Baltimore, MD - Apr. 15, 2026 - OCA is proud to announce that three students from our Chidon HaTanach club qualified for national finals of the Chidon HaTanach competition. Mazel Tov to Gavi Erez (‘27), Anna Devorah Meles (‘28) and Ami Safren (‘27) from the Middle School National Division. The Chidon HaTanach is sponsored by the Jewish Agency and is open to students in grades 6-12. OCA is registered in the highly competitive Hebrew Middle School division of the Chidon HaTanach for schools that learn and master the text in Lashon HaKodesh. Over 600 students from across the United States participated in the first round of tests.Under the guidance of Rabbi Mordechai Abrahams, dedicated OCA students worked hard to learn all of Sefer Bereishit, all of Shmuel Bet, and sele...
Baltimore County, MD - Apr. 15, 2026 - A growing staffing shortage in the Baltimore County Police Department is fueling a dispute over how many officers the agency is actually down — and raising concerns about response times and officer burnout.
FOP President Douglass Jess said the department is facing far more vacancies than the number it publicly reports. “The 10th, the vacancy of report was 162 sworn vacancies,” Jess said. But, he added, “The forward-facing report is half of the actual number.”
Jess said the department’s counting method includes recruits who are currently in the police academy, even though, he argues, they are not sworn officers and cannot fill the roles needed on the street. He said those recruits are “incapable of getting ...
Baltimore, MD – Apr. 15, 2026 - BJL wishes a hearty Mazel Tov to Noach Benz (Baltimore) and Chanie Brown (Hillside, NJ) on their engagement.
יה"ר שיזכו לבנות בית נאמן בישראל. אמן!
Baltimore, MD - Apr. 14, 2026 - Bikur Cholim of Baltimore is excited to announce - thanks to State Senator Dalya Attar and Delegates Sean Stinnett and Sandy Rosenberg - $125,000.00 of state funds have been allocated for the renovations of the new Bikur Cholim Khoshkheraman Recovery and Wellness House, located at the corner of Park Heights and Falstaff. These funds will help BC renovate the center into four beautiful accessible suites. This will enable us to forgo our leases on apartments, saving us tens of thousands of dollars annually. The basement will be used for storage of our medical equipment Gemach. On behalf of the Board of Directors, we would like to thank the Senator, the delegates, the Khoshkheraman family, board member Dr. Ellie Miller, and Mr. Yehuda Neuberger for making this ...
Baltimore, MD - Apr. 14, 2026 - This is another notice of a different person that should not be in the shul. The person pictured below is Arthur Granman. He has a long history of disruptive outbursts, threatening behavior, and unauthorized access to other local shuls as well. His behavior is said to be unpredictable, is easily agitated, screams and curses. There has been at least one reported physical altercation at a different location. If you see him in shul, the police should be contacted immediately and report him trespassing. Thank you!
Baltimore, MD – Apr. 14, 2026 - BJL wishes a hearty Mazel Tov to Benzy and Sorah Palanker on the birth of a son.
יה"ר שיזכו לגדל בנם לתורה, לחופה, ולמעשים טובים. אמן!
Baltimore, MD - Apr. 14, 2026 - As this year’s legislative session comes to a close, a proposal that would have increased penalties for stealing firearms failed to advance in Maryland, while lawmakers approved a separate measure restricting the sale of certain guns.
HB 0863, known as the Gun Theft Felony Act of 2026, never made it to the second reading. The bill sought to make theft of a firearm a felony, with penalties of up to five years in prison. The bill was originally introduced last session, where it also failed to move to a second reading.
Lt. Douglas Jess, president of the Baltimore County Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 4, criticized the bill’s failure to gain traction. “The same legislature that is touting anti-gun violence, made sure that that bill did...
On the eve of the official Holocaust Remembrance Day, I received a photo of Holocaust survivor Dov Landau, age 97, dancing at his great-grandson’s wedding.That alone conveys a powerful message, but Ora Angel, the bride’s sister, sent me a few more astonishing details:This is the eighth great-grandchild (!) at whose wedding Grandpa Dov Has merited to dance. He is fully healthy, and active, and under the chuppah he also blessed the couple.During the dancing, as is his custom, he uncovered his arm, on which a number from the camps is tattooed. Dov was born in Poland, survived Auschwitz and five additional camps, and endured two death marches. He was ultimately liberated from Buchenwald.At age 17, he immigrated to Israel by himself. He is the sole survivor of his family. Duri...
