Jewish life to its knees, that we have a well managed, caring organization that made the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s Top 400. There is so much that can be said about this. But the fact is, the Associated, under the leadership of Marc B. Terrill and a wonderful board of directors, keeps Jewish Baltimore safe. Jewish Community Services, under the direction of Dr. Barbara Gradet is on the front line of all of the services provided and it is literally keeping people alive. The Jewish Council with its leader Dr. Arthur Abramson is watching over us with security and is working with legislators to make sure that the community identifies and obtains funds that are available from… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 11/04/10 at 12:42 PM

Vicki, Jim, Kevin and Martin

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So November 2 is pretty much here. There are going to be a tidal wave of ads on all sorts of media for all sorts of offices. The Jewish Times only endorsed one candidate in the Democrat primary and that was Gregg Bernstein for City State’s Attorney, and he went ahead and defeated 15-year incumbent Patricia Jessamy. We picked Gregg, because we felt it was historically important that there be a change in this office for Baltimore City. So, what I’ve written here aren’t JT endorsements at all. Instead, these are Phil endorsements. I make them, well because I’ve got an idea or two that I want to share. Jim Brochin. Senator Brochin (D-42) sits in the back row of the Senate, mostly because Senate President Mike Miller punishes him this way. Jim doesn’t always go the party line.… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 10/28/10 at 01:42 PM

Healing Service at Beth El

If you are Shomer Shabbat, it means you aren’t going to fire up the car for anything short of an emergency. No one is asking you to. Instead, I’m asking you to take a walk out of what might be your comfort zone on Shabbos, Oct. 30. Beth El Congregation, a Conservative shul, with a rich Jewish history in this town, especially for when it comes to doing the right thing, is sponsoring a Shofar Coalition event. It’s part of the “regular” service, though I don’t ever consider Shabbat services regular. At this service, three survivors of trauma and abuse will be given an opportunity to tell a small part of their stories. It is important for them to tell their stories, and it is important for us to hear their stories. If I can almost guarantee one thing,… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 10/27/10 at 12:04 PM

What Happened to the Uproar Over the Vandalism?

Wasn’t it just a few weeks ago that on a Saturday night, four families living on Strathmore or Gist saw their white commuter vans covered in black spray painted swastikas and other words of hate? Our community’s reaction was appropriate outrage. The police responded with two community meetings expressing solidarity, concern and a pledge to find the person(s) who could do such a thing. So here we are weeks later and we still haven’t heard that the crime has been solved. And that’s not unusual. Indeed, some crimes just never ever get solved no matter the effort. I couldn’t help but be reminded of a story I wrote in the early 1980s. At the time, fires terrorized the Jewish community of West Hartford, Conn. A Conservative shul had to bury several of its sacred Torahs because they were damaged… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 10/10/10 at 08:10 PM

A Busy, Quick Summer

I remember when the summer was starting looking ahead at the calendar. This wasn’t any ordinary summer. It was really busy. That Rosh Hashanah started the High Holy Days on September 9 meant that we were going to get into the Days of Awe with days of summer remaining. So here we are, and Simchat Torah is already here. That was quick. During those months, we watched a primary election unfold. I remember the day in July when Gregg Bernstein announced for City State’s Attorney. It must have been 100 degrees outside. His staffers were handing out bottled water to those in attendance. The election, though, proved much hotter as Mr. Bernstein, the challenger, defeated 15-year-incumbent Pat Jessamy. Kevin Kamenetz would win the Democrat primary for County Executive, and Vicki Almond was her party’s choice for Second District County… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 09/29/10 at 01:15 PM

They Threw Stones At Rabbi Katz

Sunday late afternoon, I was headed home from errands. My route home took me along Western Run Drive between Bancroft and Strathmore. The sunset was at its beginning stages. There were shadows. As the road bends, I saw two little kids on a Western Run front yard stop playing and run inside of their house. Then I saw what I saw. Eight young teens were walking almost in a broken horizontal line, not giving much room to a couple of passing cars. There was a defiance in the walk. A big kid punched a smaller kid. The smaller kid took a stick and threw it at the bigger kid. I don’t know if this is why the two smaller children ran into their house. Maybe they were called in for dinner. I pulled over and watched the eight. They… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 09/27/10 at 03:40 PM

