The storm has been raging now for a full year, and some days I feel like I can barely keep my head above water. We are living life day-to-day, never knowing what text message we will find in the morning to tell us of another class closed or another name to have in mind in our prayers. Struggling against powerful currents that pull us farther and farther from shore, we search for a bubble of calm that we can use to steady ourselves like an anchor in rough seas.

These essays were written about Covid 19 for the Machon Menoras Hachochma 2^nd annual Esther Malka national writing contest by the 9^th grade students of Mesivta Shaarei Chaim.

I remember way back when I was in second grade (trust me, it was way back!), and I came home one day rather upset. My dad was sitting in his favorite chair concentrating on his newspaper. He saw me standing there and said, “Do you need something?”

I said, “Yes, a kid in my class beat me up today!”

My dad looked at me and said, “Well, as I see it, you’ve got two choices: Learn to fight or learn to run.”

Yep! That was the sum and total of our conversation. Can anyone imagine such a conversation taking place today? These days, many parents reflexively intervene to defend their kids “rights” and demand answers from teachers, school administrators, and sometimes lawyers to look after their “fragile” kids – that is, their kids whom they themselves have made fragile.

Today, as on the last couple of Sundays, I hitched my bike rack to the rear of my car to load my bike and then pick up my riding partner and hit Israel’s trails. I inadvertently over-loosened a mechanical arm that holds the bike in place, and it came apart. Not being mechanical, I was at wit’s end. It “just so happened” that a fellow wearing a kippa and a spotted mask walked by, and, although I didn’t know him, I asked if he could help me put it back together. He gave it a try and succeeded! He literally saved the day. It was as if G-d had sent an angel. And it made me think of angels in my past, especially the “invisible” and the unexpected ones – those messengers who worked behind the scenes. This article is dedicated to a few of these people: people who cared and who made a major impact on my life – some without me even being aware of it until years later.

A new source of hope in the treatment of COVID-19, nearly a year after its emergence, is a therapy called monoclonal antibodies. This treatment is now being offered by Hatzalah of Baltimore. We asked Dr. Yosef Levenbrown, Medical Director of Hatzalah of Baltimore, to help us understand the treatment and to whom it is available.  

The praises for Rebbetzin Dr. Aviva Weisbord, a”h – affectionately known simply as Aviva – pour in from around the world. They paint a picture of an extraordinary personality. Steeped in Jewish values, Aviva also had incisive intelligence, insight, good judgment, and empathy. What can we at the Where What When add? Indeed, Aviva was one of those people for whom no amount of praise will suffice. And so we decided to let Aviva “speak for herself.”

You see, aside from being so many things to so many people, Aviva wrote for us. She was generous with her time and her wisdom, and her monthly advice column, “Growing up Is Hard to Do,” ran for many years. The articles she submitted were models of clarity that seemed to flow effortlessly from her orderly mind. Not a misspelled word or a misplaced comma was to be found on the sheets of paper covered with her neat, curvilinear handwriting. (Yes, in the early years, the columns came by mail.) Aviva always grasped the essence of the problem. At the same time, she was full of kindness and encouragement. Here are some short excerpts from her writing:

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Dr. Naor Bar-Zeev, who has been in the forefront of educating the public about COVID-19, graciously agree to answer a few questions about COVID-19.

Q: In Israel, they have already vaccinated 1 million people. Why the delay here? When and where will the vaccine be available?

Grocery shopping and taxes are not often thought of as having much in common. Yet they are similar in that they both require adequate, often time-consuming, preparation in order to be done efficiently.

Before shopping, you have the option of preparing a list. Items can be prioritized and a plan put into place before setting foot in the store. This will save time as there will be no need to go up and down every aisle looking for inspiration and then having to go back after realizing that you missed something. A list lessens the chance of arriving home only to realize that you forgot that one important item that brought you to the store in the first place.    

Many years ago, I read an article in Jewish Action by Rabbi Abraham Twerski, MD, entitled “Time for a Rosh Hashanah Overhaul.” His message has stayed with me over the years, but I am only trying to implement it now.

Rabbi Twerski, who has done extensive work in the field of alcoholism, was at a meeting where a man who was sober for 30 years said, “The man I once was drank. And the man who I once was will drink again. I can stay sober only by not going back to being the person I was before I began drinking.”

Life presents us with challenges as we go about our daily activities: working, shopping, bringing up our families, and more. We try to do all this as ehrliche Jews, keeping to the halachos. Sometimes, though, we are not aware that halacha has something to say about a given circumstance. Take the seemingly esoteric – though actually quite common – situation where one person is trying to obtain something and another person undercuts him or her and takes that item instead. Let’s examine a few such scenarios.