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Dear Alice,

Now with the whole Coronavirus outbreak the kids are home, I’m off from work, and I’m super scared to steer off my diet! Any tips on how to stay on track while staying home?

There is a famous statement of the ARI’ZL which states that the hebrew words “Yom Kippurim” contain an allusion to Purim. If we break down the word Kippurim   into a shorter word that is introduced by a prefix, i.e.-Ki-purim, we get the hebrew word Ki-Purim, meaning “like Purim”. The ARI’ZL explains that this allusion teaches us that Yom Kippur is only like the holiday of Purim but not as great. This statement of the ARI’ZL requires clarification. How can it be that Yom Kippur, the holiday when Jews from all walks of life come to shul and pray a whole day to Hashem while fasting the entire time, is on a lower level than the holiday of Purim? On Purim we spend most of our day eating, drinking, and making merry!

I need more space for the guests to sleep...Chaya Rochel already finished cleaning and is already stocking her freezer...last year’s Pesachdike apple kugel tasted weird, I need to find a new recipe...the boys need haircuts...I need to find an outfit for the baby to match the girls...wow, look at the price of matza this year...look at the price of everything - how do people do it?....my girls really don’t help enough...I’m so tired and I can’t afford to get sick...did I really just eat half that bag of chips? Where did the rest of those chocolates go - I ate them?! I MUST lose 10 pounds before Pesach! Why did I let myself eat that? I need to go shopping for Pesach clothes, but I really want to lose weight first.... 

 Dear Alice,

I am so nervous about the upcoming fast of Taanit Esther. I usually make all sorts of baked goods to break my fast on, and I want this year to be different. I have been following your program for a few weeks already and I don’t want to mess this up now! Please advise.

Recap: More Jews came to the zoo. Mimi is leading a game for the children when Mrs. Zabinski plays the Chopin – a signal to be very quiet and stay hidden upstairs. Nazis march in and accuse Mrs. Zabinski of setting fire to a Nazi warehouse on the zoo premises.

Myth: Erasing women from view is about tznius.

Truth: Erasing women from view is the opposite of tznius.

My father is a teacher of math by profession. He taught math for many years and is still teaching part-time even after his retirement. My older son is described as a math genius by his teachers. Both my father and my son love math, but I think that gene skipped a generation. I was an advanced math student and I passed the AP Calculus exam, but I didn’t like math. However, I find that the math I learned comes up in some unexpected places. One of those is tznius. Yes, really.