A Safe, Warm Place

Last Tuesday night while driving home from the Gregg Bernstein election night headquarters, I came a corner in Canton and there was a young adult man, holding the hand of a young child. Normally a nice sight. But not at 11:30. Not when the little child should have been tucked in with nothing more on his mind than sweet dreams and a playful, learning day to come. I’ve seen this scene before. Many times in fact. And it is one of the most heart breaking parts of growing a little older for me, that children shouldn’t feel safe and warm and protected. So here it is Sukkot. We build our temporary huts, but most of us, thank God, are able to walk into the comfort of our homes even if we choose to sleep in the sukkahs. I think… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 09/22/10 at 02:38 PM

Decisions

Last year, this time I was wondering about the Book of Life. This year, after a difficult time watching the challenges of people I know and love, I approach the Unetaneh Tokef prayer again. It’s the one that says that on Rosh Hashanah it is written and on Yom Kippur who shall live and who shall die. It’s the line during these days that haunts my wife the most. Decisions she has said to me over the years, decisions are made as we are all standing on the starting line of the new year. And this year was more difficult than I can remember since I lost my sister to cancer in 2004. So I wish for you all the most meaningful of holidays in any way that you connect with a Higher Power. If the words don’t work… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 09/17/10 at 02:27 PM

A Meaningful Yom Kippur

It’s not exactly face to face, but here we are on the eve of Yom Kippur, and I want to say I’m sorry to those who I have hurt. If I didn’t return your phone calls, or if I took a different point of view in an editorial that you found hurtful, I apologize. If I didn’t get that story written that we interviewed about, I’m also sorry. If you feel I ignored you or turned my back on you, please accept my apologies. I will work towards a better year, a better me. And I thank you for being patient with me. I’m still learning. And I’ve got so much more learning to do. Sukkot is my favorite Jewish holiday. I love being outside, especially on a colder evening with the steam coming off of a pot of… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 09/14/10 at 02:36 PM

Find Shalom

It’s the High Holidays. For some, me included, it’s difficult to go off of a spinning merry go round (aka life) and approach these days with serenity, hope and prayer. It’s a period where it could be, if we let it, reduced to Pray, Eat, Sleep. I don’t want to have cynicism. So I’m going to find the place where Rosh HaShanah I think could settle me down. 5771 is my first Rosh HaShanah as a grandfather. My grandson’s name is Shalom. This weekend, I will Pray, Eat and Sleep. But holding Shalom, I will hope to connect and find shalom. Find that “shalom” for yourselves, even if it means appreciating, praying and internalizing a Higher Power a little differently. It’s okay. Religion needs spirituality. L’Shana Tova. read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 09/08/10 at 09:16 AM

Candidates Should Condemn Vandalism Together

So the last time I was driving through parts of the Jewish community and I saw heavily damaged election lawn signs, it was in the mid-80s. The two candidates whose signs seem to have incurred the most damage were then Del. Arthur Alperstein and Del. Paula Hollinger. The candidates were running for State Senator. The damage I remember was tantamount to a hate crime. So driving along Park Heights Avenue with my wife on Monday, I came across what were left of Vicki Almond signs at Slade Avenue. Her name was almost skillfully cut from the sign and left on the ground. Not a mile away, however, at the corner of Old Court and Reisterstown Road, Sherri Becker’s name lie on the ground as well, cut out the very same vicious way. These two candidates are running against one… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 09/06/10 at 08:48 PM

It’s not about color or race. It’s about the best candidate for the job.

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The ugliness of it all. There is this increasing underlying feeling of the upcoming primaries that has me saddened on two fronts. The first is the second district County Council race where the big “elephant” in the room is whether or not a Jew should represent the heavily Jewish district in the meeting rooms of Towson. In Baltimore City we watch as arguably the most important contest in the region, the race for City State’s Attorney is most probably going to be decided by skin pigmentation instead of old fashioned listening and voting with intelligence and information. One of our local African-American oriented radio stations uses the slogan, “where knowledge is power.” I wish this were the case in the State’s Attorney Race where incumbent Patricia C. Jessamy is getting a challenge from Gregg Bernstein. Again, the big elephant… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 08/30/10 at 10:52 AM

NWCP And Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend

The Northwest Citizens Patrol had a softball game on Sunday against a team from the Northwest Police District A great way to build community. Now, women are not members of the NWCP. But they’re allowed to be cops. So it must have been quite interesting when the all-male NWCP softball team played its game against an opponent with at least one woman on the other team. I hear the Deputy Major is a great second base woman. So humor me. How does the whole shomer negiah (not touching between the genders) thing work here? If a woman player were to approach a base, does the NWCP player tag her out? Or does he pretend to tag her out or if she were to “accidentally” hit his glove, then maybe that would count. Or does he wave at her or… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 08/29/10 at 07:51 PM

