A Book Review

What does it mean to be a bar mitzva? How does one keep up the momentum long after they reach the age of 13? What are the obligations of a girl who becomes bat mitzva? These questions and more are thoroughly explored and answered in the newest book by Rabbi Yehoshua Alt, Phenomenal Insights about Bar Mitzva and Tefillin (2026). Rabbi Alt* gathers insights from throughout the Torah to present more than 50 engaging essays on the significance of becoming bar mitzva and tefillin. Written in a clear and accessible style, this book is suitable for Jews of all ages and makes a wonderful bar mitzva present. The insights, including the source of the bar mitzva “pshetel” (speech), can be a valuable resource for speeches by bar mitzva boys, parents, and rabbanim alike.

The book also features inspiring stories, such as that of a man approaching the age of 105 who decided to put on tefillin for the very first time, inspiring a pre-med student to begin as well. As the student put it: “If a man can begin putting on tefillin at 105, why shouldn’t I start now? Why wait until I’m 105?” We also learn what happens to the soul when a boy becomes bar mitzva. For some people, the significance of a bar mitzva might only be revealed later. Still, it is always worthwhile to prepare well before one becomes a gadol. This book allows one to do just that.

Sleep is very important and is, along with nutrition and exercise, a foundation of health and wellness.

Besides allowing the body to rest and recharge, there are certain critical functions that the brain conducts during sleep. Sleep gives the brain a chance to repair itself and remove toxins that have accumulated during the day. It plays a crucial role in consolidating memories by converting newly acquired information into long-term memory. Adequate sleep also helps to regulate our emotions; a lack of sleep can cause irritability, mood swings, and reacting emotionally. Less than an optimal amount of sleep can also lead to decreased concentration, lowered attention span, and cause problems with learning. It can lead to decreased focus, depression, feeling tired, weight gain, and diminished performance at work.

Regarding the unexpected effect on weight, interestingly, research has shown that the amount of sleep that we get at night affects the amount and types of food we eat during the day. Lack of sleep is associated with an increased desire for high calorie foods, and the more sleep deprived we are, the stronger the craving. One study showed that, compared to people who slept nine hours, those who only slept four hours consumed 300 extra calories the next day (Am J Clin Nutr 2011; 94 (2):410-416).

Research has also shown that people who are sleep deprived have a higher amount of stress. This could be related to a lack of energy leading to a decreased desire to exercise, and it is known that exercise relieves stress. Other possible effects of insufficient sleep include high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, depression, and impairment of the immune system (J Immunology.214;(3) 3/2025.347-359).

by Dalya Attar

Dear Baltimore Community,

I recently saw a phrase being used regarding the upcoming election that stuck with me:

“Act now, or don’t complain later.”

The more I thought about it, the more I realized how perfectly it applies to this election.

Over the past several months, I have heard a consistent message from our Rabbanim and community leaders: Vote. I’ve heard speeches about it. I’ve received calls about it. I’ve listened to Rabbanim emphasize it from the pulpit. In fact, I’ve even heard some say that just as we are careful to eat kosher, we have an obligation to participate in elections that directly impact our community.

The message could not be clearer.

But if everyone understands the importance of voting, then why do we keep repeating it?

The answer is simple: Because too many people still do not vote.

And in an election that is expected to be one of the closest our community has seen, that reality matters more than ever.

by Chavi Horowitz

Many years ago, I taught Hebrew school in Randallstown, Maryland. In my class was a young man from a completely irreligious background who had a very illustrious last name in Lithuanian Orthodox circles. Clearly, this young man was a scion of one of the most famous families of Torah luminaries in the last 200 years. It was painful to see how ignorant he was of his heritage and neither knew nor cared about Judaism in any way. Fast forward many years. A young woman came looking for

by R. Kay

There are several situations in life that chazal refer to as “kasheh k’krias yam suf.”  One is finding a match and another is Parnassa.  The common denominator is the sense of desperation we sometimes feel in these situations, and, after our tefillos are answered, the recognition that the (sometimes highly improbable) circumstances that converged to bring about the Yeshua were Divinely orchestrated. 

