Speak to any native Baltimorean, and they will tell you how much our community has changed over the years. True, the city has grown, and you no longer know everyone, as you did back then, but the opportunities to perform chesed have grown as well. We are blessed to live in a community small enough to be called “out-of-town” yet large enough to support all-volunteer chesed teams like the ones found primarily in New York and other large cities worldwide. With much gratitude, WWW would like to spotlight those organizations that keep our wonderful community safe and sound.

A Friend in

Which of these three mitzvos would you say is most important? Visiting the sick, comforting mourners, or escorting guests a few feet when they leave your house?

According to Rabbi Henoch Plotnik, in a recent Mishpacha magazine article, the Rambam offers these three illustrations of vehalachta bedrachav, walking in the ways of Hashem, and says that escorting a guest four amos (about seven feet) is the most prominent. Rabbi Plotnik quotes the explanation of Rav Dovid Kronglas’, zt”l: “Whereas with comforting mourners and visiting the sick you are supplying the recipient with something tangible,” said Rabbi Kronglas, “escorting someone for four

We all know that our day begins at sunset: “And it was evening, and it was morning…” is the formula for each of the days of Creation. We are all clearly aware that Shabbos begins on Friday night and ends on Saturday night. Those davening Maariv or bentsching at night recite the appropriate sections (for Rosh Chodesh, etc) for the upcoming day.

But there is no time in the Jewish year where the beginning of the day at the evening is more obvious than during the counting of the Omer. We count the day in the evening, and if we

When I hear of people who have decided to change careers, I really relate. Those of you who know me as a writer for the Where What When and other Jewish magazines probably don’t realize that I was supposed to be a health care administrator. Soon after I finished graduate school, however, I decided to pursue my passion for writing – which I have felt since I was eight years old – and combine it with my fascination with the medical world. Rather than work in a hospital, as I had planned, I embarked upon my literary career – first

I write this aboard AirTran Flight #299, returning home from a very short but sweet visit to my snowbird sister and brother-in-law, in Boynton Beach, Florida. A twoday megadose of summer-in-February spent at their retirement community gave me a taste of retirement living as well as of Florida’s sunlight and vibrant color. Indeed, I saw people wearing fuchsia, sunny yellow, and teal in the middle of the winter. I snapped pictures of pink flamingos in the Wakodahatchee Wetlands, heard the screech of deep green parrots in the palms, and combed the inky blue Gulf Stream beach for exotic seashells. I

Did you ever hear a young child say he wants to be a fireman when he grows up? Why a fireman? Frankly, I do not know, but take a look at what the Baltimore City Fire Department just announced: The Baltimore Sun, in a front page story in the December 3, 2012 issue, reported that the Baltimore City Fire Department will begin requiring a formal college level education in order to be a fireman and/or to be promoted within the Fire Department. Amazing! You will now have to go to college to get a job in a typical blue collar