Gilad Schwartz

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For three years, Michelle Schwartz has eloquently written on the CaringBridge website about her son Gilad’s cancer. Michelle, who has freelance written for the Jewish Times on different topics, gave us a candid, unsugar coated look at how this insidious disease entered her son’s life and the life of the Schwartz family. Today, hundreds of family, friends, classmates and community members packed the main Levinson’s chapel to hear eulogies. Gilad, 19, didn’ t lose his battle with cancer. He didn’t lose anything. Instead, he and his family showed the rest of us how to live with grace, integrity, spirituality, class and a little humor even in the face of death. We grieve with the Schwartz family, the Yeshivat Rambam community, the Shomrei Emunah community, the Religious Zionist community and for that matter our entire community. What was equally beautiful… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 08/26/10 at 05:52 PM

Judge Karen Chaya Friedman, a Hero Gets Sworn In

When my father was ill with colon cancer, he asked me if I could take him around with me on a “typical” day of work. Part of that day included a meeting with then Rep. Barbara Mikulski. I had a scheduled interview with her. During the first part of the meeting, my dad, Morton Jacobs, and the Congresswoman started a lively, expressive conversation about politics, Baltimore and family life. I had to finally interrupt the two and ask that I be able to get some more notes in for the interview. It was unfortunately just a few days later that my dad passed away. I received a letter shortly after from Rep. Mikulski, expressing her sorrow and admiration for my dad. I still keep that letter. U.S. Senator Mikulski has always been one of my heroes. She stands up… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 08/23/10 at 11:09 AM

Suppose A Hate Crime Happened and Not One Elected Official Condemned It?

Where is everybody we voted for? Four vans are spray painted with swastikas and other horrible anti-Semitic symbols on a Sabbath night, and not one elected official has taken a moment to even issue a sound bite of condemnation. And it’s an election year, no less. Yes, this is under investigation as a hate crime. The Baltimore City Police and the Baltimore Jewish Council are working hard to put the community at ease and make sure that the perpetrator(s) are apprehended. Dr. Arthur C. Abramson’s voice has been heard loud and clear. He was the first person to come out and say publicly, this is a hate crime, pure and simple. Police officials are also reacting the same way. And yes, the perpetrator could be of any faith or background, including Jewish. But that would not make it any… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 08/19/10 at 01:38 PM

Vandalism’s Message

There’s something broken out there. On Saturday, it was discovered that as many as four carpool-type vans were spray painted with swastikas and other vile symbols of hatred towards Jews. It was probably just a group of kids acting badly, using the swastika because they know it represents something bad. How many times, though, do we have to connect it to the kids acting badly? At what point does it become a hate crime? I think this is a hate crime. It was a low point. While there observing hate’s evil imprints, a group of young black teens approached a vandalized vehicle on Gist Avenue. One did a taunting dance as passed the vandalized van. Another popped a wheelie on the bike he was riding. I’m not inferring these were the perpetrators of the crime. As recent events in… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 08/16/10 at 11:24 AM

The Best Days

For anyone who is cynical, skeptical about the future of Judaism, if they could spend an hour here at the JCC Maccabi Games and JCC Maccabi ArtsFest, I think it would help in so many ways. It’s just a breath of fresh air to see kids from so many different backgrounds painting together, dancing together, writing together, competing in sports together. Of course, there are so many different issues of which we have concern. But the JCC Association has something here. If it could only be bottled up and shared. There are kids who also worship at different congregations of different denominations. But here, they seem to be all on the same team. Today we wrap up our first round of writing. What is also I think so great is that the kids help one another. In journalism, for… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 08/10/10 at 08:10 AM

Maccabi Time

It’s Maccabi Time. I awoke this morning, looked outside and saw a beautiful day waiting. Today we’ll meet hundreds of athletes and artists. The opening ceremonies will be incredible at the Towson Center. I remember one of my favorite opening ceremonies ever held. It was at Detroit’s Palace of Auburn Hills. It was in 1990. When the cities marched through the home of the Detroit Piston’s, one of the building’s now late co-owners David Hermelin announced each city and had something wonderful to say about each one. I miss David Hermelin. He was one of the leaders of the Jewish Community in Detroit and in the world, for that matter. He died of cancer after serving as Ambassador to Norway. He was a wealthy philanthropist, but he gave so much of his time to anyone who needed a minute… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 08/08/10 at 10:22 AM

