Visiting the homebound, raising money, cooking and delivering food, running Chinese auctions and plays, providing money to the underprivileged, helping the childless, providing support for the physically and mentally ill, and a myriad other tasks are done by workers who are never paid for their time, energy, and devotion. I’m talking about volunteers, of course, and we all know people who devote hours and hours, days and nights, to helping others. What motivates them? Why do they do what they do?

As we in the United States grapple with widespread flu, alarming headlines about the newest lethal coronavirus, called the Wuhan coronavirus or the new or novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), initially reported on December 31, 2019, in Wuhan, China, have been appearing daily in publications globally. Although the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared it a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), is it really a direct threat to us here in the States? The Where What When thanks Dr. Robert Edelman, Professor Emeritus of Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in the Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health, for graciously sharing his knowledge of this virus and its potential threat to us.

I will never forget an extremely kind and generous neighbor while growing up. Each year, he would invite individuals with a wide range of developmental and very complex learning challenges from various residential and day centers to his home for Thanksgiving dinner. His children once politely asked their father, “Why can’t we ever invite regular people?” The father responded, “Regular people will always be invited by others, but we will invite these people with special needs.”

While chesed, kindness, is one of our most revered virtues – applicable in all times and places – today’s attitudes toward disabilities and handicaps have broadened to include other ways to respond to those who have them. We are taught in Pirkei Avot (2:5), “Do not separate yourself from the community.” Accordingly, Jewish tradition supports the idea of not allowing anyone to be separated from the community against his or her will. Rather, we should provide equal access to all and facilitate the full participation of individuals with disabilities in religious and

One of my father’s favorite sayings was “Al tistakel bekankan eila ma sheyeish bo – Don’t look at the barrel but at the wine in it.” In other words, don’t judge a book by its cover. One of the unfortunate traits of many people is to judge a person by his or her outward appearance, nationality, or ethnicity. Gypsies or “Roma,” as they prefer to be called, are often thought to be dishonest, uncouth, and utterly outside the norms of society. They are said to have originated in northern India, but they have wandered around Europe for around 1500 years. They live a nomadic lifestyle and have their own language and practices. But, we err if we prejudge people in that way. To quote Viktor Frankl, the psychiatrist who survived the Holocaust, “…There are two races of men in this world, but only these two – the ‘race’ of the decent man and the ‘race’ of the indecent man. Both are found everywhere; they penetrate into all groups of society. No group consists entirely of decent or indecent people.”

“Shetizku livnos bayis ne’eman b’Yisrael – May you merit to build a loyal Jewish home.” It’s the ultimate bracha at a vort, a chasana, and a bris. But do those of us who receive this blessing fully appreciate the ko’ach (power) within it? This article is in tribute to a woman whose upbringing would not have foretold the fulfillment of this beautiful bracha. It was through her life decisions that the bracha’s power came into full force and was actualized in her progeny.

It is my privilege to pay homage to my mother-in-law, Dena Lerner Gerber a’h, an ardent WIT student, a devoted member of Suburban Orthodox, and a dedicated volunteer with Meals on Wheels until her passing on March 10, 2019 at the age of 92. Woven into the fabric of the Baltimore Jewish community, Dena Lerner Gerber was zochah to be an actively involved matriarch of four generations of “batim ne’emanim b’Yisrael”.

n this series of articles about addiction, sponsored by the organization Chayeinu, we have been discussing paths toward opioid addiction and opioid overdose. In the last article, I wrote about the problem of teenagers progressing from alcohol or marijuana use to opioids. Often, they start with prescribed opioid medications (found in the family medicine cabinet, perhaps) and transition to illegal drugs. This is the most common path to opioid addiction. In this article, we will consider an alternate path to opioid addiction that might occur as a result of opioids prescribed to treat pain.

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Opioid analgesics like oxycodone and hydrocodone, and to a lesser extent codeine and tramadol (a synthetic analgesic), are considered frontline treatments for moderate to severe pain, including some chronic pain conditions. It is interesting to consider that over any two-year period, about a third of all adults in this country receive an opioid prescription. Physicians in the United States seem to be more open to prescribing opioids than doctors from other countries.

“It’s a safe place to share what’s going on in our minds,” says Sara Brejt about Jewish Women of Wisdom (JWOW!), a new international organization she helped found for women in their 50s and 60s. After engaging audiences in Lakewood, Monsey, Brooklyn, and the Five Towns, JWOW! is bringing the conversation to Maryland.

Several years ago, Mrs. Brejt, a lawyer, career coach, and teacher at Women’s Institute of Torah (WIT), was listening to an interview about women’s midlife issues on Chazaq Radio. She recognized the speakers, whom she had met at conventions: Miriam Liebermann, author and inspirational speaker, and Faigie Horowitz, Rebbetzin of Agudas Achim in Lawrence, activist, and prolific writer for Jewish publications. Mrs. Brejt contacted them. Around the same age, the three frequently spoke about their challenges and opportunities as midlifers and empty nesters.