My first brush with artificial intelligence was during the 1970s. AI was in its infancy and mostly based upon deducing things from rules, such as “If a person has a headache, then give him Tylenol.” Software called MYCIN could diagnose bacterial infections. I suggested adapting this technology to the treatment of human poisoning and collaborated with the Maryland Poison Center. The software I developed was called The Interactive Poison Expert for Classification and Control (IPECAC). It was a fun project, but it really didn’t do very much except allow me to sit at the Poison Center and listen in on some interesting cases. (Q: “What should I do? My dog ate a whole jar of Tums!” A: “Take the dog out for Mexican food.”)

Recently I was in the hospital with my elderly father when an aide from the hospital came into the room. My brother, who was also there, looked at the aide’s name embroidered on his pocket and greeted him by name: “Hi, Steven, so nice to see you this morning.” You could see Steven’s posture straightened as he beamed at my brother. He shared that he has a good friend who is Jewish and had been invited for Shabbat once. Immediately, the atmosphere in the room changed, and we were all friends!

Style is a way to say who you are without having to speak. Whether you are a self-proclaimed fashionista or are someone who wears whatever is in sight, each of us has a unique style that leads us to make our wardrobe choices. And it represents something about us.

Where does our style come from? How much of it comes from individuality and how much from social influences? Even more intriguing, how do the clothing stores decide what selection of styles they should offer to the public? How do they decide the color, material, and cut that should be going around?

Anger is a powerful emotion that we all experience from time to time. As human beings, it is natural to feel anger in response to various situations and circumstances. In this article, we will explore the importance of properly expressing anger, the consequences of suppressing and not processing anger, and how therapy can be an effective tool in navigating this complex emotion.

Why do we experience anger in the first place? Anger is a healthy response to someone infringing on your space, both psychically and emotionally. It communicates to others that their actions have crossed a line, asserting the need to maintain your space. However, expressing anger in a healthy and constructive manner is crucial. When anger is improperly expressed, it may damage our emotional well-being, strain relationships, and create a barrier to spiritual growth. It is important to remember that the Torah teaches us the value of patience, compassion, and respectful communication.

My husband and I went out to dinner last night with some cousins. We went to a popular Chinese restaurant, which was pretty crowded for a Tuesday night by Baltimore standards. The restaurant had a warm ambiance, from the cloth tablecloths and napkins to the cozy arrangements of tables and booths.

When we get together, my husband and his cousin enjoy reminiscing about the Baltimore of old. “Remember when Greenspring Shopping Center on Smith Avenue used to be a private airport?” I didn’t live in Baltimore then, but I like listening to the stories of those long-ago days. While we were eating our first course, we noticed some familiar faces at the table next to ours. My husband made introductions, and the gentleman recognized our cousin’s name. The next several minutes were spent playing “Jewish geography,” Baltimore-style. The stories went back 60 years, but to these reunited friends, the years rolled away as if we were all transported back in time. It was delightful to watch.

Rabbi Dr. Dov S. Zakheim was Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Planning and Resources) from 1985 to 1987. He was Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller), Chief DoD Financial Officer from 2001- 2004 and civilian coordinator for Afghanistan from 2002 to 2004. He holds a B.A. from Columbia University, a doctorate from Oxford University, and semicha from Hagaon Harav Shmuel Watkin.

 Throughout my career, I never had any problems with Shabbat, Yom Tov, or any other matter relating to my Orthodox practices. That observation applies to my years at the Congressional Budget Office, where I first worked for the U.S. government, through my time in the Reagan Administration and, years later, that of the George W. Bush Administration. On the contrary, I found that my colleagues – notably my non-Jewish colleagues – were willing to make special provisions for me, especially when it came to Shabbat. In fact, even when I was an advisor to then-Governor Bush, Condoleezza Rice, leader of our foreign and national security policy team (the so-called “Vulcans”), made every effort to accommodate my Shabbat needs when we had a series of weekend meetings at Stanford, where she was then provost.

When Aryeh Gross was born, a few years before the founding of the State of Israel, his birth certificate stated that he was born in Palestine. Years later, when he was in the USA and applied for his first passport, he put Palestine as his place of birth. The agent told him that he had never seen a Palestinian with a Jewish kippa, and then added in amazement, “There is no state called Palestine.” Aryeh replied, “That is what I wanted to hear from the State Department.”

During my days in the active rabbinate, I would devote a reasonable amount of time each week to preparing my Shabbos sermon and various shiurim. Delivering a sermon is not the same as giving a shiur or saying a short dvar Torah. Traditional sermons, which these days seem to have fallen out of favor, were devoted to relevant topical issues as seen through the lens of Torah. There were times when I thought I had prepared a pretty decent sermon, but on erev Shabbos, some major event would take place which required me to pivot quickly to address the topic that was on the minds of my congregants. That’s what happened with this article. I had originally prepared something focused on family issues and dilemmas, but when Donald Trump was indicted, I felt it required me to pivot. Hopefully, what I’ve written will be relevant to some of my readers.

We are back again, discussing general studies in our schools, but before we start, a little background information: I am a fairly new teacher at Bais Yaakov, and my father has been teaching in yeshivos for more than 20 years. Sometimes, I come home at the end of my day and talk shop with my father, and, as it turns out, many of the questions and issues he has dealt with (and continues to deal with) are the very same ones I come home with.

Congratulations. You are approaching 65 years old and will soon be eligible for Medicare. As you will soon find out, this is an extremely complex government program with few “take backs” and no “start overs.” It is best for an applicant to go into the decision-making phase with a clear understanding of the programs and choices. Although information is available online, it is overwhelming and time-consuming for individuals to make sense of it all – and they are likely to miss some important points that can cost them a lot of money.