New Jewish Council Website on Elections

The Baltimore Jewish Council is providing an up-to-the minute website on the upcoming election with the creation of YourVote2010.org. Get on this blog and you’ll find out all you need to know about coming events, including the 6:30 p.m., August 24, 2nd District County Council forum to be held at the Owings Mills Jewish Community Center. The website offers tons of other information as well regarding registration deadlines and other races. Give it a look and keep on looking at it through the elections. The second district forum is going to be huge with many issues on the table for candidates to discuss. read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 08/03/10 at 12:37 PM

Bernstein vs. Jessamy, A Most Important Election

The Jewish Times for many years was located at 2104 North Charles Street. I used to love to walk along Charles Street, heading up past 25th Street into Charles Village to neighborhood markets. I loved walking past friends of mine in the advertising business who sat on the front steps of their businesses taking a break on a warm, summer’s day. I even walked more than a few times to Memorial Stadium to catch an afternoon O’s game. After dark, I walked back. Over the years, though, that walk became a bit more interrupted. Junkies would stop me and ask me for money. Their “daughter has asthma and I’m just $10 short.” “My baby hasn’t eaten, can I spare $1?” One morning I got to work only to find two children playing outside of my storefront office door. They… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 08/02/10 at 12:33 PM

B’nai Shalom of Olney

When I was a kid, I remember our high school class taking a bus trip to a place called Olney. We were going to see Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer’s Night Dream” at the Olney Theatre. I remember how beautiful the ride was on then rural Rte. 108. I knew a little bit about these Howard County and Montgomery County roads because my aunt and uncle lived in a place called Darnestown. My mom and dad used to love to take back roads and stop at every antique store they could find on the way to Aunt Irma’s house. I haven’t been back that often along Rte. 108 that often. Rtes. 95 or 29 seem to get me wherever I’m going faster. My aunt and uncle have since passed away. Anyway, there were certainly enough stories on the Internet covering the… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 07/29/10 at 03:07 PM

Pitcairn’s Murder is Unacceptable

There always seems to be a reason, an excuse. A young man, Steven Pitcairn, is walking to his Charles Village home from the train station when two thugs took his money and cell phone and then robbed him of his life. Because the cell phone was on as he was talking to his mother, she apparently heard what was happening. This was a man whose educational and career track was leading him to a life of self discovery and helping others. The suspects in his murder are Lavelva Merritt and John Alexander Wagner, whose life transcripts are filled with court records, crime, and probation violations. In the past couple of weeks, I’ve interviewed Patricia C. Jessamy, for 15 years the City’s State’s Attorney. And I’ve interviewed Gregg Bernstein, a former assistant U.S. Attorney, considered Ms. Jessamy’s toughest opponent in… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 07/27/10 at 10:05 AM

Waiting For Maccabi

From August 8-13, Baltimore’s JCC will host a combination JCC ArtsFest and JCC Maccabi Games. This will be the first time that both the Maccabi Games and ArtsFest will be held at the same location during the same time period. Baltimore was the original site of the first JCC ArtsFest. There is a reason for all of us this. It’s called simply leadership. The JCCA or Jewish Community Centers Association took a chance on Baltimore, because it knew that Baltimore’s JCC creates successful programs and is a model for the rest of the nation. The Baltimore JCC community and Associated leadership know how to make a program, even a new one, work beautifully. Staff members such as Nancy Goldberg, Phil Miller, Dale Busch and of course the best JCC leader in the business, Buddy Sapolsky, take on these efforts,… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 07/22/10 at 03:01 PM

Tisha B’av

Tisha B’Av begins Monday at sundown. I’m already worried. This is one of those days to take seriously. I worry about what is happening in the planning of evil of the enemies of the Jewish people. I think like you do of personal friends and the challenges they are having with their lives or loved ones. Like you, I think of Gilad Shalit and Israel and its very real enemies such as Iran. Mostly, I worry about us. We still come to Tisha B’Av with the very issues of anger, loshan hora, bickering and disunity among ourselves. There are really wonderful efforts out there in Baltimore’s Jewish community to bring us all together. The merging of Rambam and B’nos is a wonderful community action. The rolling out of Hatzalah’s ambulance service is again a triumph of the spirit and… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 07/15/10 at 09:31 AM

