Five years after the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), more famously known as Obamacare, open season has come around again. As our mailboxes fill with offers and reminders from insurance companies, and ads appear encouraging us to sign up, I thought it would be a good time to look at how this momentous and highly controversial change in the medical system is playing out on the ground along Park Heights and Greenspring Avenues. Do more people have access to health insurance? Have the costs gone down? Who has been helped by the law and who not – and why? And how have doctors been affected?

Imagine this: Today is the first day of your new job. It’s a 15-minute commute. Although you hadn’t planned it this way, last night you ended up going out with some friends and didn’t get back until the wee hours. Then you didn’t hear the alarm in the morning and woke up 10 minutes before you were supposed to leave. As you rush around to get dressed, you realize that your good suit needs cleaning, so you hurriedly search the closet for another one, along with a shirt to go with it. Realizing there is no time to eat the hearty breakfast you had planned, you grab a nutrition bar on the way out the door and drive off. Too late, you realize you left your lunch in the fridge. Although you race through traffic, you arrive at work 10 minutes late and in a frazzle from the morning’s experience. You think, “What a way to start a new job!”With this beginning, what are the chances that you will feel prepared to do your best work that day, and – and if this becomes a pattern – all the other days on this job? (What are the chances that you will still have this job down the road?)

There’s a new organization in town, and they are not seeking your money! Rather, they are looking for your commitment to take part in an innovative idea which aims to help Israeli businesses. They are selling nothing other than a concept. A new piece of “must-have” Judaica is being introduced to the Baltimore/Washington area. Called the “Klee,” and it will serve a purpose close to the Jewish heart. Just as most Jewish homes usually have at least a mezuza, a Chanukah menorah, and Shabbos candlesticks, the Klee (which you may very well already have in your house) will also be used in a meaningful Jewish way. It is a designated dish for Israeli products.

Remember the good old days when the only thing the Israelis had to worry about was being wiped off the map by their enemies? (Oh wait, that is still a problem.) But remember the other good old days when Jews for Jesus used to hand out pamphlets trying to convince Jews to convert? Or when the main evangelizing problem we faced was how to fit the unsolicited books and tapes we receive from Sid Roth and his ilk into the trash? It used to be, you could pretty much tell when someone was eager to share the “good news.” But in Israel, who worried about that sort of thing? It’s a Jewish State!

There is power in the mouse! We have a golden opportunity, with a few clicks, to help the effort to lower our school tuition costs. The current Maryland state legislative session is considering a bill that would help our community immensely by giving schools additional state money to be used for tuition assistance, academic tutoring, books, supplies, technology, and special needs services.

These additional funds could become a reality if the Maryland Education Credit (MEC) bill, formerly know as BOAST, is passed. This legislation (Senate Bill 405/House Bill 487) benefits not only the day schools. As a recent MEC email states, “It would help lower-income families – from both public and nonpublic schools – afford tuition and other educational expenses for their children. It would give kids the opportunity to attend schools which best suit their needs. Low-income children receive first priority for financial assistance.”

Online shopping has become so pervasive that I wonder if actually entering a store to make a purchase will someday be called “offline shopping.” I must confess that, before I began researching this article, I had purchased nearly nothing online. But after finding out about the sites that will be mentioned below, two thoughts occurred to me: I may never have to leave my home again! And where can I find another source of income?

I clicked, mesmerized, through bargain after bargain and all kinds of “special deals.” Many items are offered at the same or lower prices than in the store, and can be obtained with much more ease. Electronics, kitchenware, clothing, toys, groceries – anything you can buy in the store and many things you cannot – are found find online, often with free shipping.