Rabbi Meir Schuster ztz"l was always a mystery to me. Not long after my wife and I arrived at Ohr Somayach in the summer of 1979, Rabbi Schuster ztz"l began asking us to host guests on Leil Shabbos. On Thursday night, the phone would ring, but when either I or my wife picked it up, there would be silence on the other end. Eventually, I learned to respond, "Is that you, Rabbi Schuster?" as a prelude to the inevitable question, "How many can you take for Shabbos night?" But what I could never figure out is his how someone so shy that he could not initiate a phone conversation with someone he knew could force himself to approach dozens of complete strangers every single day. Yet I knew that he did. My friends and I in the Ohr Somayach beis medrash nicknamed him the Pied Piper. Every day, and...
Today, the OU welcomed introduction in the U.S. Senate of the bipartisan “Pray Safe Act of 2021,” legislation that will establish a clearinghouse on safety and security to govern best practices for faith-based organizations. U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) introduced the legislation Thursday. The clearinghouse at the Department of Homeland Security would operate in conjunction with the Department of Justice, the White House and other governmental agencies and departments to educate and publish online best practices and recommendations for the safety and security for faith-based including day schools, synagogues, churches and other houses of worship. The clearinghouse would, among other things, provide information on targeted violence and terroris...
Tomorrow, 9 Tammuz, is the 6th yahrtzeit of my sister-in-law, Batsheva Yeres. The shtikle is dedicated le’iluy nishmasah, Batsheva Blima, a”h bas HaRav Moshe Yosef HaLevi, ybl”t.   The Weekly Shtikle is dedicated le'iluy nishmas my Oma, Chaya Sara bas Zecharia Chaim, a"h.   This week's shtikle is dedicated for a refuah sheleimah for my father. Please include Reuven Pinchas ben Yehudis in your tefillos. This week's parsha contains the unfortunate events of mei merivah. The tragic outcome of that incident was that neither Moshe nor Aharon were allowed to enter Eretz Yisroel. Moshe's role is clear although the actual understanding of exactly what the wrongdoi...
Baltimore, MD - June 18, 2021 - 2:43PM - An electric line snapped and is down at the corner of Smith avenue and Labyrinth Road knocking out power too many in the area. Traffic is backed up on Smith to 7 Mile Lane. Steer clear of the area.
Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), who stirred controversy as former President Trump’s White House physician, said Thursday he is circulating a letter among House GOP colleagues that calls on President Biden to take a cognitive test to prove he is mentally fit to be commander in chief. Jackson began collecting signatures for his letter this week during GOP meetings and House votes. It will be sent to Biden and his team in the next day or two, he said. “Just everything that has been going on for the last year and a half … [Biden] doesn’t know what’s going on, where he’s at. He’s very confused all the time,” Jackson said in a brief interview with The Hill.
Baltimore City businesses will have a few extra months to comply with the city's upcoming plastic bag ban. Due to the economic impacts of the pandemic, Mayor Brandon Scott pushed the ban's start date to Oct. 1 of this year. The ban was scheduled to lift in July. Once the ordinance takes effect, businesses will not be able to distribute plastic bags at check out. Any other bags distributed will require a 5 cent surcharge. Over the next few months, Baltimore's Office of Sustainability will distribute reusable bags to residents who need them.Businesses in Westminster will need to phase out plastic bags on July 1.
Perhaps Israel's most difficult manifestation of Deceit Democracy came in 1992 when voters' predilections for a right-wing government were subverted by the quirks of that year's election rules and the foolish hubris of too many right-wing political figures. The Israeli Left has had an obsessive compulsion to cry out constantly about the sanctity of Israeli Democracy. Ironically, no institution has done more to shame, tarnish, and cheapen Israeli democracy than Israel's Left, including the latest deceit that has unfolded with formalizing the Naftali Bennett government. His Yamina party that literally campaigned as "right-wing oriented" (the word's very definition) now has coalesced with an amalgam of left parties: (i) Yair Lapid's moderately left Yesh Atid, ...
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) will force a vote Tuesday on a sweeping bill to overhaul federal elections. Schumer informed his caucus of the schedule during a closed-door meeting on Thursday, a Senate Democratic source familiar with the meeting told The Hill. The bill, known as the For the People Act, is expected to fall short of the 60 votes needed to overcome a GOP filibuster and advance past a first procedural hurdle. But Democrats are scrambling to try to figure out a way to unify their 50-member caucus, which would at least allow them to keep the spotlight on Republican opposition instead of their own internal divisions.
The PCS Software and Web Development course offers lab/tutors to help you master the material and create a portfolio, remote classes, optional bachelor’s degree (yeshiva and seminary credits accepted), and separate classes for men and women. PCS has a proven track record of helping get students hired upon completing the course, with 8 placement coordinators, decades of relationships with 100’s of firms and guaranteed internships upon course completion. Not sure if this is the right career for you? Aptitude testing is available. To learn more join the open house this Monday, June 21, at 7:30 PM EST: In-person: PCS/Professional Career Services, 1771 Madison Avenue, Lakewood, NJ 08701. Virtual: For log in/call in information email: nj@nj.pcsjobs.org. For more information, c...
As Bnei Yisroel continue through the midbar on their way to Eretz Yisroel, we are shown in vivid clarity, the face of evil.  Moshe requests permission from Edom to pass thru their land (Chukas, 20:14)  He pleads, recalling how they had just come out from the suffering of Mitzrayim, but the king of Edom refuses them passage. (20:18)  Moshe then promises to be paying customers for any water or vines they would consume along the way.  The King reiterates his contempt by responding to this pledge with a threat to wage war if Bnei Yisroel dare tread on his land.  Such hatred that they would not even sell us food and water nor let us traverse the boundary highway.  Not only do we not want you in our land, we don’t want your commerce, we don’t want your t...