A Different July 4th

My cousin Jon and I have stayed close friends through the years since our childhood. It’s one of the nicest parts of my life to hear his voice and connect with his wife Joan and their son and daughter. One of my deepest memories are the 4th of July celebrations we observed at Jon’s parents house in Darnstown, Md. My uncle Julius and Aunt Irma purchased a home and land in the outer suburbs before everyone else caught up to them. We felt as if we were in the country when visiting them. I remember the buildup to the fireworks. My mom and her sister would talk on the phone once a week, waiting until after a certain time to call for cheaper long distance rates. Their conversations made the rest of more excited. July 4th meant my uncle… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 07/06/10 at 09:54 AM

Mr. Abramoff, Mr. Rosenbluth and Tov Pizza

So right off the bat, Ronnie Rosenbluth is a close friend. Last week, camera men and news reporters and “investigative” reporters and all sorts of media both local and national discovered Tov Pizza. They learned of it, because Ronnie was employing former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, giving Mr. Abramoff an opportunity of transition into the world after serving almost five years in prison. In their rush for the “exclusive” interview, I hope they took the opportunity to learn more about this place that has done and is doing so much more than serving quality food. It’s difficult to know where to start. Over the years some of the kids who have worked at Tov sometimes get tagged with labels, the most popular being “off the derech,” or off the path. For some of those young adults, Tov is a needed… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 06/28/10 at 02:38 PM

Paying For Air

Air. I paid 75 cents for air today. I can hear my father’s voice coming down from heaven, “you did what?” So I admit it. A tire was a little low, and there wasn’t time to get it checked out. I pulled up to the service station air pump, and was greeted by a coin slot and the price. Used to be air was free. Now even air has its price. Where were three quarters when I needed them? So I parked, walked into the station and asked for change for $1 to use the air pump. The lady behind the counter gave me this little grin. You know the one where the two of you both know that you’re sort of a sucker. This wasn’t four quarters for the quarters’ only parking meter. I wasn’t going to hear… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 06/17/10 at 11:10 AM

Rabbi Goldberger Staying at Tiferes Yisroel

I am feeling better for everyone today. Rabbi Menachem Goldberger is staying as spiritual leader of Congregation Tiferes Yisroel Bais Dovid. The buzz all over the Orthodox community since last week was about his candidacy for the vacant rabbinic position at Congregation Shomrei Emunah. A bigger platform, a prestigious synagogue, the same shul that Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb led before moving on to lead the Orthodox Union. Sometimes, however, “fit” is everything. And Rabbi Goldberger has the calm, demeanor to ascend to a bigger platform from the smaller space at Park Heights and Pinkney. Both shuls and K’lal Yisroel will benefit from this decision. I am a member of Rabbi Goldberger’s shul, so yes I guess I’m biased. But, like you, I am a member of a great Jewish community. This decision by Rabbi Goldberger and then the vote… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 06/10/10 at 05:54 PM

Rabbi Goldberger’s Shul

Ask Jewish community members where to find Tiferes Yisroel Bais Dovid, and the probability is they will be much more familiar with the name “Rabbi Goldberger’s Shul.” As he informed his congregation, both through letter and then sermon on Shabbos, Rabbi Goldberger could be in the unfamiliar position of leaving the very synagogue that is known by his name. If one used any part of Strathmore to connect themelves to the Park Heights Area or the Greenspring, Cheswolde areas last Shabbos, they were covered more by the conversation of the day than by the heat and humidity. Rabbi Goldberger, for 24 years the only spiritual leader at Tiferes Yisroel, a shul known for its Chassidic singing, dancing, praying, warmth, love and connection to its rabbi, was talking about moving on, and at this writing was a candidate for the… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 06/06/10 at 10:12 AM

It Is What It Is

Who can be surprised at the public uproar over Israel’s takeover of a “peace” flotilla outside of Gaza earlier this week? If it wasn’t the “peace” flotilla, it would have been something else. The world, drinking the toxic potion of Islamic hatred, has redefined the words “political correctness.” Now, to be politically correct means you’ll support the actions of those who would love nothing more than to see Israel dead. While we’re basking in our desire to please everybody, let’s not forget that the same people who want to see Israel weakened or eliminated, have those same feelings about you and your country. To borrow the overly used phrase, “it is what it is.” There is no denying it. When the creep who leads Iran is talking about eliminating Israel, we need to believe he’d try. Last time we… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 06/01/10 at 09:51 AM

