?After observing the reprehensible lack of moral clarity on display when the presidents of three prestigious universities – Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, and MIT – were  recently called to testify before Congress, it is evident that decades of brainwashing by leftist woke radicals has succeeded. The DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) policies, beloved by woke liberals, which use race and gender as weapons to enforce intellectual conformity, have succeeded in destroying honesty, justice, and morality – so much so that these presidents were simply unable to condemn the antisemitism rampant in their schools. Kudos to Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik for exposing the moral turpitude in the leadership of our Ivy League universities.

Right in our own backyard, within a one-hour drive from Pikesville, there are wonderful places to visit, most at no charge.

Historic Jerusalem Mills Village

This Quaker village, dating back to the late 1700s, is one of the oldest and most intact mill villages in the United States, where grain was milled from 1772 until 1961. The village, which sits along the Little Gunpowder Falls in Kingsville, Maryland, is in the process of a total restoration thanks to a volunteer organization, the Friends of Jerusalem Mills. The village consists of a restored grist mill, the miller’s house, a still functioning blacksmith shop, a tenant house, McCourtney’s general store, the Jerusalem mansion, a springhouse, a smokehouse/dairy, and the ruins of a large bank barn. All buildings were constructed in the 1700s and 1800s. Adjacent to the village is the intact Jerusalem covered bridge, one of only six in Maryland. There is a lot of history in the village. During the Revolutionary War, gunstocks for the Maryland Militia were produced in the cooperage located behind the mill, and during the Civil War, Confederate troops conducted a raid at McCourtney’s general store.

Our rabbis ask: “Why does the Torah begin with the letter “beyt”? If I would have asked this question of Mr. Sam Broder, a”h, the husband of Mrs. Leni Broder, a”h, he might have responded with something like: “That’s easy. The Torah begins with the letter “beyt” because the first word is Bereishit.” Or he might have said, “The Torah starts at the beginning, and beginning begins with a “beyt.”

Our rabbis offer a different approach. The Kli Yakar, in his Torah commentary, writes that the Torah begins with a “beyt” because the letter “beyt” is spelled “beyt,” “yud,” “taf,” forming the word bayit, or home. Perhaps what the Kli Yakar is teaching is that if you want to know a person’s Torah, take a look in his or her home.

Rav Tzvi Pesach Frank, zt”l, the posek of his generation, lived almost his entire adult life in Yerushalayim, and passed away before I attended school and certainly before I had ever visited or moved to Israel. So how could I have a story about him?

Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l, was the gadol hador in America, and although I had the zechus to meet him on numerous occasions, I did not have any private conversations with him, nor did I observe any specific events that are not known to those who have read the biographies about him. So, how could I have a story about him?

I did have a close relationship with many of Rav Feinstein’s talmidim, however, and through them, I have a myriad of interesting stories and observations. One of these talmidim, Rav Efrayim Greenblatt, gave me the inside scoop on a fascinating piece of history of Jerusalem that includes these great figures.

Many people ask me about investing in the stock market. I tell them, do I know where the Dow will be tomorrow? The answer is, of course not – but then, neither does Warren Buffet. Here is what I do know: Inflation and the Feds raising interest rates have caused turmoil in our IRAs and financial portfolios. It’s unsettling to see a financial statement that is 15% off its high for a conservative portfolio and even more for a Nasdaq high-tech portfolio. There’s a natural feeling of uneasiness and financial concern. We get seasick.

We have seen the markets correct over the last year, b”H, and the markets had a very positive 2023. As interest rates begin to come down, bonds and the markets should hopefully do well. Gold just hit an all-time high at over $2,100 per ounce, and Bitcoin has made a healthy recovery as of late. Real estate, especially office space rentals and shopping centers, have had a rough time coming out of Covid. There is a lesson here to be learned. Come aboard and listen to my advice.