Baltimore, MD – Apr. 14, 2026 – 8:07AM (BJL) – An accident involving a Police car and a van at the intersection of Slade/Milford & Reisterstown Road near the old Dougie’s has the area totally blocked off.
Avoid the area.
Baltimore, MD - Apr. 14, 2026 - In Eretz Yisroel, Yom HaShoa has been commemorated. The siren has been sounded. People across the country have stopped whatever they were doing, whether it was driving, working, you name it, as they paused for our People, remembering the Six Million Kedoshim for a short and simultaneously very long one hundred twenty seconds.
I have never seen this in action; however, once upon a time when I was in seminary, I did hear the siren, and I am grateful to whoever warned me in advance as to what it was. As an 18-year-old, without being able to comprehend the full impact of what the Holocaust was and its devastating impact, it didn’t really mean much to me at the time. Now, I feel different. Perhaps it is an age thing, as I have matur...
Leah Rieder, of blessed memory, was laid to rest on Monday morning in Yerushalayim. A few words of farewell.The first meeting“My name is Leah Rieder,” a gracious woman introduced herself at an event in New York. “Tomorrow my mother, a 96-year-old Holocaust survivor, is coming to the historic Siyum HaShas. Come.”So I came.I arrived the following day with a camera crew. One hundred thousand Jews had gathered at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey for the celebration. Anyone who studies one page of Gemara a day eventually completes the entire Shas. And Torah learning with such dedication, especially in the United States, is something to celebrate and honor.Leah introduced me to her mother, who became the focus of the report I later aired. Marlit Wandel had survived nine conc...
Yom HaShoah began as a day of commemoration, a day to remember the lives destroyed, the world we lost, and the unspeakable tragedies inflicted upon our people. It also charged us with a responsibility, to ensure that this would never happen again. “Never again” became the anthem to which the generations after the Holocaust bound themselves.
Over time, the day has become more than commemoration of what was lost in the Holocaust. It has become a moment to reflect on the trajectory and arc of Jewish history in its aftermath, and on what the Holocaust has taught us about the enduring nature of antisemitism. It is not only a day that looks backward to those horrific years and renews the pledge of “never again.” It is a day on which we consider Jewish history more broadl...
Baltimore, MD – Apr. 13, 2026 – (BJL) A male and female have been seen walking through neighborhoods in our community stealing packages from front porches. Video footage shows the pair taking a package from one home early this past Shabbos morning.The suspects were last seen at approximately 6:15PM this evening heading toward Reisterstown Road via Clarks Lane. The female was wearing a red shirt, and the male was wearing a gray shirt. Both were wearing hats.If you see them, please call 911 and Shomrim at 410-358-9999
Baltimore, MD – Apr. 12, 2026 – BJL regrets to inform the community of the petira of Earle Freedman, z’l, husband of Gertrude Freedman and father of Barbara (Craig) Newman and Rozzie (Joel) Chazen.Shiva will be observed at 3406 Old Forest Road, Baltimore, MD 21208Visiting and Minyan Information:
Sunday, 7:00pm - 9:00pm (Mincha-Maariv: 7:30pm)
Monday - Thursday, 2:00pm - 5:00pm & 7:00pm - 9:00pm (Mincha-Maariv @ 7:30pm)
Friday, 1:00pm - 3:00pm
בלע המות לנצח
Baltimore, MD - Apr. 13, 2026 - Aish Kodesh (6207 Ivymount Road) will host a daily Plag Mincha/Maariv minyan Sunday through Thursday throughout the summer.Mincha will begin 13 minutes before Plag HaMincha each day.
Baltimore, MD – Apr. 13, 206 – 3:08PM (BJL) – Be aware of a heavy police presence in the area of Sunfresh Market at the intersection of Reisterstown Road and Clarendon Ave., causing traffic delays.
