“Lo tachmod – do not covet.” Oh, but I do covet, I do. Whenever someone mentioned they were making aliyah, my heart did a little flutter. I began to yearn for it. It meant that we would give up all that we have and know here in Baltimore. And man, it is a comfortable life.

I believe everyone has had The Conversation – the do-you-want-to-live-in-Eretz-Yisrael? convo. Maybe you even went as far as to ask your Rav if it was the right move for you. Everyone has their reasons for going. Or not going. What makes someone decide to give up everything and go? I will share my journey with you. Life is like a book. I will begin with my chapter of coming back to America after living in Israel.

Since the Cross Country Elementary Middle School (#247) building has been demolished, many neighborhood residents have been asking “Why?” As the Secretary of the Cross Country Improvement Association, I have been involved in the meetings about the rebuilding of the Cross Country Elementary Middle School building since 2016. I have been following the letters to the editor to the Where What When about the new school. After reading the letters and speaking with neighbors who are impacted by the changes, I found that many neighbors were not aware of the process that took place that brought about the changes to the school site. Let’s look at the history of the school as well as plans for its future.

During my lengthy career I have been privileged to become friends with some very special and interesting people. One of those individuals is Professor Gerald Schroeder. Dr. Schroeder holds graduate degrees in nuclear (and astro) physics from MIT, where he served as a faculty member prior to his appointment to the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. Dr. Schroeder became a baal teshuva during his tenure at MIT. While in Boston, he studied with the Bostoner Rebbe, Rav Levi Horowitz, zt”l. Later, in Israel, he learned with two roshei yeshiva: with Rav Noach Weinberg, zt”l, with whom he had a regular chavrusa for many years, and with Rav Chaim Brovender, may he be blessed. Dr. Schroeder and his wife Barbara, who is a journalist and author, made aliyah with their children in the seventies. Upon arrival in Jerusalem, Dr. Schroeder was appointed to the faculty of the Weizmann Institute and Yeshiva Aish HaTorah, while Barbara became a columnist for the Jerusalem Post.

In my last article, “The Making of a Chocolate Monster” (Purim issue), I briefly described my friend, 89-year-old Zechariah Nahari, and I was asked if I was willing to write a series of articles about interesting Chevron characters, beginning with Zechariah. Tentatively I agreed, and whatever else happens, here is my article about Zechariah.

   I came as a  bachur to the Mir Yeshivah, and then got married here in Eretz Yisrael.

I continued learning in the Mir, while my wife worked for Otzar HaChochma, the world’s largest digital sefarim library, in its beginning stages of amassing and scanning thousands of sefarim.

We then moved to Modi’in Illit, where, with the help of our parents for the down payment, we purchased our first apartment. As is common in this country, we bought “on paper,” paying the contractor in installments as the apartment was built. Meanwhile, we rented down the block. It was an interesting experience watching the progress of the construction of our apartment.

Ahhh, the scent of spring. The weather is getting warmer with plenty of sunshine while the flowers are blooming and the birds are chirping. Pesach is now just a sweet memory, right? Or are you faced with unaffordable credit card bills from all of your Pesach expenses? Did your never-ending expenses include meat, chicken, wine, shmurah matzah, disposable goods, snacks, extra cleaning help, clothing, shoes, and accessories? And don’t forget the afikomen presents and Chol Hamoed outings. Have you thought about how you will pay for the credit card bill that you’ve just recently received?

Is this a yearly occurrence, a continuous cycle you’ve grown accustomed to, where you overspend over a short period of time and then don’t have enough money to pay your bills? Is there a different way to cover your Pesach expenses or, for that matter, any predictable recurrent expense? A sinking fund may be the answer for you.

I love these stories about how people went out of their way to do the mitzvah of returning lost things:

Temima got a phone call about a year after she returned from a trip to Gibraltar. “A stranger called me and said he was in Gibraltar and had found a siddur with my name in it. He wanted my address in order to return it to me. It turns out that the siddur was a small one that I had gotten from someone’s bar mitzvah. I told the man that he needn’t bother, but he insisted that he would not give up the opportunity to do the mitzvah. A few weeks later, the small siddur arrived at my house.”

To the Shadchan:

 I dated a girl for about half a year, and we finally got engaged. Then Corona hit. With lockdown, no large gatherings were allowed, and my kallah’s mother said, you can’t get married now. The mother is a “party lady” and has been looking forward to her only daughter’s wedding for a long time. My kallah and I said we’ll get married in a backyard with a minyan, but the mother said absolutely not. She told her daughter, “If he loves you, he will wait.” The mother was adamant, and the father went along with her. The grandparents got involved and gave their opinion: no.