Interestingly, these two challenges go hand in hand when financial arrangements for the wedding and support for the newlyweds cause new financial pressures. This is more than likely for a typical frum family with children close in age who get married in rapid succession.

Unfortunately, community standards have risen over the past several decades, and it has become increasingly difficult to stick to the timeless values that our grandparents lived by, such as “Don’t spend more than you can afford,” and “Keep your eyes on your own plate.” To be fair, the main reason middle-class simchas these days are not as simple as they used to be is probably because life itself is not as simple as it used to be. Our lives are much more hectic, and many of us are stretched to our limits by our daily obligations. Therefore, putting together a nice family Shabbos for the aufruf or Shabbos sheva brachos usually requires some level of outsourcing, which has raised the price – and the bar.

Regardless of the challenges involved, many people who were not blessed with wealth make several chasanas within a few years. How is that possible?

When I was young, we used to play a game called Telephone. One person whispered a sentence in the ear of the person next to her, and that person passed it down the line. The fun of the game was to hear the final message, which was always very different from the original one.

The same misunderstandings happen in the real world when telephone, text, and email messages – even face-to-face conversations – get muddled when repeated from one person to another. Whether it is a typo in a text or ambiguous words that are misinterpreted or simply because people sometimes hear what they want to hear, the result is the same: the speaker’s intent doesn’t come through.

You might think that communication in our digital age would be an improvement over the past. But, although everyone today has their own phone and can be reached wherever they are, our instantaneous digital conversations have their downsides. You can’t read the other person’s body language when texting or emailing, so you miss cues to understanding. Emojis are a poor substitute. Texts, especially, are usually written in a hurry and are often misunderstood. Sometimes people even send a text or email to the wrong person! When people talk face to face, at least you can see the other person’s expressions and reactions. Yet, even that is not enough. 

When I moved back to Baltimore in 2017, after many years in Atlanta, I discovered that I would have to register as a Democrat if I wanted my vote to count. That’s because Maryland is a Democratic-dominated state, and the primary elections, where Democrats compete to determine who will be the candidates, are vitally important for the final election. But as I checked Democrat for the party affiliation on my registration card, I wondered if I should have asked a shailah, because I was a Republican at heart. After researching this article, however, I realize that it’s okay. I registered as a Democrat in order to elect officials who will help our kehilla.

Rabbi Boruch Neuberger, Menahal of Ner Israel Rabbinical College and Board Member of Agudath Israel of Maryland, says, “The reason we have to vote in big numbers is because we need to vote for people who have the ability to advance our community’s needs.” He adds, “The reality is that we live in a ‘blue state.’ But we’re not waving blue or red flags or voting for party platforms. We’re voting for the candidates who are willing to support our chinuch and chesed organizations.” He stresses that we are giving organizations like Agudah Maryland access to elected officials who will be successful advocating for our community.  

I left Minsk, Belarus – blessed be that moment – for America in October of 1992. Afterwards, I visited it twice, in 1994 and 2017, each time leaving the city, my home of 31 years, with the firm intention to never go again. However, in the summer of 2024 I changed my mind and did travel to Minsk. Moreover, seeing Jewish religious life reviving there, regretfully not as quickly and noticeably as it is doing in Moscow, made me want to repeat this pleasant experience.  

What had compelled me to make the trip is a book I have been working on about my late father, Zvi Hirsh Mikhlin, who was a shochet from 1944 to 1973 in Bobruisk, the small town about 100 miles south-west of Minsk where I grew up. I assumed that if I could find some confirmation of this fact – the mention of his name in a publication or any information in a local historical museum – it would be helpful for publishing my book.  

