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Recap: Miss Gross, the woman her father is dating, is expected for supper. Just after she arrives, Yehudis’ father gets a call that his mother fell and he has to rush to see her in the hospital.

 “The best defense is a good offense.” Though often attributed to Michael Jordan, this adage was first said by George Washington in 1799. It is also known as the “Strategic Offensive Principle of War.”

Recap: In the journal, Yishai went to help out Miriam and Ezra. Ezra is away, and there is a blizzard, and now it looks like Miriam is going into labor. Yishai must go out into the blizzard to get help. Back in the present, Yehudis is not happy in the new school. She wanted to be friends with Sari but Sari’s friend is giving her a cold shoulder. On top of that, she discovered that her father is dating someone and that someone is invited for supper.

Jacob Steinmetz’s roots and love of sports are firmly embedded in the New York area. Jacob is the son of Elliot and Sima Steinmetz, longtime Woodmere residents. His father was once a basketball player at Yeshiva University, and recently brought its basketball program to astounding successes as the coach of the YU Maccabees. Jacob’s grandparents, Michael and Patti Steinmetz, also of Woodmere, are thrilled to see their grandson become the first known observant Orthodox player to be picked in a Major League Baseball draft.

 Sadness is something

We all must face:

A condition of the human race.

A lion doesn’t worry

About what lies in store;

A sheep doesn’t wonder,

“Shouldn’t life hold something more?”

Many run from sadness,

Find distractions, to escape.

Pills, drinks, entertainment,

Only briefly placate.

One thing holds the answer,

Fills the heart’s empty hole:

Being present, connecting

To our G-dly soul.

Peace is the “happiness”

We actually seek:

A meaningful life,

Even when things seem bleak.

David said: “If I ascend up to heaven,

Thou art there.”

“If I make my bed in hell,

Behold, Thou art there.”

Broken-hearted or exalted,

Amid life’s twists and turns,

Though untrained get discouraged,

The perceptive one learns.

It’s all about the journey,

“B’chol d’rachecha da’iehu” –

In all your ways, know Him –

In skies stormy, or blue.

At a wedding,

It’s hard to tell

Family from guests;

All are smiling, celebrating,

Festively dressed.

Lo aleinu, at a l’vayah

One can tell, easily,

Who in attendance is family.

They look broken,

They’re crying,

Heads down, clothes torn.

Those we love gone from us now,

We stand helpless, forlorn.

We are Hashem’s family,

HaKadosh Baruch Hu’s firstborn.

Until His House is rebuilt,

With Him, we will mourn.

This means, Chaim ben Yitzchak,

The Volozhin, said:

Our neshamos still live.

The Beis HaMikdash

Is not dead!

The nations would have

Built fortresses

To protect you,

Sworn allegiance forever,

If only they knew

The zenith of benefit 

That would have occurred.

A conduit of blessing

From heaven to earth,

Goodness and mercy

Would have enveloped them

From Your house in Jerusalem.

What a world it will be

When they, at last, understand:

Crowning the G-d of Israel,

Is the destiny of man.

HaKadosh Baruch Hu,

Through history’s crucible,

You’ve always been with us;

You always will.

Our only true surety,

Guarding our faith and trust:

For in joy and in sadness,

You are with us.

By Sharon Marcus

This is NOT your grandma’s surgery

By Daniel Popowitz, DPM, FACFAS