It was hard to believe. Remember the date: August 31, 2020. Fox News reported: “A Star of David-adorned El Al plane flew from Israel to the United Arab Emirates on Monday, carrying a high-ranking American and Israeli delegation to Abu Dhabi in the first-ever direct commercial passenger flight between the two countries.”

The Israeli delegation was headed by National Security Council Chief Meir Ben-Shabbat (who always wears a kippa), while the American delegation was headed by senior White House advisor Jared Kushner, President Trump’s religiously-traditional Jewish son-in-law. They came with their advisors and government ministers to hammer out the details of a historic peace agreement between Israel and the UAE, the third Arab country to “normalize” relations with the Jewish State.

As we all know, a general election is coming up on November 3. It is very important for our community to participate in elections. Not only do elections determine the policies and direction of our city, county, state, and country; they also show our politicians that we care enough to vote, prompting them to pay more attention to our community. It is also vital to show hakaras hatov (gratitude) to those elected officials who have helped us in the past and whose actions and words show that they will be there for us in the future.

The offices we are voting for this year are U.S. president/vice president, congressional representatives (but not senators), and court judges. The City is also voting for mayor, City council president, comptroller, and City council members. In October, registered voters will receive a sample ballot in the mail with the entire list. (The deadline for registering is October 13.)

Because of the risks of Corona, our government officials have provided additional options for voting this year. The options are to vote in person or by mail-in ballot.

 Several months ago, shortly after the onset of the current COVID pandemic, I wrote an article, originally intended for my family, which was eventually published in this journal. My focus then was on adjusting to “tefilah b’yichidus,” private tefilos in our home, rather than davening with a minyan in shul. (See the Nissan issue of WWW).

Our reintegration to shuls has come in stages. For what seemed like an eternity, many of us davened in outdoor minyanim, sometimes under the blazing sun, drizzling rain, or chilly weather, often too early for some or too late for others. Since then, our community, like many others, has been struggling with reopening – and keeping open – our shuls and schools. Virtually all shuls locally are mandating proper face coverings throughout the tefilah. Most provide masks and sanitizer at the entrance to the shul for those who need them.

In the little time that has passed since the announcement of a peace accord between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (and Bahrain), we have been hearing a lot of similar stories. The predominantly Moslem European country of Kosova is going to establish relations with Israel and put its Israeli embassy in Jerusalem. Serbia, which already had relations with Israel, will likely be moving its embassy to Jerusalem, and there is a chance that the Czech Republic and perhaps even Austria will be moving their embassies to Jerusalem as well.

Far more valuable to us than any other liquid, water is the most precious substance on this planet. Despite the fact that it is readily available, we should not take for granted the colorless, tasteless fluid that forms the very foundation of life as we know it. While we can survive for weeks without food, and months without socializing in person or having reliable internet access (okay, that last one was tricky with five kids trying to Zoom at the same time), we wouldn't last more than a few days without water.

This year’s Sukkos is bound to be like no other in our memory. Thinking it would be fun to take a sentimental journey to “Sukkos past,” I polled some connections here in Baltimore and around the world asking them to share their warmest, fondest, cutest, funniest, and scariest sukkah memories.

I am going out with a guy. I like him a lot, and he seems to be interested in me as well. I am 25, and he is 26. He is very smart as well as kind – with lots of other wonderful qualities that I am looking for. On our last date, however, we unexpectedly got into an argument. We were talking about the news, and to my surprise, I found out that his ideas about politics were completely opposite of mine.

On March 15, 2020 we started sheltering in place. It will have been 201 days by the time Sukkos arrives. Loved ones have passed, friends have had babies, simchas and milestones have come and gone, and hugs were given virtually. What have I learned? 1) That spending time with my kids is time well spent. 2) That everyone loves mail. If you miss someone, send them a package. 3) That even though we have to conform to many rules, being kind, generous, and thoughtful is always good. 

The children are finally back in school, and both you and they are feeling relief and excitement. Unfortunately, you may also be feeling apprehension. I think we would all agree that this school year is setting up to be the most unusual we have ever experienced! For the children, there are many new restrictions in place regarding wearing masks, how to play during recess, how to sit at their desks, and how to interact with their friends.

When I finished high school, 45 years ago, one of the dilemmas our family discussed was whether or not to go to college. While many Orthodox Jews were educated in the best universities and worked as professionals, some more right-wing families were unwilling to risk sending their Bais Yaakov-educated daughters and yeshiva-educated sons, raised in our insular community, to a school where they would study in coed classes and be exposed to alien ideas.