People who have had severe COVID-19 and worry about going through another bout of it can relax: New research finds that less than 1% of people who’ve had a severe coronavirus infection get re-infected. For the study, University of Missouri researchers analyzed data from more than 9,100 COVID-19 patients at 62 health facilities in the United States. Only 0.7% of patients with severe COVID-19 infection contracted the virus a second time, with a mean re-infection period of 116 days. Of those who were re-infected, 3.2% died. Non-white patients had a higher risk of re-infection than white patients, according to the study published recently in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.
This weeks Parsha relates one of the most difficult stories which took place in the Midbar.  With Bnei Yisroel complaining about the lack of water after the death of Miriam, Hashem instructs Moshe to “speak” to the rock and it would yield water.  (Chukas 20:8) Instead, Moshe Rabbeinu “strikes” the rock.  The rock does in fact yield water but Hashem tells Moshe that on account of his not “believing in him”, he would not be Zoche to lead Bnei Yisroel into Eretz Yisroel.  (20:12)  This leaves us to deal with the age old question – How could Moshe Rabbeinu hit the rock.  Why on this singular occasion did he deviate from Hashem’s instruction? In order to properly answer this question, it is helpful to understand som...
There’s a bipartisan push on Capitol Hill and beyond for a full-blown investigation of the coronavirus outbreak by a national commission like the one that looked into 9/11. The proposal comes amid lingering questions over the government’s response to the crisis and the origin of the virus that has killed more than 600,000 Americans. A bill introduced by Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine would establish such a commission. “The death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic is more than 200 times that of the 9/11 attacks — but Congress has yet to establish a similar blue ribbon commission to investigate the vulnerabilities of our public health system and issue guidance for how we as a nation can better protect the American...
Before the COVID-19 pandemic was the drug epidemic. Its relentless toll added a record 90,722 overdose deaths in the U.S. for the year through November 2020, a grim number obscured by coronavirus casualties that recently topped 600,000, according to federal data released Wednesday. As the virus transfixed the nation, the drug crisis spread to largely untouched parts of the country — exacerbated by the recession and millions of job losses. Not only stores and restaurants shuttered: Counseling services moved online, inpatient clinics closed and mobile clinics pulled back. Without support, many Americans relapsed and some turned to drugs for the first time. Before the pandemic, U.S. unemployment hit a half-century low of 3.5%; today, the country is still missing almost 8 million peopl...
This week, I received a letter in the mail from the United States. I recognized the logo on the envelope, 'YDT', the yeshiva in which my children learned when we were in the U.S. I opened the letter with curiosity and I found a check for a small sum of money.  On the side of the check was written: 'Return of money related to COVID-19, for lunches you purchased but did not receive.'These plain words really inspired me.  We fled New York when COVID broke out during the horrible times in the beginning when 1,000 people were dying each day.  We figured we would return soon, but never did.  Lectures I was supposed to give in Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, and Cleveland were canceled. Instead, I found myself back in Israel making omelets for the kids while...
US, Israel top diplomats speak for second time since new government sworn in US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday spoke with Israeli Alternate Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid for the second time since Israel's new government was sworn in Sunday. The top diplomats decided to adopt a "no surprises" policy, according to a statement from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They also discussed "the need to improve Israeli-Palestinian relations in practical ways" and "shared opinions on opportunities to deepen normalization efforts as well as on regional security issues, including Iran," the State Department said. The State Department readout of the conversation mentioned twice the US commitment to Israel's security. Blinken congratulated Lapid on...
Transfer in form of loan with Israel receiving PA vaccine doses in September and October Israel plans to transfer 1.2 million Pfizer vaccine doses to the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the coming days, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's office said on Friday . In a statement, the Prime Minister's Office said it would transfer doses of the surplus Pfizer vaccine that are about to expire, and that in return, in September and October, Israel would receive a shipment of a million Pfizer doses that was owed to it that will originally be delivered to the PA. "The plan was approved on the basis that Israel's current stock of vaccines is sufficient for its current needs," the prime minister's statement said. The move was reportedly decided during a meeting Thursday between n...
I was born in the mid 90’s, and as far as my memory takes me, I associate the 7-Mile Market grocery store here in Baltimore with their blue bags. I would venture to say that probably the biggest חוק since the Parah Adumah was the recent change that 7-Mile Market made to switch these iconic blue grocery bags to white grocery bags.  Last week, when the change was completed, the city of Baltimore went into a state of shock and utter disbelief. But what…? How could they…? Those blue bags were…! What’s going to be…?  Let’s face it, change is hard. It doesn’t really matter what it is. Whether it is moving from America to Israel, switching jobs, dumping one chavrusa for another, getting married, having a child, or even going from ...
Baltimore, MD – June 15,  2021 - It is with regret that BaltimoreJewishLife.com informs the community of the petira of Mrs. Lydia R. Berman, a’h, wife of Ted Berman, z'l, mother of Ronnie (Estelle) Berman, (410.935.7319), Larry Berman (Angela Dotson), Sheldon, Z’L, (Ann) Berman, and sister of Yale (Pat) Kellman. Shivah will be observed at 6635 Chippewa Dr., Baltimore, MD, 21209No visitors 12-2, 5:30-7:30 and after 9:30 Mincah Erev Shabbos: 3:00 PMMaariv Motzaei Shabbos: 9:30 PMShacharis: 8:00 AMMincha/Maariv: 8:15 PM Bila HaMaves LaNetzach…
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