When I moved to Baltimore, almost five years ago, I met so many wonderful people and discovered a network of chesed organizations, frum magazines, and well-stocked kosher stores and restaurants. I also found my favorite spot in our house: the window by the kitchen table. It faces the backyard and acts like a camera capturing the changing seasons, animal visits, and other scenes throughout the year.

This morning, as I sit down to a breakfast of a Goldberg’s blueberry gluten-free bagel with cream cheese, I roll up the blinds to the top of the window and breathe in the beauty of the fall foliage. A massive tree with orange and golden leaves rises above my neighbor’s fence and reaches almost to the azure sky. When the sun comes out behind a puffy, white cloud, the leaves of that tree sparkle and dance, holding on for dear life. Other, smaller trees shared by several neighbors still have their colorful leaves, but not the one tree in our own backyard.

Where What When: We are getting so much conflicting information about Omicron. Do we know anything yet about how dangerous it is? To whom? How do you know if you have Delta or Omicron? Does it matter?

Dr. Yosef Levenbrown: As of January 1, in the region of the United States that includes Maryland, the CDC was reporting that the current strains of COVID were 93.8% Omicron and 6.2% Delta. The numbers in Maryland reflected these percentages. However, in other regions, such as New York, it was 88% Omicron and 12% Delta. In order to determine the subtype of a COVID virus, one has to run a special test, which is not a commercial test that is available to the public. These tests that subtype the virus to determine which variant it is are often run in state labs or in hospitals on behalf of the state. So, when someone is positive for COVID, there is no easy way to determine which variant he or she has.

Recent data that has been reported on Omicron seems to indicate that it is more contagious than earlier variants and has resulted in more breakthrough cases in vaccinated people as well as people who have had prior COVID infections, compared with prior variants. In both lab studies and real world studies, the mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) have been shown to be effective against Omicron, not in terms of preventing someone from getting COVID but in terms of protecting one from severe symptoms of COVID. Getting three vaccines (the primary series plus a booster shot) has been shown in both lab and real world studies to be more effective than two vaccines. However, most of the people who have been getting severe COVID symptoms, including hospitalization and death from Omicron, have been unvaccinated.

WWW: We are here today with Donny Ankri, architect extraordinaire for the frum community. Our discussion today will focus on what a person should look for when doing a small addition. We’ll get into specifics and talk about the process. Donny, if somebody’s thinking about making an addition, who’s the first person they should call?

Donny Ankri: Definitely call an architect. Although you might typically think of calling a builder or a loan officer, they don’t have the vision that the architect does. Architects are really good at giving you a good understanding of the big picture. We take the bucket list of what you’re trying to achieve and show you how it can best fit your house. Once you have the general framework, you can reach out to other people involved.

As we drive up the main road of Mitzpe Yericho, with olive trees surrounding us on both sides, I am full of hope. Searching for a community can be daunting, and at last my husband Eliyahu and I agree that this yishuv we are visiting feels like home. Perhaps we are coming full circle as we got married in Mitzpe Yericho’s wedding hall, Nof HaYarden. Funny, though – at the time, we did not even consider living in Mitzpe, as it is fondly called.

Eliyahu points out the significance of Mitzpe Yericho. A mitzpe is a lookout; this yishuv lies on top of a mountain overlooking the ancient city of Yericho a few kilometers away. Nowadays, Yericho is an Arab city known for its casino, and Jews are not allowed to live there. But its history goes back to the times of Yehoshua, when Bnei Yisrael entered Eretz Yisrael and miraculously conquered the city.

After dinner last week, my wife Arleeta suggested that we have a cup of tea. Out came the tea chest filled with every imaginable tea choice. I’m not a tea connoisseur; for me traditional black (orange pekoe) tea is almost always my choice. As I removed the tea bag from my cup, I had a flashback to my grandparents’ table. When I was a child, it was unheard of to use a tea bag only once! My grandma would always give my grandpa the first cup, then she used the tea bag for her cup, then the third cup went to the next-oldest uncle or aunt – and if you were next in line, you got the fourth cup. In my own home, my mom only stretched three cups out of one bag! In those days, tea meant two choices: Lipton or Swee-Touch-Nee.