We might as well be giving bikes away to the thieves

Sometimes I have to write on what I see in the streets and blocks and neighborhoods in which I live. What is added to that is the work that I see done by my volunteer Shomrim colleagues. As the weather warms up, I hear on the Shomrim radio more and more calls for stolen bicycles and even stolen lawn mowers. I guess what gets to me is that most times, a bike or a lawn mower doesn’t have to be stolen. So to prove a point to myself, I took a ride Sunday afternoon from Glen Avenue to Slade and then from Pimlico to Reisterstown Roads. I followed side streets, back roads and main thoroughfares. I could have walked away or loaded into my car at least 17 bikes, by my count. Most of them were strewn on front… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 05/24/10 at 01:09 PM

Free Scoop Night

Baltimore Hebrew Congregation again proved why it “gets” our community so well. In the same spirit as its acclaimed “Rosh Hashanah Under The Stars,” Baltimore Hebrew invited the community last Wednesday evening, the second night of Shavuos,” for a free scoop of ice cream in honor of the holiday. The event was called the Community-Wide Free Scoop Night and was held at Maggie Moo’s in the Quarry. Rabbi Andy Busch and Rabbi Elissa Sachs Kohen, congregation president Philip Abraham, program director Andy Wayne as well as other Baltimore Hebrew officials were on hand to meet and to greet the lines of people who came out to be with one another, have a taste of Shavuos and a great deal of friendship. It was just a beautiful night all around. The evening was a perfect complement to the congregation’s Rosh… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 05/21/10 at 02:23 PM

It’s The Learning That Leads Us Through The Night

There is status in many of us. I remember answering the question when asked, “how many times have you been to Israel?” Whenever I answer the question, and it could be almost any number, I’m answered typically back with, “I’ve been there 50 times. And each time is better than the others, and I’ve learned so much on each trip.” Or… “Oh you’ve been to Israel, and you haven’t been to Chever Rachel? How about Hebron? How can you not have gone to Hebron?” Don’t know about you, but each and every time I have been to Israel, I have a recurring thought. And that thought comes at the Kotel, when I think that I was the first person in either my Dad’s or Mom’s family to see this most holy place. The responsibility I feel of representing them… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 05/17/10 at 10:45 AM

Ice Cream Man

Recently, I was attending a community meeting. There was as always scholarly insight and important information shared. I was and always feel fulfilled by these meetings. I’m having trouble remembering some of the meeting’s highlights, because for me that meeting came down to an unfortunate remark from a rabbi. So I’m walking through the meeting, getting ready to leave when the rabbi, who I choose not to name, walks over to me. Instead of reaching out his hand and saying simply “hello,” he alludes to my clothing with a put down. I was wearing a khaki pair of slacks, blue shirt and khaki jacket. His comment to me was, “what are you, the ice cream man?” That was the best he could do. Why do I comment on this? A couple of years ago, I was at a kosher… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 05/10/10 at 11:19 AM

Thank You Ernie Harwell

He was an announcer for a short time here. I doubt few people without Detroit connections will feel any impact. Learning of Ernie Harwell’s death last night brought tears to my eyes. At age 92, he had succumbed to cancer. When Lisa and I moved our family to Detroit in 1990, we were ostensibly alone. I remember on the day we moved, driving sadly through Pennsylvania and into Ohio. By mid-afternoon outside of Toledo, I searched the radio dial, and I found what I was looking for. It was a friendly, welcoming voice calling a baseball game. I knew then it was the great Ernie Harwell. Like a tracking beam, his soft, genteel voice brought us to our new home in Southfield, Mi. Ernie Harwell was Detroit Tigers baseball. We arrived in Detroit in mid-summer of 1990. After living… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 05/05/10 at 12:22 PM

Help Us Brooksie

So I know this has little to do with life in Jewish Baltimore, but I have to write something about the Orioles. There’s nothing that I can add that hasn’t been written or said. I don’t know the players or management personally. I don’t know the owner personally. When I was growing up, my mother used to sit by the radio or TV with her knitting and listen or watch many, many games. She called the Orioles “my boys.” The O’s did a lot of winning back then, but even when they lost, there was often a spark to their step that said to the other team, ‘you know what, we’re still better than you are.’ I watched them on TV last night lose to the Yankees. That spark is missing in action. Instead, there’s a look of hopelessness.… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 04/30/10 at 12:59 PM

Waking Up Is Hard To Do

(This article first appeared in the New York Jewish Press) and I am running it here as a guest blogger in my blog space. By Bracha Goetz Silly me! It took me so long to open my eyes to the fact that we could have religious leaders who appear outwardly very pious and above reproach, but really aren’t. Waking up is a struggle alright. Over 30 years ago, after searching for spirituality in many religions, reading the book, A Tzaddik in Our Times, had such a powerful effect on me. I saw for the first time that a pure, simple, kind and spiritual life could be found within my own religion. It seemed like a way of life that most valued those who courageously cared about the downtrodden. If this was the way a true Jewish hero could be… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 04/26/10 at 10:35 AM

