Walk into any supermarket today, and you will find a dazzling array of fruits from around the world, regardless of what grows in our own region and is in season. Back in the shtetl, things were not quite that way. Yet even when Eretz Yisrael was still a distant dream for most of Jewry, many of our grandparents and great-grandparents would eat bokser (Yiddish for carob) on Tu B’Shevat, along with other fruits when they were available. Fruits from among the special Seven Species of Eretz Yisrael – grapes, dates, figs, pomegranates, and olives – were especially prized. This 15th

“You may be asleep, but the yetzer hara is always on the alert.”
RABBEINU BACHYA IN DUTIES OF THE HEART
In November, I took part in what is called a “white elephant gift exchange” at my workplace. The concept is this: Each participant buys and wraps a gift that is within a specified price range. At the time of the gathering, all the gifts are put in the center. All participants draw a number, and that determines the order of play. Participant number one selects a gift from the pile and opens it so all can see. Participant number two

There is a famous Midrash that Rav Shimshom Dovid Pincus, zt”l, brings down in the sefer Shabbos Kodesh. Rabbi Yehudah Hanasi (Rebbi) and the Emperor Antoninus were friends. Once, Rebbi invited Antoninus for a cold Shabbos afternoon meal. Antoninus found the food especially delicious despite the fact that it was cold. The next day, Rebbi invited him for another meal of warm food. Antoninus reported that he liked the Shabbos food better. Rebbe told him that the weekday foods were missing a certain seasoning called Shabbos.

  One part of the mitzva of keeping Shabbos is the “zachor” aspect, to

Following the recitation of the Amidah, Berl Izenkopp (not his real name), having completed the Amidah in “record time,” so to speak, took three steps backwards, as mandated, and sat down. After Shacharis, Berl was approached by a fellow congregant, Yossel Papovitch (not his real name). Yossel’s objective was to give “muser” to Berl. And what is muser? you may ask. Is it a type of cheese, or what? Not exactly… Muser refers to admonishing another Yiddle for violating a law that is in the Torah. It is a type of warning. Thus, if a Yiddle sees another Yiddle violating

Baltimore Shadchan Inc. is pleased to announce its collaboration with a new group of experienced dating mentors who are offering their services to Baltimore singles and their parents, as well as anyone involved with redting shidduchim.

  “Dating mentors are so important,” stated mentor and lay shadchanit Mrs. Tova Rappaport. “They can help singles better evaluate a dating experience and guide them to see potential in the other person that might have been missed. A person should be viewed as a total package. It is too easy to pick apart what is said by the other person, or about the

A new baby is born! A new sister or brother, a new son or daughter, a new grandchild – a new member of the Jewish community! As we rejoice, we all assume that the parents will choose to educate their child in one of Baltimore's many fine day schools, where he will grow into a mensch surrounded by friends who share the same beliefs, celebrate the same holidays, and wear the same kinds of clothes. But sometimes things don’t work out as planned, and a child does not succeed. Some parents come to the realization on their own that the