It was about a half-hour into a marriage mediation session when the challenge became very apparent to me. In all areas of life – for both husband and wife – it was all or nothing. There was considerable need for a vacation, but only a fully planned vacation would do. There was need for increased communication, but only a full-fledged DMC (Deep Meaningful Conversation) would be sufficient.

I asked their permission to introduce a new model by which to judge their marriage, a model I like to call “coloring in the picture.” You see, sometimes things might be progressing in a good direction, but we won’t notice that if we are judging things as black-and-white, pass-or-fail, all-or-nothing.

One of the most difficult aspects of daily life in the winter is the darkness that quickly overwhelms. It seems like before we turn around, the sun is setting and we are driving home from work or school in the dark! Halfway through Shabbos dinner, we feel like it’s almost midnight, but the clock insists it’s only 7:15! During the winter months, people tend to lack energy and motivation, and fail to work on their long-term goals, “saving their strength” to just make it through the day, short as it is. And the night seems to paralyze us as we struggle to take shelter from the shadows.

As many of our brethren in chutz la’aretz (outside Eretz Yisrael) are aware, we in Israel are currently in the middle of a shmitah year, the once-in-seven-years time when we are commanded to allow the Land to rest. Hearing the word “shmitah,” many immediately think about the farmers. They are the true heroes of this incredible mitzvah, of course. They are the ones who put their livelihood on hold for close to two years! That is because, even after shmitah is over, it takes a very long time to get the farm back in working condition. The land was neglected for a year, and needs to be put back in order. Idled machinery requires service. Many employees have taken jobs elsewhere during shmitah, so a new team must be hired. Some customers have gotten new suppliers, so the farmers may need to find new sales outlets, and negotiate new contracts. And of course, there is the wait for the new crops to be planted and harvested. For the farmers, there are so many details to put together before, during, and after shmitah.

Yet farmers are not the only ones who are affected by shmitah. Seven years ago, in these same pages, I wrote an article interviewing housewives about their shmitah experiences. This time I would like to share with you my interviews with a few local caterers about how shmitah is affecting their businesses.

Autism, the mysterious neurological disorder that was first described in 1943 and once considered very rare, now affects one in 34 boys (2.97 percent) and one in 145 girls (0.69 percent). Are there really more children with autism, or are we just looking for it harder? Most likely, the increase is due to the expansion of the diagnostic criteria, in the 1990s, to reflect the concept that autism is a spectrum of impairments, called Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD.

Autism is not an illness or disease. Rather, it is a neurodevelopmental condition that can be recognized by age two or three and lasts a lifetime. There is a wide range of symptoms, some of which may seem contradictory. For instance, some people on the spectrum have a strong aversion to social situations, while others are incredibly outgoing and want to make friends. Some people might struggle to be empathetic, while others are overly sensitive to others’ emotions. Moreover, the learning, thinking, and problem-solving abilities of people with ASD can range from the gifted to the severely challenged. People with autism can be high functioning to low functioning. Some may hold a job and go about their days with little problem, and others struggle with basic skills.

Pirkei Avos tells us that we should show respect for every person for “each one has his hour.” Sometimes, major events of history turn on the actions of seemingly insignificant individuals. If this is true in general, it is certainly true in the saga of the recognition of the new State of Israel by President Harry S Truman in 1948.  But to understand this very interesting chain of events, let us go back to the administration of the president who preceded Truman.

There was once a saying that American Jews believed in three worlds: “Di velt, yenner velt, and Roosevelt – this world, the next world, and Roosevelt.” The overwhelming majority of Jews voted for and loved Franklin D. Roosevelt. Years after the war, blame for not rescuing more Jews from Hitler’s clutches was laid at FDR’s feet. He could have done more, but he didn’t. Roosevelt regularly advised Jewish leaders to be patient, to put their demands on hold. He said that the best way to help Europe’s Jews was to win the war.