Sunlight Brings Truth

News of the conviction of Baruch Michael Lebovitz for child sexual molestation and the maximum of 32 years came to me via email under the heading, “Thank God for sunlight.” Michael Orbach reports in the Jewish Star that a daughter of Mr. Lebovitz asked the question, “Don’t you think we’re victims too?” Of course the daughter was quoted as saying that she believed her dad to be 100 percent innocent. Of course, of course, of course. It’s all such a shame. I agree with the daughter. She is a victim of her father as well. When the issue of the late Rabbi Ephraim Shapiro’s molestation transgressions surfaced, two major questions were asked of me. One, why report on a deceased person who can’t defend himself? The other, “don’t you understand the impact this will have on his children and… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 04/14/10 at 12:10 PM

Keeping His School

Had a great conversation with a friend of mine, a student at Yeshivat Rambam. I asked him his assessment of the school’s future. While he didn’t have a real strong answer about the future, one thing he knew for sure, he wants to be able to still go to Rambam. He wants the school to survive. And while he’s not wringing his hands in worry, he said that his mother worked so very hard to get him into Rambam. He didn’t want her efforts to disappear. He said he really doesn’t want to go to another school, that Rambam is “my” school. He worries a bit that he might not be able to academically fit into one particular school, or that he might not religiously fit into another or socially in another. But for where he is in his… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 04/02/10 at 12:51 PM

NWCP Shouldn’t Get Paid Ride Along Cop

So let me really upfront here. I am a member of Shomrim, the public safety group serving the Jewish communities of Park Heights and Pikesville. I was at one time a member in good standing of Northwest Citizens Patrol. The NWCP has for years patrolled the largely Orthodox neighborhoods between the hours of 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. It sends typically eight cars out on all nights but Shabbos, and its members are urged if not required not to leave their cars, but to report to a watch command car which has in it a Baltimore City Police officer. It was a model that was meant for the 1980s and 90s. I think it’s time for NWCP to cease. Shomrim doesn’t patrol, except on special circumstances such as Halloween night or missing persons details. When there is a missing… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/29/10 at 10:40 AM

There’s Still Chometz

So I don’t mean to sound like such a broken record at times. But the fact of the matter is many of us are stressing ourselves out silly to get ready for Passover. We’re getting that last Cheerio out from underneath the sofa cushion. We’re scraping off the gunk that once was either chocolate or gravy from underneath the vegetable drawer in the refrigerator. So I have a friend, whose name isn’t going to be used in this space right now. He was molested as a young adult while a student at Ner Israel. The pain, the anger, the angst have, like chometz, been part of his life for many years. He goes to therapy, and that helps. He seeks rabbinic help, and sometimes that works. No matter how he tries to “clean” his soul of the chometz this… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/25/10 at 11:51 AM

Democrats Beware

I’m beginning to wonder how many Jews, if they had their choice, over again would vote for Obama. Behind the African-American voters, Jews were the second largest minority bloc of voters to cast their choice for the then Senator from Illinois. I think it’s going to be interesting, and could be an indication of things to come if former Gov. Bob Ehrlich takes on Gov. Martin O’Malley. Granted, Ehrlich wasn’t running against a tough opponent in Kathleen Kennedy Townsend the last time around. However, the mere fact that that the Democrat registration is something like 2-1 over the Republicans in this state, was the real opponent he had to face. Ehrlich beat KKT soundly in traditionally Jewish, Democrat precincts. So I don’t think if I were O’Malley that I would take the Jewish vote as a given should Ehrlich… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/18/10 at 03:37 PM

Orthodox Men Tossing Chairs

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Oops, excuse me, I had to wince there for a second while I watched a video of a chair fly over the mechitza at the Kotel, scattering a group of women who were praying to God. Seems there’s a new holy practice that I was unaware of, chair tossing. Orthodox men toss plastic chairs over the mechitza to show their unhappiness that women wearing tallism might be praying at the Wall to God. Wow, sounds like the men are really working hard to living in the image of God and perform all of his mitzvot. Somewhere in the 613 there’s probably a mitzvah I don’t know about, involving Hareidi men throwing chairs. Now I know that it’s not only chairs that have come across that mechitza. A friend, a rabbi, was hit horrifically enough by a dirty diaper thrown… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/16/10 at 10:08 AM

