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I’d like to share with you an incredible story that was told to me firsthand by Malkie*. Sometime last Elul, Malkie received a phone call from a friend telling her about a kallah in the neighborhood who was due to get married the following week. The kallah had absolutely no money to buy even the most basic essentials to start off her marriage.  She couldn’t even afford a pair of socks.  The chosson came from a complicated background and was likewise unable to contribute to setting up their home.  The couple was in desperate need of help, and with one week to go, there was no time to lose. Malkie considered posting a request for donations to the local n’shei (a group of women who join together with the goal of helping members of the community in matters big and small), but decided against it.  With all the help that the women constantly provided for each other, nobody ever asked for money.  That would be opening up a Pandora’s box that would never close.  Even though Malkie chose not to ask for funds, something niggled at the back of her mind and wouldn’t let her rest.  She really felt badly for the kallah and realized that Hashem had arranged for her to come upon this information for a reason.  She had to try to help her. 

Being an astronomy enthusiast, I like to keep track of the evening sky, meteor showers, planet rotation, and the like.  For years I’ve had the wish to travel away from the city to a spot where there is limited light pollution so that I could view the stars and planets under a crisp, clear sky.  However, the members of my family who share many of my interests don’t share the same enthusiasm as I have for this particular hobby.  Somehow, I finally managed to convince my husband and daughter to join me on a Sky Tour in Makhtesh Ramon, the Ramon Crater - one of the best places in the country for stargazing. One of the great things about living in Israel is that in our tiny country we have a considerable variety of climates, topography, and scenery, all within a short distance.  After a quick two-hour drive from our home, we reached the desert.

(This article originally appeared in The Jewish Press.)

I’ve always loved roller coasters, although this may not be obvious to my friends and others in my company who see me alight from my vehicle barely able to speak for having lost my voice due to my screaming through the entire ride.  Despite the constant shrieking, I find the nervous anticipation of the slow climbs and the hair-raising terror of the speeding descents absolutely exhilarating. 

In the last few hundred years, much progress has been made in the field of medicine. There have been many revolutionary discoveries that have changed and continue to change the face of medical treatment.

The shofar blast on Rosh Chodesh heralds the month of Elul, the period of soul-searching and introspection leading up to the Yamim Nora’im. It serves as a thunderous wake-up call that Rosh HaShanah is quickly approaching.  Do teshuvah! Get your affairs in order!  But at the same time, there has been another low hum reverberating in the air here, which has increased over the last few weeks and has now reached a resounding crescendo: Shmitah is coming! 

As we inherited a timeshare in the center of Jerusalem from my parents, during the summer, we try to take advantage of the opportunity afforded to us and spend Shabbos there. So, last week our daughter kindly dropped us off at the hotel and waved goodbye. She was happy to have the car to herself for a few days, and we were happy not to have to spend our entire vacation looking for parking. Win-win.