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.

I recently shared with a friend that I went to a state park about an hour away with my kids over Chol Hamoed Pesach. I described to her how we made a delicious barbecue, threw around a football (yes, I can throw a football), and then walked about a quarter of a mile down a path to see a beautiful waterfall. Based on her response, it was clear to me that she gleaned from this that I love hiking. I think it was the part where she said, “I didn’t know you were a hiker.” I’m not sure how this was her take-home message, but in all honesty, this couldn’t be further from the truth.

This year, a Pesach hotel program collapsed shortly before the holiday, causing countless problems for guests and a tremendous loss of money. The reason given was a fake email from the hotel to the kosher syndicator that provided a false bank account number to wire the money to. It’s pretty surprising that a sophisticated businessman would wire hundreds of thousands of dollars to an unconfirmed bank account. But that’s how scams work – through trickery and deception.

I am sure you are all aware that scams have been increasing. The title of this article is perhaps misleading as scams are getting more sophisticated, and not only the elderly are falling for them. For example, yesterday I received a phone call from a well-known New York yeshiva. I gave the lady my credit card number to make a donation. Was that safe? She sounded frum, so I did it. All ages should pay attention, but the elderly remain prime targets.

by Shani, Dena and Daniella

The box of tissues: You pull one out… and another… and another, always expecting the box to hold one more when you need it. The toothpaste tube: You squeeze some on your toothbrush… and some more… and some more, quietly assuming that there will be enough for another morning’s squeeze – until the box of tissues runs out and the toothpaste tube can squeeze no more. Then you take notice.

The unseen commodity is truly seen only when it is gone. Gas in the car, food in the fridge, and money in the bank are obviously missed more deeply when absent. It is so easy to take things for granted and only realize they are missing when they are no longer there. Why is that? Why don’t we take the time to say, “Wow, baruch Hashem for that last box of pasta in my pantry”? Because we all know that if there’s a hungry toddler who is refusing to eat anything except for mac and cheese and we don’t have a box of elbows, that’s going to be a problem for all parties involved.

We’re acclimating to condo living and meeting a lot of very nice people. That’s not something we bargained for. Neighbors are friendly and kind, and we are still able to maintain our privacy. I’m meeting a lot of women my age, which is an added bonus, along with the elderly people who have lived here since the condominium community was built. Our next-door neighbor is the oldest resident in the complex; she’s 97 years old. She is highly respected in our community and not just because of her age. She’s a lovely person with a regal bearing. She’s someone I want to help since she lives alone. Interestingly, I find it extraordinary that I don’t stay in touch with her just because of the chesed involved. No, Mrs. Berlin has become my friend.