My sister, Esther Baila Schwarz, who lives in Monsey, is a well-known speaker for women on Torah topics. Recently, she took a new position with a hotline called Libainu, where girls between 12 and 18 years old are encouraged to call with their questions on hashkafa topics or any problems they have. My sister is the one who answers their questions and often repeats that she is not a therapist or a professional, just a nice bubby who answers questions. Although I am far from my teenage years, I was amazed at the wide variety of questions that the girls asked. I think you will also find them interesting. With Esther Baila’s permission, I am presenting some of the questions and her answers.

We made aliyah 16 months ago. For the first 14 months, everyone asked: How are you adjusting, and how is your Hebrew? Can you read the newspapers and understand the TV news? And when are coming back for a visit?

The answers to those questions were always quite simple: We are doing fine and not encountering anything that we cannot handle (sometimes with some help from children, grandchildren, or strangers). My Hebrew is better than it has been in 40-plus years, but I am far from fluent. I can manage, though, in almost every normal circumstance as almost all Israelis “have some English” – or so they think. I can struggle with newspaper articles, as long as I have Google Translate and a dictionary for Shabbat. I catch enough of the broadcast news to know what they speaking about – but not to the extent that I would go out and make an investment based on my understanding of what was said. That one is a real struggle, but everyone insists it is the best way to continue to improve your Hebrew. As for the final question, around Sukkot, we were talking about a visit – but that ties into the other questions.

Recently, I had the pleasure of meeting a very special young man. Gabriel Yair Shabtai, 29, was married in Israel about six months ago. On December 7^th, he returned from two months of active reserve service in the IDF. Think about that; he had been married for only four months when he got a late night phone call on Simchat Torah informing him that he had been called up. In Hebrew this is called millu’im, the reserves. Israel needed him to get on a plane and come as soon as he could. I asked him if he hesitated. “I didn’t hesitate for a second. I have a responsibility to the Jewish nation. I am not just a son, a brother, and a husband; I am also a soldier, and Am Yisrael is my family.

“My wife, Sarah, was shocked and afraid but also very proud. She was having an Israeli experience in Baltimore. She deserves a medal for being so supportive.”

I remember the day we met – in September 1980 – as if it were yesterday. My childhood friend, Robin Gottdiener, and I had both given birth at Sinai Hospital over the three-day Yom Tov of Rosh Hashanah. Since we were staying in separate rooms, we decided to get together in hers so we could take turns watching our newborns while we davened.

We happened to be shmoozing when we heard an energetic knock on the closed door. After Robin said, “Come in,” a jubilant voice announced, “It’s Bubby Broder time!!!” and a bubbly, blonde-sheitel-clad, much-too-young-looking bubby bounced in. As she turned around to close the door behind her, I had just enough time to whisper to Robin out of the side of my mouth, “Who is she??”

 I later found out that this selfless neighbor of ours walked approximately three-and-a-half miles roundtrip each Shabbos and Yom Tov – if need be, with the aid of one of her many decorative canes! – in rain, sleet, snow, and even blizzard, to visit any hospitalized Yid.

Never heard of a side hustle? Well, it just means making money on the side while working a 9-to-5 job or learning full time. Whether it’s babysitting, freelance writing, driving for Uber, selling on eBay, or dog walking, people have found many creative ways to bring in extra income. Maybe some of these will inspire you to start a side hustle of your own.

I Scream, You Scream

Chaim Kohn,* who lives in Lakewood and learns full time, runs a very unusual side hustle. Chaim always had an entrepreneurial knack and tried various ways of making money while learning full time. At one point, he had a website that brought in some income, but traffic to the website eventually died. Then he tried to sell on Amazon. But what really took off was his ice cream truck. The idea came to him one day as he was driving and heard a non-kosher ice cream truck ring nearby. He thought, “What if we had a kosher ice cream truck!?” This thought became reality a year later after he was able to get a vendor’s license and find a truck and a driver.

Chaim’s advice to others with entrepreneurial ambitions is “It’s hard to start a business, but people shouldn’t get discouraged. Discuss it with other people and try to figure out how to test out the market without spending a ton of money.”