It is now two years later. We are planning a wedding in a few months. The mother says that all the guests have to test for Covid before coming. I certainly don’t like that idea. At this point, I am having doubts about the marriage. My kallah is a wonderful person, and we have been through so much together (including a lot of arguments), but I am very concerned about the family and the influence they will have on us. At the beginning I thought they were the perfect family, loving and involved – my own parents are uninvolved in my life – and the siblings are great, etc. But this Covid situation has brought out some very controlling tendencies. I am also disappointed that my kallah didn’t have the backbone to stand up to her parents. Why is she listening to them and not to me?

I could still get out of it, but should I? As I said above, I am conflicted. I’ve put so much time into this relationship and would happily marry the girl – but I’m worried about her crazy family.

My father encouraged us to be handy. He encouraged us to read the instructions and do it ourselves if we could. One of my fond memories of childhood is reaffixing the car rearview mirror after it fell off. Although I did wonder a bit why a rearview mirror was important – after all, people drive forward not backward – I proceeded to reaffix the mirror. I bought the glue, positioned the mirror, and then followed the instructions, holding the freshly glued mirror in place without moving for 40 minutes as I waited for the glue to dry.

From a young age, children develop a fascination with watches. Many a watch is purchased at the dollar store as a prize for young children who are earning their keep. The disadvantage of this purchase is that the watches never work. The advantage, of course, is that the child has no idea how to tell time. The watch, which is worn upside down as often as it is worn right side up, is like a badge of honor. If you ask a kid what time it is, you might get the kind of answer I did when I queried my friend’s three-year-old grandson. Expertly flipping his wrist around, he looked at his watch and said in a worried voice, “It’s 40 cents. I’m late,” and he hurried off. I’m not sure if he was on his way to work or if he just had a play date with the toys in the next room. Either way, time was of the essence.

  When my coworker Haviva Bulka first mentioned that she was housing Baltimore’s new Proposal Gemach, my curiosity was piqued. What in the world is a proposal gemach? Does it make volunteers available to propose for you if you are as shy as Miles Standish? Legend has it that the leader of the Pilgrims wanted to marry Pricilla Mullins but lacked the confidence to propose. Instead, he sent his friend John Alden to pop the question. When John conveyed Miles’ proposal, Pricilla said, “Speak for yourself, John.” They got married and lived happily ever after – John and Pricilla, that is. I soon learned that the Proposal Gemach does nothing of the sort.

A number of years ago I attended a family bar mitzvah in Israel. Everyone there was related to the bar mitzvah boy. There were grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles. I noticed two strangers sitting at one of the tables and wondered how they were related. It turns out they weren’t. They were seminary girls who had called and asked if they could come for Shabbos lunch, since the family was on the list of Shabbos lunch hostesses.

“Why not,” the hostess thought. “There is plenty of food!” The two girls sat though the whole family simcha. I worried about them, because I thought we should be paying more attention to them so they wouldn’t feel like outsiders. But the girls seemed fine and unperturbed by this peculiar situation.

It seems strange to put two perfectly normal girls from normal families in the position of poor people who have no place to eat and need to ask strangers for a place in the middle of a family simcha. This year my granddaughter is in seminary in Israel, and I was interested in hearing about her experiences going to strangers for Shabbos.

Among many other challenges of aging is determining when it is appropriate to accept assistance with healthcare. There are several different options available, such as remaining in your home with aides, moving to an assisted living facility, or moving to a nursing home. Each option has different financial ramifications and considerations. I hope to provide you with an idea of the relative costs and ways to pay for the different options. In addition, I will go through some of the estate planning techniques available to assist you in this process.

I was in the pool yesterday swimming laps. I’m getting into a nice routine these days. I know what clothes to pack and have all my toiletries arranged together so I’m ready for the shower after my swim. When I’m in the locker room, I hear a lot of plastic bags crinkling as other women organize themselves too. I’ve gotten pretty good at this schedule and very rarely leave something behind.

Not much has been written about Rebbetzin Tamar Shteinman, and that which I have read did not do the personality of this great woman justice. It is therefore an honor to bring the life story of Rebbetzin Tamar Shteinman to light.

For this article, which is part of a series about the wives of Gedolim, I was zochah to get to know Rebbetzin Sarah Yisraelzon, the daughter of Harav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, zt”l. It was Rebbetzin Yisraelzon who put me in touch with a granddaughter of her dear neighbor, Rebbetzin Tamar Shteinman, a”h. Rebbetzin Shteinman’s granddaughter was able to paint a very warm and vibrant picture of her beloved savta. It was also a real privilege to speak to Rebbetzin Tova Shapiro, the only living daughter of Rebbetzin Shteinman.