Geshmak is a well known Yiddish word. It means fun. It means enjoyable. It means exciting. It means…geshmak! And that is how I would describe my third-grade rebbi, Rabbi Peretz Dinovitz, zt”l.

He was kind, warm, positive, energetic, and always upbeat. When I think back to my year in his class over 25 years ago, what I remember most is how he made each class so much fun and exciting!

As a top notch karate expert (at least that was our impression), he would walk the halls between class and recess, and to our absolute amazement – quick background: there were two sets of lockers, a lower level and an upper level, and the upper level lockers we could hardly reach – he’d do high karate kicks to close any high lockers that were left open. We watched our rebbi walking the halls with his nifty karate kicks and punches in the air. How cool is that!

Over 100 years ago, in 1919, something seemingly impossible happened: The World Series was “fixed.” The Chicago White Sox were playing the Cincinnati Reds. Chicago was heavily favored to win until professional gamblers approached eight White Sox players and offered them bribes. Those players helped Cincinnati to win the Series. The Cincinnati win meant a lot of money for the gambling syndicate. Eventually, the story of the fix leaked out, and a grand jury was convened. The eight players were banned from baseball for life. Among the many tragic details was that Joe Jackson (known as Shoeless Joe) was, at that time, the greatest player ever. He had grown up in grinding poverty, was illiterate, and worked in a mill from the age of six. Had his career not been cut short, he may have become more well known and celebrated than Babe Ruth. Joe admitted the fix to the grand jury. After testifying, Shoeless Joe was leaving the courthouse when a little kid, with tears in his eyes, yelled out, “Say it ain’t so!” Tragically, it was so!

“He is such an INTJ!” or “She is such an E!” or, perhaps, “I don’t get along with Ps.”

Ever meet one of those Myers-Briggs fans, spewing the jargon? We’ll take a deep dive into this popular personality testing system, and you can decide for yourself if you love it or hate it. Perhaps you’ll even join the bandwagon.

That Suffocating Little Box

Many people approach personality systems with hesitation. It seems judgmental. It can feel suffocating when someone proclaims with a sweep of the hand that they’ve “got you,” down to all the intricacies and inner workings of your personality. As one test taker said before clicking to get his results, “I was nervous.”

Do you know any Bais Yaakov girls today who would marry a boxer? How about a soldier? And do you know any young man who is worried that his perspective date is not really shomer Shabbos? All these scenarios are very unlikely! But it wasn’t always that way. In previous generations, it was sometimes hard to find a religious person to marry.

In the book, Lieutenant Birnbaum (ArtScroll), the author, Meyer Birnbaum, describes the marriage of his parents. His mother had come from Europe in the early 1900s and was very religious. She had a hard time finding a frum man to marry. She was already 30 when she met his father. Here is how their first meeting was described in the book:

Walking into a middle school classroom, there is an expectation of a calm and decorum – quiet students, a teacher speaking in the front of the room.

And then there’s robotics – where brains charge, arms fall off, girls scream for 15 seconds, and people keep shouting, “Keep it simple, genius.”

In one corner, a group is huddled together drawing diagrams on the white board. A few girls are racing around the room searching for just the right piece (not a 2x4 – a 6x4!). There are those who are building. Those who are coding.

Meet the VEX robotics classes at Bais Yaakov of Baltimore.

It was about 8:55 in the morning when my phone rang with a name and number that I didn’t recognize. I usually ignore such calls since they are likely to be from someone asking me if I’d like solar panels for my home or a pre-approved loan of $50,000, but for some reason, I answered the call. A man on the other end said his name was Carlos and that he drives for Uber. He asked to speak to my husband, saying “I’m trying to reach a Nekemiya Skore. Did he travel to Israel recently?”

The famous Biblical commentator, Rabbi Avraham ibn Ezra, once heard of a very special manuscript which described in detail the proper melody for reading biblical text. He was so excited that he traveled to the neighboring province in an effort to study it, despite the fact that a war was raging in the area. During his travels, he was apprehended by one of the factions and was accused of being a spy.

The kindly rabbi insisted that he was a scholar on his way to study a manuscript. But the guards did not believe him. Finally, he asked who had the power to release him. They told him that only their captain could release him, so he asked to speak with the captain.

You have finally made it financially. You landed a job with a six-figure salary – a financial dream come true! You probably feel like a millionaire, ready to buy a Land Rover with leather seats or bring your entire mishpacha to Eretz Yisrael for a well-deserved relaxing – and spiritual – vacation at the Waldorf Astoria, which is within walking distance of the Kotel. But looking at your achievement more realistically, you might ask yourself whether you will really be able to afford a Rolex watch or merely be able to pay for your children’s chasanas without going into debt? Let’s explore what a six-figure salary means for a frum family’s bottom line.

After breakfast on a Sunday morning, visiting in Lakewood, I spotted our teenage grandson working at a table in the corner of the kitchen. He was picking up tiny brown pieces of a jigsaw puzzle to complete the ground leading up to a nighttime picture of a country store. He started solving jigsaw puzzles at twelve years old. When I saw him easily find and connect a piece, I asked,“How do you do that?”

“It’s not so hard,” he said. “Try it.”

Yossi is a man in his thirties, juggling the demands of work and family. Lately, he has been feeling overwhelmed and lost, like a boat drifting in the sea. He thought about seeking therapy, but skepticism held him back. “I don’t know if therapy really works,” Yossi shared with his wife, Sarah. “It’s hard to believe that talking to someone I barely know can make a difference in my life.”

Summer is almost upon us, and someone – maybe everyone – in the family will be clamoring for fun things to do. Unfortunately, most of those fun things cost money, and even less expensive ideas tend to add up very quickly. The good news for us budget watchers is that there are entertaining things to do that cost very little or nothing; children can be kept occupied and have fun without expensive trips and toys. Caveat! Although these ideas may not cost much in dollars, they will cost in time and patience. So, if you have a lot of those, get ready and psych yourself up for fun as you spend quality time with your family.

We decided it was time to replace our kitchen appliances. At the time, we didn’t realize what an undertaking that would turn out to be. We learned a new term, called “supply chain.” I was reassured from the store that our order was next in line, but didn’t understand it really meant that our appliances, which were ordered in July, wouldn’t arrive until December. I spent an inordinate amount of time on the phone and sent copious emails inquiring about these machines. No one had any answers, and I began to wonder whether I would ever see them.