Source: avivahwerner

A few weeks ago someone called me and asked, “Why is it that bad things happen to amazing people?”I told her, people become amazing over the course of time and it’s the tragedy or difficulties that reveal the shining diamonds they are.This has been something I’ve thought about for the last 18 days, as in every report of the parents of the three kidnapped teens I’ve been struck by how special each family is.Every single boy that was kidnapped – a gem.  Smart, caring, responsible, gifted: youth counselors, musicians, composers, bakers.  Each one of seven children in a family raised with boundless love and strong Torah values.A picture of the two sixteen year olds a day before they were kidnapped with friends; Gil-ad on the center part of the tier and Naftali (US citizen) on the bottom.

Source: rabbihorowitz.com

There is a timeless Yiddish saying - "Vos es feilt in hasbarah, feilt in havanah" - that is probably most appropriate in analyzing your dilemma in responding to your child's questions regarding this horrible tragedy. Loosely translated, it expresses the stark truth that when we find it difficult to explain concepts to others (hasbarah means to explain, while havanah denotes understanding) it is often because we ourselves don't understand them fully.

Tomato Plants

Tomato plants are practically synonymous with vegetable gardening; you’d be hard pressed to find a vegetable garden without them! Here are a few things to keep in mind, especially with regard to young tomato plants:
  Removing the sappers: As your tomato plant starts to grow bigger, you will notice that there is a main stalk, with composite leaves coming off the main stalk at various intervals. Now, take a closer look: You will see that at the juncture of every leaf coming off the main stem, little shoots are sprouting. Left alone, these secondary shoots will also grow into large stalks – with even more secondary stalks branching off here and there – and this will result in a “bushy” plant.

The innovative “Sensible Sukkah” team is back with a groundbreaking, revolutionary product, “The Sensible Lulav Stand”!

The common problem of Lulavim falling -and often getting damaged in Shul, before and after their use, has finally been addressed and the enthusiastic response of consumers learning of this product proves that the frum world is ready to embrace The sensible Lulav Stand!

The "Sensible Lulav Stand" is designed to protect your Lulav - in or out of the bag - even if you don't have a good corner to store it in.  The patent-pending product is economical and effective and

It has been over 10 months since my organization, Maryland Smart Meter Awareness (MSMA), began a concerted effort to educate the Jewish community in Baltimore about the problems with smart meters. Since that time, a great deal has happened. Most significantly, the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) issued its final decision allowing Maryland ratepayers to opt out of receiving a smart meter and to instead keep their analog electric meters. This was a major victory, as initially the PSC was opposed to allowing opt-outs regardless of the adverse health impacts and privacy violations. It took a concerted effort by MSMA and some of our legislators (most notably Senator Delores Kelley of Baltimore County and Delegate Glen Glass of Harford County) to address smart meter problems and give these issues the attention they deserved. In response, over 40,000 Maryland residents requested a deferral from a smart meter. All these efforts help convince the PSC that this was a serious issue.

I am writing these words in my home, Kiryat Arba-Hebron, Israel. Forty-seven years ago this week, Israel liberated all of Judea and Samaria, Israel’s biblical heartland, in six days. On 28 Iyar (June 7th that year), they liberated the Temple Mount, where the Temple will one day be rebuilt, and the next day they liberated Hebron, where the Patriarchs and Matriarchs of the Jewish People are buried. Ever since that year, many Jews in Israel have commemorated 28 Iyar each year, thanking G-d for the miracles of those times.

A new scam is floating around, sprung from the ever-fertile minds of crooks, swindlers, and scam artists. The IRS itself is warning the public about this one, so you know it’s serious – and clever. I was going to write on a different topic this month, but when I heard that the married son of a friend of mine fell for this scam and lost $5,000 in one phone call, I thought I had better cover it.

Happiness in a relationship is much more than luck; it takes a daily conscious effort to put into practice healthy relational habits. Let’s learn about some of the things that happy couples avoid and see how you can bring more joy into your own relationship.*  *  *

1) They don’t complain about their spouse to their friends or family: Happy couples know that it’s best not to involve others in their relationship. They talk directly to their spouse if they have an issue instead of consulting others, who often provide negative feedback that could hurt the relationship. There is nothing wrong with healthy “girl” or “guy” time, but don’t use it as an opportunity to complain about your spouse.

Primary elections are Tuesday, June 24, and Torah-observant Jews are flourishing in local Republican politics. Ruth Goetz and Rudy Stoler join Ari Winokur to represent Northwest Baltimore’s Jewish communities and our neighbors on the Republican State Central Committee. We work tirelessly in shuls, neighborhoods, and businesses to promote conservative policies and to bring our community’s interests to the attention of our government officials.

During the 2012 election, our sign-waving and leafleting nearly flipped the nationwide Jewish presidential vote, delivering over 60 percent for Romney-Paul at Pikesville High School! We spend our free time registering voters, waving signs, attending festivals and rallies, and representing Jewish interests to local conservative clubs and politicians. Our districts extend from Reisterstown out to Ruxton-Riderwood, and south as far as Pikesville, and even Cheswolde and Mount Washington in the City.

I’m a born collector. You name it, I’ve probably collected it at one time or another. This lifelong activity started when I was about five years old. I have vivid recollections of digging mica from the dirt surrounding the towering maple tree in our front yard. That experience, no doubt, led to my avocation of collecting gemstones. Around the same time, I started collecting seashells. I couldn’t (and still can’t!) tear myself away from the ocean – most probably because I was spoiled by weekly Sunday family trips to nearby Long Island Sound, where I’d comb the beach for Hashem’s fascinating marine creations. After that, there were collections of butterflies, stamps, coins, autographs, baseball and football cards, record albums, charms, and soda bottle caps, to name just a few. And I can still feel those highly polished chestnuts, abundant each autumn, that I gathered in a large brown paper bag in the nearby park.