This story is written in loving memory of my father, Werner Victor Cohen (Avigdor ben Avraham Hakohen), who passed away on June 11, 2021.

My father, Werner Victor Cohen, was born in Essen, Germany, on December 8, 1921. In addition to himself, my father’s family consisted of his parents, Albert and Hedwig Cohen, and his sister, Lore.

During the Kristallnacht attacks on Jews, on Nov. 9 and 10, 1939, my dad and his father, Albert, were taken from their home by the Nazis. His father was incarcerated at a city jail and released, but my Dad was taken to Dachau concentration camp. He was one of the youngest sent there. He spent several brutal weeks in the camp while Hitler (yemach shemo) used this opportunity to test whether there would be any international condemnation. There was deafening silence.

On January 17, 1991, a coalition of armed forces from 34 countries led by the United States started operation Desert Storm to liberate recently-conquered Kuwait from Iraq. Iraq began its retaliation the next day. Over a period of several weeks, 39 modified Scud B (Al Hussein) missiles were fired at Israel, with 14 exploding in highly-populated residential areas of Tel Aviv and Haifa. (The remainder of the Scuds were either duds, or landed in the wilderness, in the Mediterranean, or were intercepted by U.S. Patriot anti-missile missiles.) Two Israelis were directly killed by these Scuds, and 11 were seriously injured.

In 1993, a scientific paper written by Fetter, Lewis, and Gronlund, entitled “Why Were Scud Casualties So Low?” was published in the prestigious British scientific journal Nature.[1] An expanded and more detailed version of the paper appeared a few months later.[2] The low casualty rate had attracted professional scientific interest. The paper uses a standard mathematical formula to predict the number of casualties expected in a missile attack. The formula is an extrapolation from past missile attacks and takes into account three parameters that modify the extrapolation: a) the size of the warhead, b) the population density, and c) whether there was warning of the attack.

When people ask me what I do and I tell them cybersecurity, they think it is only about hackers and technology. Surprisingly, though, a large segment of my education in cybersecurity was focused on physical security, because without strong physical security, no firewall, antivirus, etc., can protect a network from someone just walking in and taking control.

This past year has been tough for us all with COVID-19, but it has not stopped criminals from taking advantage of our community. What really pushed me into writing this article was the recent violent crime that has plagued our community, most notably the brazen murder of Efraim Gordon, the first time a Jewish person in our community has been murdered since 1969.

“Do not scorn any person….for you have no person without his hour.” (Avos 4:3) The Rambam interprets Ben Azzai’s dictum as follows: It is wrong to mistreat anyone who may be of lowly status because the time will certainly come when such person will rise to a position enabling him to seek revenge. This mishna does not imply that it would ever be otherwise acceptable to malign or mistreat another. It simply provides an additional reason to avoid such behavior, namely, that the perpetrator may well find himself one day at the mercy of his victim.

Hi, let me introduce myself: I am Eli W. Schlossberg and I’m kind of new in town. How can I say that, you ask, when I was born at Sinai Hospital in 1950? Well, I’m talking about the “new” town of Baltimore. Let me describe the Baltimore I knew, and then you will understand.

Sinai Hospital? No, not the one off Northern Parkway; in those days it was located on Ann and Monument Streets. My family davened at a Shearith Israel – no, not the one on Glen Avenue. It was located on McCulloh Street off North Avenue. We shopped at Wasserman and Lemberger – no, not the one on Reisterstown Road; it was on Whitlock Street and then on Park Heights, and it was indeed owned by Mr. Bernie Wasserman and Mr. Sol Lemberger.

The ever-increasing complexity of our medical system has made accessing quality health care very challenging. This reality has given birth to a new field called independent patient advocacy. Many people have heard of patient advocates but have only a vague idea of who they are and what they do. Patient advocates are usually nurses, sometimes doctors, and, occasionally, savvy individuals with no medical training but extensive personal experience with the medical world. Having a patient advocate by your side reduces the stress of a health crisis, at the very least, and can save your life at the most.

I am a patient advocate, and the following stories will give you an idea of what I do.

Last year, we bought tickets to fly to Israel for Shavuos to celebrate my son’s bar mitzva. We couldn’t afford regular priced tickets and were grateful to see Dan’s Deals advertise an unbeatable deal through Air Serbia. I think it was around $260 round trip per person! Yes, it was inconvenient – we had to stay overnight in Serbia on the way back –but there were plenty of other Yidden in the same “boat,” and we all found each other and made arrangements to stay at Airbnbs and get food from Chabad.

Jews will do anything to celebrate simchas, even if it means creating a “drive-by” bar mitzvah, like the one my nextdoor neighbors planned for their son during the pandemic. Wearing his new black hat pushed back on his head and a personalized tee shirt, the star of the simcha stood behind a table in front of a balloon arch. As cars passed by, his parents gave out bags of wrapped sweets and mini-monogrammed basketballs. The boy’s friends jumped out of cars and ran up to the table to briefly wish their classmate mazel tov and, with an individual Sharpie, sign his board. When we walked out of our house, the bar mitzvah boy ran over and, from several feet away (maybe it wasn’t six, but only for a few seconds), he handed us a bag of those sweets. His face was shining.

About a year ago, just after the height of COVID intensity, a group in my shul gathered to consider what kind of COVID compliant activity we could do to enable people to socialize safely. We agreed that the activity should be outdoors to reduce the risk of transmission. After some discussion, I agreed to lead a Perek Shira hike along one of the local waterways.

Perek Shira is a beautiful text from Talmudic times which links items in creation with verses in the Torah. As we experienced nature together, we had so much to talk about regarding the water, the trees, and the wildlife that we encountered. About midway in the hike, we stopped to rest, and I introduced the group to a little sport I love, called “launching.”

One of the only jobs on this earth where a person is veritably on call 24/7 is the occupation of a shadchan. As such, when a woman starts making shidduchim, she will find herself a nomenclator for landmarks around the world – landmarks named after her dating couples: some who get married and some who don’t. Dating singles have these landmarks as well, but from a different angle, and singles’ parents do as well.

As the economy begins to open and demand for service rapidly grows, certain industries, such as hospitality, retail, and more, are facing a shortage of employees. In fact, during Memorial Day weekend, some beaches and parks across the country could not open due to lack of staff. To tackle this obstacle head-on, some companies are advertising using new channels to recruit talent, like posting signs in their storefronts and neighborhood listservs. They are even offering sign-on and retention bonuses as incentives to prospective employees.

I grew up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York, and attended the Spinka and then the Satmar cheder there. While in Satmar, I learned first-hand their unbelievable quest to do chesed, collect tzedaka for others, and help people in need – a trait which makes Satmar shine in its own unique piece of the puzzle that is Am Yisrael. At the same time, I learned about Satmar’s strict view on the concept of Eretz Yisrael in today’s age, lumping most positive aspects of Eretz Yisrael today under the blanket term of “Tzionus.” I even participated in many of the protests. Because of this upbringing, I lacked any connection to the Land and its history, including any yearning for it. The thought of living there never crossed my mind, unless a supernatural phenomenon would start happening. Then, we, the Satmar chasidim, would surely be allowed a front seat to the excitement of Mashiach, because we had it right and everyone else, sadly, had bowed to the avoda zara. So, I thought, until…

After 16 months of COVID, we are all still being challenged in manifold ways. It seems to me that one of the “tests” that we are experiencing is in the area of v’ahavta lerayacha kamocha, loving others as ourselves! “Loving” others is not simple! In fact, how we love those around us may reveal who we are!