It’s Time

It’s time for qualified Orthodox women to have the title Rabbi or Rabbi or Maharat. It is time. It’s good to have a discussion about this. If learned, scholarly women who have a mind, heart and a soul for the rabbinate are emerging, it’s not up to anyone, especially a male-dominated leadership, to keep them down. Enough of these excuses, these weak reasons. Many men feel threatened by the leadership of a smart, strong, learned woman. Get over it. It may not be in your lifetime, but there will be women in the Orthodox rabbinate. For many years, my wife and I hired a rabbi, a tutor to come to our house and learn with my then teen-age daughter. We’d sit in the kitchen and listen to the two of them argue to the nth degree over a Rashi.… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/11/10 at 05:20 PM

Again, The “Sages” Fall Short

”Upon consultation with its rabbinic leadership, Agudath Israel of America issued the following statement today: The leadership of the Rabbinical Council of America and Rabbi Avi Weiss have apparently reached agreement that Rabbi Weiss would no longer confer the title of “Rabba” upon graduates of his women’s seminary, but rather the title “Maharat.” This superficial move does not in any way change the position of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah that placing women in traditional rabbinic positions departs from the Jewish mesorah, and that any congregation with a woman in such a position cannot call itself Orthodox. That the leadership of a respected rabbinical organization seems to have capitulated to Rabbi Weiss’ enterprise is deeply dismaying. We trust that this capitulation does not represent the perspective of the principled majority of the organization’s member rabbis.” You know, there’s a line… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/09/10 at 04:58 PM

Archdiocese to Close Schools, Maybe Jewish Community Should Also

We should take a hard look at what just happened with the Catholic Archdiocese and its decision to begin closure of some 13 of it schools, including at least one high school. That high school is Cardinal Gibbons, one of Baltimore’s most academically and athletically noted schools. The Archdiocese did not want to have to close any of these schools. Last year, it shut down Towson Catholic. The result was an outcry among students, parents, alum and faculty. There comes a time when umbrella organizations such as the Archdiocese, and in our case, the Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore, has to look at the costs of running facilities such as schools, and make difficult decisions. It’s no secret that some of our day schools and yeshivas are on the financial bubble. Years ago in Detroit, I can remember… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/08/10 at 05:46 PM

Here Come The “Sages”

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”Rabbi Avi Weiss has conferred semikha upon a woman, has made her an Assistant Rabbi at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale where she carries out certain traditional rabbinical functions, and has now given her the title of Rabbah (formerly Maharat). He has stated that the change in title is designed to “make it clear that Sara Hurwitz is a full member of our rabbinic staff, a rabbi with the additional quality of a distinct woman’s voice. ”These developments represent a radical and dangerous departure from Jewish tradition and the mesoras haTorah, and must be condemned in the strongest terms. Any congregation with a woman in a rabbinical position of any sort cannot be considered Orthodox.” – press release from Agudath Israel At a time when Orthodox Jews with names like Rubashkin, Kolko, Tropper, Elon, Dwek and Eisenmann and so… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/25/10 at 03:38 PM

Portable Mechitzas A Bad Idea

How many stories of bomb carrying terrorists dressed up as Hareidim do we have read to not understand that the latest travel “innovation” coming from Israel is laden with a terrible potential. Now, during a time when would-be killers are trying to detonate bombs in their shoes and underwear, we seemingly come up with an idea that would let them hide onboard in plain sight. A young man a couple of months ago was putting on his tefillin, and that action alone, motivate an airline pilot to land the plane for fear of the safety of his passengers. Along comes something called the personal mechitza, according to reports in the Jerusalem Post. It allows its user to set up a white nylon protective shield and keep wandering eyes from seeing in-flight movies or a person deemed un-modest. This is… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/23/10 at 01:22 PM

Shoveling Out

So, my snow shovel was stolen from my front porch the day after the blizzard. Snow equipment became the bikes and lawn mowers of the winter. My bad, I left it out there, thinking that it would be safe on my front porch in broad daylight. My wife and I had spent a couple of snow shoveling sessions with neighbors, digging one another out. So I guess I had this spirit of “silver lining” going for me. After we realized we were shovel less, I started getting phone calls from friends. Most wanted to share stories they had heard or witnessed in the community during the blizzard. There were so many really nice acts of kindness going on all around us. Indeed, the Chesed Fund, Hatzalah, Shomrim, CERT, Chaverim and just neighbors with neighbors. People were digging one another… read more

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/16/10 at 12:13 PM

Snow Storm Seder