I am most grateful for living in America and enjoying the freedoms its democracy provides. It’s an emotion under attack these days. But that doesn’t change the warm feeling I have whenever the red-white-and-blue is displayed on patriotic holidays like the Fourth of July, and whenever I stand respectfully for “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the start of a concert or ballgame. I felt that same heartwarming emotion this past February when I toured The National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum (aka “The Navy SEAL Museum”), just outside Fort Pierce, Florida. 

It started with toilet paper. It spread to hand sanitizer, flour, yeast, and bottled water. The shelves were bare in the stores, and they were “out of stock” at Walmart and Amazon, too. The public’s shopping protocol and habits have changed as well since Shushan Purim, the last time I set foot in a supermarket, where, I hear, markings on the floor direct you where to stand and walk and shoppers scurry about in masked anonymity. Why does it feel like shopping for my Pesach items is ancient history?

Fear of the virus is bad enough. Now we read about dairies pouring thousands of gallons of milk down the drain, meat plants closing, and agricultural businesses throwing away huge quantities of food, and we are gripped by fear. Will there be a shortage of food? Lest a panic attack strike before you finish reading this article, let me declare the good news and the conclusion up front: We are not going to starve!

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, anorexia nervosa, most commonly referred to simply as anorexia, has the highest mortality rate of any mental disorder. People with anorexia view themselves as overweight – even when they are dangerously underweight – and without treatment, this medical and mental health condition can be life-threatening. Our community, as we well know, is not immune. Former Baltimorean Rochelle (neée Cook) Garfield creatively tackles this important issue, among others, in her newly released novel, Out of the Shadow, which is dedicated to the memory of her grandmother, Mrs. Ethel Bagry Shafran, a”h. I had the pleasure of finding out the back story for our WWW readers.

For those of you who were not fortunate to be among the over 800 women and girls in Rabbanit Yemima Mizrachi’s audience on Tuesday, February 25, let me tell you what you missed. The much-sought-after speaker’s Baltimore lecture debut, “Simchas Hachaim, Finding the Joy in Life,” brought inspiration and laughter to a wide array of our community members. The evening was coordinated by the Storch/Bregin/Spetner Family, The Chesed Fund & Project Ezra, and The Women’s Institute of Torah (WIT).

The Yerushalayim native, an attorney-turned-Torah-lecturer/writer was voted one of the most influential women in Israel. She started out 18 years ago giving shiurim in her living room to 10 students. Today she fills large auditoriums around the world in venues as diverse as women’s seminaries, stadiums, and addiction centers, mesmerizing her audiences with her unique perspectives, practical advice, quick wit, and personal experiences related in her own charismatic style.

Just four days after Simchas Torah, one of the most joyous days on the Hebrew calendar, the Baltimore Jewish community lost a gem: Rabbi Dr. Tuvia Meister, z”l. Rabbi Meister, as he preferred to be called, who attained semicha in midlife while still a practicing radiologist, was a man with a plan – actually, two plans. The first was a 20-year plan to learn all of Torah so he could enter the next world as a learned man. His second goal – beginning from when he was diagnosed with cancer, 10 years ago – was to leave this world a good man in the eyes of his wife and children. He accomplished both, in addition to making a tremendous impact in Baltimore and beyond with his caring heart and kind deeds.

Rabbi Dr. Meister’s far-reaching kindness extended to Kiryat Sefer, in Eretz Yisrael, where his bechor (firstborn son) Elchonon lives with his family. During Chanukah, during my visit my bechor and his family, who also live in Kiryat Sefer, Elchonon shared the story of a significant donation his father made to the community.

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.