I spent numerous hours in the Main Reading Room of the Library of Congress in Washington DC, trying in vain to find my father’s name in one of the dozen books about Jewish life in the Soviet Union. Surprisingly, my Bobruisk is mentioned in almost every one of these books. It was one of only a few places in postwar Belarus, besides Minsk, of course, where was a functioning synagogue. I was thrilled that at least the fact there was a shochet in the town is proven. My father’s name isn’t mentioned even in a recently published book about Jewish life in Belarus during the final decade of the Stalin regime by Leonid Smilovitsky, a Belarusian-born historian, where many fascinating details about religious life in Bobruisk are uncovered, even the names and addresses of its 75 religious residents.

by Yehuda Avner

Editor’s Note: Fifty-nine years since the Six Day War, the stupendous victory is remembered; the panic and trepidation preceding it largely forgotten. The author, advisor, diplomat, and speech writer to five prime ministers, recalls that fraught time.

Syria’s stratagem to divert the headwaters of the Jordan River, from November 1964 to May 1967, led to a series of border clashes with Syrian forces and continued to menace Israel like a floating mine. By late spring of 1967, the situation had deteriorated so drastically that war correspondents began descending on Israel in droves.

With mounting audacity, provocation followed provocation as Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasser made common cause with Syria, moving his vast army and air force into the Sinai, ousting the United Nations peacekeeping forces, blockading Israel’s Red Sea port of Eilat, closing the narrow Straits of Tiran, and signing a war pact with King Hussein that put the Jordanian army under Egyptian command. Other Arab states quickly adhered to the alliance, which Nasser told cheering Egyptians was designed to “totally annihilate the State of Israel once and for all.”

Even before this dire peril, Israel’s mood had been low. The nation was suffering from an unprecedented economic slump that put tens of thousands out of work. Record numbers had left the country, and the macabre joke of the day told of a sign at Lod – now Ben-Gurion Airport – reading, “Will the last one to leave please switch off the lights?”

As enemy forces mobilized in the north, the south, and the east, and mobs in Cairo, Baghdad, and Damascus howled “Death to the Jews!” and “Throw the Jews into the sea!” people spoke with chilling seriousness of the possibility of total physical annihilation.

*  *  *

The Government Press Office, straining under the weight of processing accreditations to the seemingly endless flow of arriving war correspondents, asked me to pitch in, translating official communiqués and giving pro-forma briefings in my spare time. This was what brought me to the King David Hotel’s coffee shop on the afternoon of 27 May, to keep an appointment with two correspondents, one from the Houston Chronicle, and the other from the London Guardian. They were interested in an overall review and a quick tour of the shattered frontier zone that had sundered Jerusalem’s heart in the battles of the 1948 War of Independence and which, ever since, had been a looming frontline, with East Jerusalem occupied by Jordan.

I often hear a common story when parents call me to discuss a child they are struggling with. They can usually reminisce and think back to fifth or sixth grade, when the relationship was less challenging and more positive. Now the child is in ninth or tenth grade, and the relationship has regressed. It feels distant, complicated, and tense.

When things are difficult, we need to look at our options. We need to take a breath and give ourselves a sense of empowerment. We are better than our child at complex thinking and problem solving, better at compartmentalizing, and better at navigating what it might take to repair the relationship. Our kids, as much as they crave a good relationship – and I promise you they do – don’t have the bandwidth or the tools to piece it back together and lead the way. As parents, we need to embrace the responsibility that we are the ones who can help move the relationship back to a healthier direction.

The typical situation may look familiar. You have a child you are struggling with. They are not getting up in the morning. They are not meeting expectations. They are not helping around the house. They do not get along with siblings. You are fighting with them. Once in a while, you try to talk and it goes well, but then everything blows up again. There may be consequences, threats, and frustration, and the child spends a lot of time alone in their room. It usually turns into a vicious cycle, and nothing seems to consistently help. At that point, we need to slow down and figure out what is going on and how to help.