Today, we use our Apple iPhones, Samsungs, or Galaxies every day. We drive to our destinations with Waze and check the internet for anything we want to know. Though invented only around 25 or 30 years ago, these innovations have become essential – and absolutely addictive. We wonder how we ever navigated our lives without them. Now AI is here and growing more sophisticated from month to month. The world is once again being transformed, although it is yet known whether for better or worse.

Hashem has allowed these incredible inventions, but they are not new. Thousands of years ago, the choshen, the sacred breastplate worn by the High Priest, the Kohen Gadol, in the Holy Temple, did all of this and much more. The choshen was adorned with the urim vetumim, 12 precious gemstones, each representing one of the 12 Tribes of Israel. They “lit up” to give answers to the most profound questions facing the nation. They were an intermediary through which Divine guidance was provided. Most significant is that the answers came directly from Hashem – no Google, no Siri, no Alexa, no ChatGBT – only answers from Hashem.

You are davening Ne’ilah, and your stomach growls while you should be thinking of teshuva. Well, let me be honest; I am usually thinking about whether to choose a sesame, poppy, onion or everything bagel. That leads me to the food that pairs with the bagel. It is cream cheese and lox, of course.

Food pairing is very important. For example, what is cholent without kishka? Or a potato knish without mustard? And what is turkey without cranberry sauce? We all combine peanut butter and jelly, pretzels and beer, spaghetti and meatballs, and French fries and ketchup. Pea soup goes with chunks of hot dog, and chicken soup with matza balls. Cookies need chocolate chips, and Scotch complements herring. And what would macaroni be without cheese, crackers without dips, tacos without salsa, burgers without fries, or soup without croutons?

Kokash and Babka are perfect with coffee. Coffee is enhanced by milk and tea by honey. Then we have baked beans with hot dogs and burgers with coleslaw, string beans with almonds and rib steak with fried onions, latkes with apple sauce or sour cream, and gefilte fish with horseradish. Sweet noodle kugel is best with raisins, cheesecake with fruit toppings, and ice cream drizzled with hot fudge. Maple syrup is a must for pancakes as are humus and tehina for pita. They all go together.

When we daven Nesana Tokef each Yom Kippur, we recite, “Mi yichyei u’mi yamus – who will live and who will die.” We do not know what the judgment will be, and we pray for a year of life and health. But other than davening to Hashem, what else can we do?

Over the last 40 years, the Baltimore community has helped many widows, divorced woman and their children, and orphans after they have unfortunately lost a loved one and there was no plan to replace the lost parnassa that the deceased had been providing for the family. I have been involved, too often, in helping raise these needed funds. Many millions have been raised, and tzedakahs like Sister to Sister ( helping divorced woman only), Avigdor’s Helping Hand, a New York-based tzedakah organization, and our local Ahavas Yisrael Charity Fund have provided tzedakah to these mishpachos. Rabbi Boruch Brull, the executive director of Ahavas Yisrael, has been at the forefront of many of these efforts.

I am a big believer in buying insurance that will protect you and your family. I am not a professional financial advisor nor an insurance broker. I am a conservative businessman, and many people come to me for financial counsel, which I am happy to give, using my extensive life experience as a guide.

All insurances are important: health, disability, homeowners, car liability, life insurance, and long-term care. Let’s take a look at life insurance. I have purchased and studied many policies over many years. I also administer the Finkel Family Mechanchim Baltimore Insurance Fund, which provides term life insurance to over 170 limudei kodesh rebbes, teachers, and administrators of the schools Mr. Finkel chose. This fund was started by philanthropist Sidney Finkel, z”l, of Baltimore with the counsel of Rabbi Herman Neuberger, zt”l. Mr. Finkel handed me a check for one million dollars to endow this project. How very important and wonderful such a project is. But even with this program in place, mechanchim still need to purchase more term insurance to properly insure their mishpachos.

Over the last 40 years, the Baltimore community has helped many widows and orphans after they have unfortunately lost a loved one and there was no plan to replace the lost parnassa that the deceased had been providing for the family. I have been involved, too often, in helping raise these needed funds. Many millions have been raised, and tzedakas like Avigdor’s Helping Hand, a New York-based tzedaka organization, and our local Ahavas Yisrael Charity Fund have provided tzedaka to these mishpachos. Rabbi Boruch Brull, the executive director of Ahavas Yisrael, has been at the forefront of many of these efforts.

I am a big believer in buying insurance that will protect you and your family. I am not a professional financial advisor or an insurance broker. I am a conservative businessman, and many people come to me for financial counsel, which I am happy to give, using my extensive life experience as a guide.

When I heard that this issue of the Where What When would focus on children, I immediately thought of Ahavas Yisrael, our incredible local charity run by Rabbi Boruch Brull and his very dynamic staff. Ahavas Yisrael helps children greatly – along with their families – as well as our aged and, really, any community member struggling financially. Next, I thought of two beautiful stories that I love to tell and that include children. Here they are:

The majestic wooden pews at Shearith Israel have been replaced. What memories! Those pews are where so many tzadikim once sat, all of them now in the Olam Ha’emes: Rabbi Shimon Schwab, Rabbi Mendel Feldman, Mr. Jakob Gradman, Mr. Kurt Flamm, Abraham Morganroth, Bernard Yaffe, chazan sheni Louis Miller, Dr. Kurt Raab, Wolfgang Meyer,