Shortly after the Simchas Torah war began, I scribbled a heartfelt message to a soldier on a Star-K memo pad sheet. A week later, I was very gratified to see a WhatsApp photo of a smiling IDF soldier holding my note. The initiative to collect letters and children’s drawings for the soldiers was at the behest of my coworker, Adina Michelsohn. She also put me in touch with four young, energetic Baltimoreans who are passionately working day and night to help ensure the chayalim and their families get the help they need. Here is their story.

There is no shortage of beautiful, interesting, and fun dating venues in Maryland, but what’s a dater to do when the mercury drops and the great outdoors is no longer a comfortable option? I polled matchmakers and daters for their best “Baltimore and beyond” winter dating ideas.* Mind you, they did include some outdoor suggestions for those more tolerant of the cold, but no worries for those who aren’t – spring is right around the corner!

What does one do when the lights and heat go out on one of the darkest and coldest days of the year – and on erev Shabbos, no less! The responses of community members to the blackout of Shabbos Chanukah, 5783, showed ingenuity and resilience. Here are their stories:

After reading a recent article on FoxBusiness.com, entitled, “Nearly 70% of Americans Struggling to Pay Grocery Bills, Survey Finds,” I decided to conduct my own poll in our community, regarding life after food boxes. Now that this era has come to an end, I wondered how local families were managing – what they were eating, what their average weekly food bill totaled, and if they had any money-saving food shopping tips for those with dwindling stockpiled food box groceries.

“My fridge and freezer are emptier,” Malka Friedman* responded. “We are eating the basics and no longer eating all the new and different foods that came in the box. We have a lot less to share with others. I keep an eye out for discounts when possible. Every little bit helps. We are doing what we can to get what everyone would like to eat – which is not always easy with picky eaters – but we are managing, b”H.”

My closest brush with British royalty was in the summer of 1976. My friend Chaya and I were counselors in a camp located in the Laurentian mountains. How excited we were to receive free tickets – compliments of her father’s congregant – to the Montreal Olympic Games (XXI Olympiad) held about an hour away! It was thrilling to look behind us and get a good glimpse of the British Royal family – the Queen, Prince Philip, Princes Charles, Andrew, and Edward, and Prince Anne’s husband, Mark Phillips – sitting close behind us in the bleachers. They were there to cheer on Princess Anne, a member of the British equestrian team, who rode her mother Queen Elizabeth’s horse, Goodwill.

Despite the heavy toll Covid took on us, many people found opportunity in the midst of a difficult situation. At the risk of minimizing the hardships and losses we faced during this time – especially of those who suffered horrendous tragedies – I polled members of our greater community to see what their personal silver lining was. After all, isn’t the legendary resiliency of the Jewish nation in the face of tragedy partly due to our seeking out any possible good?