Looking for a quick breakfast? Consider a protein shake. With minimal planning, you can blend up a tasty, nutritious shake (also known as a smoothie) in a minute or two. It will leave you feeling satisfied, and you’ll know you’ve started your day on the right foot. Protein shakes also work great for mid-morning or afternoon snacks.
  One of the best things about a protein shake is that you
control the ingredients: the amount of protein, the type of fruit, the sweetness, and the texture. You can make it as hearty or as light as you want by simply tweaking the ingredients.

Getting a New Job – Some Tax Pointers

So you got a new job! Mazal tov! After the initial jumping up and down, realize that you are not done yet. Here are some issues to ponder before you finalize your pay package.

The Basics: Tax Brackets

People have asked me whether earning a little too much could get them pushed into a higher tax bracket, leaving them with less take-home pay. They wonder if it would therefore not be more profitable to earn somewhat less. The answer is no. You want to earn more money. Here is the mechanics of it: While it is true that as you make more money, you move into a higher tax bracket – meaning that you must pay a higher percentage of your income for taxes – it is only that portion of your income that exceeds the lower bracket limit that is subject to the higher tax. For example, when your taxable income goes over $70,000, your rate increases from 15% to 25%.  Say you earn $80,000. Only $10,000, the amount of your income over $70,000, will be taxed at 25%. The first $70,000 remains at the 15% bracket. This is called graduated tax brackets and is fundamental to our income tax system. Without this concept, if a person’s income goes up by one dollar, it would cause his taxes to increase by thousands. This does not happen, but the rumor persists. So, if someone is offering you a raise, take it!

Summary: Last month, Yehuda and Tzipora Frager wrote of the unexpectedly early birth of their son while attending a Shabbaton in Tennessee. When the premature infant was diagnosed with Down syndrome, they were distressed not only by the diagnosis but also by the insensitivity of the staff, who tried to convince them to leave the baby at the hospital. On the other hand, they were buoyed by the in-person brachos from Harav and Rebbetzin Gifter, and grateful for the support of their family and the help of Dr. Steven Caplan, their pediatrician in Baltimore.

Although I was overjoyed to be in Baltimore with my baby boy, I felt a sense of foreboding. In the Knoxville hospital, the TV was on in the room, and I was alone nursing my son, two nights after he was born. The program was suddenly interrupted with a special announcement about the Americans in Iran who had been taken hostage by Iranian students over two weeks ago. The announcer reported that the United Nations had rejected the United States’ plea to condemn the Iranians, who were threatening to put the hostages on trial. I felt my world crumbling, because I had never experienced a large group of my countrymen so helpless, with the strongest super power not able to help them. I really believed Moshiach (the Messiah) would arrive any minute, because of the anxiety I was feeling, personally and globally. I fervently davened (prayed) for Moshiach, because I wanted my son to be cured from Down syndrome – I wanted no one to suffer anymore.

We certainly look different as we sit in the Rebbe’s dining room. He’s the chashuva Rebbe of Arugas Habosem, and looks the part, with his bekeshe and long beard. I, on the other hand, am wearing my usual tie-less shirt and casual tan slacks. Yet we are sitting together at his dining room tisch, along with his wonderful Rebbetzin, discussing his mother’s upcoming 50th yahrzeit.

Back in 1963, Reb Shaya and I loved to ride our bikes all over the Park Heights neighborhood where we both lived. Both our families were refugees, resettled in Baltimore. But we were different in many ways. He attended the Yiddish-speaking Shearis Hapleita (now TI), a chassidishe cheder, and came to TA with his class in the afternoon for English studies. I went to TA. He was from a Hungarian Satmar family, and I was from a Yekkishe German background. But for the last 50 years, Reb Shaya and I have stayed close, cherishing the old bike-riding days when we were classmates and very good friends.

As many of us have already noticed, this year, Thanksgiving occurs on the first day of Chanukah. This rare event has caused much discussion and interest in the calendar. Although many of us remember Chanukah beginning during the weekend of Thanksgiving (e.g., in 1975 and 2002, Chanukah began on Friday night, the day after Thanksgiving), no one seems to remember a time when Chanukah and Thanksgiving actually coincided.

Why is this occurrence so infrequent? Chanukah usually falls in the civil calendar during the month of December. In “early years,” it begins in late November, and in “late years” it ends in early January. This year, the first day of Chanukah is on November 28th. This is an extremely early day in the solar calendar. In the 20th century, this only happened once, in 1994, when Chanukah began on Monday, November 28th. Thanksgiving that year was on the previous Thursday (see below what was special about that Chnaukah).

I have a wonderful daughter-in-law. Everybody says so, and actually, I also think she is wonderful. She is very warm and friendly and always willing to help anyone. She invites people for meals, cooks for the sick, and welcomes guests to sleep at her home. In fact, she extends herself to everyone – everyone, that is, who is not in her family.

I don’t want to sound like the mother-in-law who is complaining about a daughter-in-law. I have always treated all my daughters and daughters-in-law the same in every way. If my daughter were treating her husband this way, I would

I don't have any major problems. Thank G-d, I and my family are healthy, the children are doing well, and we have a decent livelihood. That’s why I am ashamed to admit that I am not happy. Before I got married, I expected to feel great intimacy with my husband. As it turns out, the nature of his business is such that he is always on call and is rarely able to join us for a picnic or trip. I feel that he take me for granted and doesn’t really respect me. My children are at an age when they don’t need me much. At one time I had a great desire to be in real estate sales, but I gave up that dream long ago. I go through the days mechanically. I think I’m headed for depression. What do you suggest?

The Etz Chaim Center for Jewish
Living and Learning has certainly come a long way since I worked in its 300-square foot office in the Imperial condominium on Clark’s Lane, close to 30 years ago. Its metamorphosis into the 21st century became even more obvious to me after meeting with Rabbi Shlomo Porter, the organization’s long-time Dean and President, and native South African Rabbi Nitzan Bergman, its new Executive Director.

  The new Etz Chaim is a “tree of life” that branches out and leaves no Jew behind; it provides a rich, meaningful Torah education and lifestyle experience to Jews of

It was erev Shabbos and the suits of
two of my sons were at the cleaners. My husband was going out so I asked him to please pick them up. Knowing that he had a lot on his mind, I reminded him two or three times before he left.

  A half an hour before Shabbos, my kids were getting ready. “Tatti, did you pick up my suit?”
  “Uh-oh! I forgot to go to the cleaners.” In my frustration, I was ready to say, “That’s why I kept reminding you, so you wouldn’t forget! Now they have nothing to wear

For years, one of Edna´s* favorite pastimes was to feed the residents of her small hometown´s Jewish Old Age Home. She felt good about volunteering and took great pleasure in keeping in touch with the residents – many of whom were friends and neighbors who could no longer live on their own. When a serious fall prevented Edna from living independently, she was transferred from the nearby hospital into the same Home where she had volunteered for more than a decade.

Edna was so familiar with the facility and its residents that she felt right at home. She also had sisters-in-law