Dear Rabbi Beren,

I’m an elementary school teacher, and a child in my class is having behavioral challenges: acting out in class, calling out, etc. He is starting to be excluded and even bullied by the other kids in class due to his behavior. I can tell that he has low self-esteem and a weak self-concept, which I feel is at the root of some of his issues, but I feel an urgency to focus on just fixing his negative behavior. What do you recommend?

Rivka S.

With Chol Hamoed comes the perennial question: Where shall we go today? Opinions are strong and expectations high. Yet by the time everyone finishes their morning routine and the family “conference,” with its requisite squabbles, the day is three-quarters gone. Here are a few ideas that are close by, not overly expensive, and fun for most members of the family.            

One obvious choice: the great outdoors. The beginning of spring brings warmer weather and longer days, which makes spending time outside a pleasure! There are many outdoor activities in our area. To please a crowd, check out some of the amazing playgrounds located within an hour of Baltimore.

Blandair Park (North area) continues to be a very popular spot for Baltimore families. There are many tables for you to spread out the never-ending Pesach snacks as well as different areas to satisfy all age groups. Be sure to bring bikes and scooters to make use of the great paths for riding!

Meadowood Regional Park is located nearby, just off of Falls Road. The recently redone playground boasts lots of new climbing areas as well as swings and slides. There are also fields for ball playing and paths for walking and riding.

All of us listen to the news and hear the facts about the war in Eretz Yisrael. But nothing compares to hearing from people who are living through it. I spoke with a few of my relatives to find out what it is like.

I spoke first to my sister, Chaya, who lives in Bnei Brak. I asked her why she sounds so calm. Wasn’t she worried that a missile might fall on her head during our conversation? She explained that it is a defense mechanism. “You can’t live in constant fear and remain sane,” she said. “Life goes on as normal most of the time.”

While we were taking at about 10 p.m., Israeli time, one of Chaya’s daughters was outside going for a walk with her friend. I found that hard to believe. Chaya explained, “The children are prepared. They understand that if an alert comes, they should go into a shelter room in a nearby building. Other adults on the street help the children. If a siren goes off while people are on a bus, the bus stops and people go into nearby buildings.

While we were talking, there was an automated call from her children’s teachers explaining that, although there would be no school tomorrow, the children would learn over the phone.

by Avigayil Berkowitz

It’s 8:00 a.m., Shabbos morning, and we hear a knocking on our bedroom door. It’s Uncle Steve. “Don’t worry, we’re up for Parshas Zachor!” we say.

“No, no! I just got an alert of a siren!” he says.

Fine. He packed in with Aunt Lieba following close behind. Miriam and I are staying with my great aunt and uncle for Shabbos in Ramat Beit Shemesh. Since we would be sleeping in the mamad (safe room), they had warned us about the possibility of a siren. “They’ve been talking about an attack for weeks – slim chance that this will be the week. But don’t worry,” they said.

On the way to shul, I asked Miriam if we should find out from someone if there actually was a siren, but we decided it is too embarrassing We joked that it was Hashem’s way of waking us up in time for Parshas Zachor because sem girls don’t have a great track record for waking up on time! But we soon found out that it was legit. We heard the sirens this time with our own ears.

Once asked about how he became who he was, Rabbi Avigdor Miller responded that he learned Chovos Halevavos (Duties of the Heart) daily. This classic sefer was written in the early eleventh century by Rabbeinu Bachya Ibn Pakuda, a dayan in Sargossa, Spain, then under Muslim rule. It is one of the earliest mussar sefarim and is widely known as the bedrock of mussar. Indeed, Rabbi Chaim Soloveichik of Brisk called Chovos Halevavos the “Shulchan Aruch of Yiddishkeit,” and it was studied by such far-flung gedolim as Rabbi Yosef Karo, author of the Shulchan Aruch, the Vilna Gaon, and by all communities across the centuries.

Halacha has never been confined to ritual precision or individual piety. From its biblical origins, it presents itself as a comprehensive system designed to govern the entirety of Jewish life: private conduct and public order, personal devotion and communal responsibility. Yet in the modern era, a glaring void has emerged. Vast domains of public policy – such as traffic regulation, building and fire safety, crowd control, and the handling of abuse or internal threats – remain halachically under-theorized and under-legislated. This gap is not a mere a theoretical oversight; it breeds concrete dangers: inconsistent observance and, at times, preventable loss of life. Over time, it erodes trust in rabbinic authority and leads to chilul Hashem.

by Sharmaine Palmer

 Last year, as soon as the clean-up-from-Pesach marathon was over, I jotted down some informal comments on how it went. I took out these notes recently to help me with this year’s Yom Tov. Why am I thinking of Pesach now, with mountains of snow still clinging stubbornly to my lawn? Well, it’s never too early to think Pesach. As soon as the masks and dreidels disappear into warehouse heaven, Pesach foods come out and fill up those aisles. I want to be ready.

This past summer, Congress passed the “One Big Beautiful Bill” (OBBB). The main thing this bill accomplished was to make permanent the temporary tax reductions passed in 2017, during Trump’s first term. Some new provisions are also included in the OBBB: In the previous tax bill, the state and local tax (SALT) deduction was limited to $10,000. This was very unpopular with people who live in high tax states. In the new law, the limit was raised to $40,000. This will be a major tax benefit for our community as the $10,000 limit adversely affected most taxpayers who itemized deductions. Note: For high earners, the limit remains at $10,000.

A big change is that people aged 65 and over will receive an extra deduction of $6,000 per person. And if you bought an American-made new car in 2025, you can deduct up to $10,000 of interest. (Will that encourage people to buy new cars instead of used cars?) In addition, each child under 17 gets a tax credit of $2,200. That is an increase from $2,000. Even those with no tax liability could get a refund of $1,700 per child! Do the math; it really adds up for large families. Obviously, you had better read the fine print to see what qualifies for favorable tax treatment.

Exiting the Columbia University’s Graduate Faculties in 1981, my long-pursued degree in hand, I was ready for the next step. At that time, the start of my career, my sole aim was to teach and do research in the field of international relations. I could not even imagine anyone suggesting that I might end up in the halls of the U.S. government, in the mountains of Afghanistan, in Iran, or in any other unusual place. Yet the academic phase turned out to be but one facet of an unusual path.

One of the many fascinating aspects of a career full of surprises, and at times of dangerous situations, were the people with whom I came into contact. Some were well-known and in high positions, some not so high. Some were courageous and principled, some with blood on their hands. Some with whom one would not wish to be alone in a dark alley and some who died violent deaths.

When I was asked to write about healthy options for shalach manos, I laughed. To me, the two have often felt incompatible – maybe because I’ve grown accustomed to seeing what my grandsons collect from their Purim deliveries: a veritable trove of tooth-decaying treasures that would make any trick-or-treater green (dye #4) with envy.

That said, from the vantage point of my own home, I’ve also seen some genuinely health-positive inclusions over the years: oranges, water bottles, and tahini, alongside the  varied homemade muffins, cookies, and hamantaschen  made with love and no chemical additives. I’ve enjoyed watching the creativity people bring to their gifts – sometimes choosing foods that match a theme or even their costumes. Condiments, coffee for a “coffee break” theme, and even the occasional beer or mini-liquor bottle have not gone unappreciated.

When compiling a list of healthier ideas, I went back to the basic requirement of shalach manos: ready-to-eat food or drink, enough for the Purim seudah. That rules out pantry staples like rice or dried beans. I also tried to avoid foods that require refrigeration, since safe transport and storage can be tricky. Soups, salads, and mini-quiches would all be welcome if there were clear instructions and fridge space available.