Acherim

And we have to make sure that kid and that family and every other family knows that, that the internet would prefer their child was injured or killed by that gorilla, rather than the gorilla die.

But for many more, animals are not more important than all people. Just some people (most people). The ones who don't matter. I mean, they're not really people, right? If animals are more important than them, aren't they just, ugh, sub-human? Vermin? Dirt? Servants happy to clean up after you?

Some of them even say it loudly. A lot of them don't. It's in their actions more than their words.

A lot of people say "animal welfare" and they mean "it gives me wonderful cover for my racism!" A lot of people say "animal welfare" and they mean some really disgusting ableism.

They'll take their dogs to the grocery stores and use the idea of service animals to give them cover, all the while making things actively worse for people who use service animals.

Every so often I fantasize about the frum high school I would create if I ever had unlimited money and resources...

There's another famous Pirkei Avos quote. It translates to "ben Bag Bag says: turn it and turn it because all is in it". This is, of course, also about learning Torah. However, it has not been lost on anyone the comedic potential of this quote, and there exists tote bags with this printed on it; mine personally is from Hadran. Sefaria also sells them. The joke is that we all know that this quote doesn't have anything to do with tote bags or purses or backpacks but HOWEVER the quote still applies to it as well. As a joke. Because you also have to turn it and turn it because all is in it and you need to find a specific thing.

It has always been a joke to say things like "it's not on you to finish it but you are not free to desist from it" about, say, doing the dishes. But this is a joke because everyone saying and hearing it know that this is not a saying about doing the dishes, but yet it also applies. So it's funny to say this about the dishes or the laundry. It's a joke.

Meet Hersh's Fridge: the first kosher community fridge in the country! Community fridges have sprouted up all over the U.S., but never before (as far as we know) has there been a kosher community fridge – providing kosher leftovers and storebought staples for those in need, accessible at all times.

Hersh’s Fridge, located in the heart of Skokie, is stocked by volunteers with fresh, perishable food. 

Many families are ashamed to access food pantries or soup kitchens, due to stigma. Our fridge is outdoors and accessible 24/7 to kosher-keeping Jews – and anyone in need – ensuring they can secure food in an anonymous, dignified way.

The Fridge embodies our highest values: giving and receiving anonymously (Rambam, Hilchot Matonot Aniyim 10:7) and helping our neighbors, Jewish and not (Talmud Bavli, Gittin 61a) – a true kiddush Hashem.

Hersh’s Fridge is named for Hersh Goldberg-Polin z’’l, who was taken captive on October 7, and heroically endured 328 days of captivity before he was murdered by Hamas terrorists. Hersh changed the world through his compassion, humor, and desire to bring people together. Through this Fridge, Hersh’s values of chesed, community, and bridge-building are continuing to serve as a blessing – and a revolution – for the Chicagoland area, where his family’s roots run deep.  

Picking up food?

Starting October 30, 2025, the Fridge "pavilion" is open and will be stocked regularly with food!

The "Partner Fridge," at left (in photo), contains food kosher-certified groceries & food from kosher establishments.

The "Neighbor Fridge," at center, contains kosher-certified groceries & food from kosher homes.

The Pantry (at right), contains certified-kosher shelf-stable goods bearing a reliable hechsher. Volunteers are checking daily to ensure our kashrut and hygiene standards are followed, but please always use your own judgement when picking up food.

Want to donate food? 

Kashrut and hygiene guidelines will be posted here for donors in the coming days, with information about how to donate actual food.

*clears throat*

Buy shares in an index fund or two or three or four. Cover the market as best you can. Automate your investments, whether it be yearly, quarterly, monthly, fortnightly, weekly, or daily. Re-invest your dividends and capital gains. Do not take money out until it is needed. Only move money around if, over the course of a year or more, the index fund underperforms your other index funds. Automating deposits + "buy low, sell high" = it will even out over time.

USA: Remember that investment income is income and must be reported on your taxes; your investment site will provide you with the forms.

If you cannot afford the minimum buy-in to an index fund (Vanguard's tend to be ~$3,000), then you do not have enough spare cash on hand to be investing in anything. Remember that you will keep your shares in the index fund, but the price can crash, leaving you with the same number of shares but less money. Do not take money out until it is needed; the more shares you have when it's low means the more money you have when it's high.

Do not pick stocks. Ever. Even that one. I mean it. If you must pick stocks, have a small child or an animal pick them for you; random chance is better than your educated guess.

The rise of the collectables market is underpinned by one single idea: someone will pay you for this stuff.

The problem with this is that this is an entire market, and collectables are being made specifically to be rare and collectable.

The logic is, you buy this collectible asset now. You hold it for an unspecified, unknowable period of time. And then when you want to sell it, someone will buy it from you at a large mark-up, in order to complete their collection.

You are not going to make any real money doing this. You may be able to make a little bit of cash if you get lucky, but this is money to buy pizza, this is not money to pay rent. This is not an investment.

I'm sorry. A lot of people tell you it is. And those people are wrong.

The reason "your house is an investment" is an idea that exists is because that is often the only real asset/"investment" someone has. And so it has to be an investment! You buy a house, you live in it, and then you sell it, and because it's an investment, obviously you make money on this deal!!!

Except that's not how that works, and the need for it to be the way that works (because, again, this is often the only source of last-ditch income someone has) causes many many many problems.

Your house is a place to live. Your house is not an investment. Treat it as the depreciating asset that it is. Treat it as the home that it provides for you. But it's not an investment.

If you are in a situation where that is the only one available to you, take it but get rid of it as soon as you can switch to a fee-free account.

If your job gives you stock as part of your compensation, sell it immediately.

If you aren't allowed to sell the stock, then pretend it doesn't exist. But if you can sell it, then sell it. Because this is part of your compensation, and you should turn it into money as quickly as you can. Stock options do not pay the rent or buy groceries, money pays the rent and buys groceries.

You're already "investing" in the company in that your current pay check depends on the company still existing. Don't assume that at some uncertain point in the future, when you want to sell the stock, that the stock price will be high enough to make you a millionnaire. 

Because, yes, a few people managed to time this dance exactly right and made out with enough money to never have to work again. The rest of them didn't.

It's annoying. It can be confusing. Still, it's worth it.

I had an IRA from a job I wasn't at for very long, and as you can expect, not having been there for very long, there wasn't a lot of money in the IRA. So I let it sit. And sit. And sit.

Ten years later, I forced myself to do it. I ended up having to call the financial institution and have them call the destination institution for the rollover and have them all do the paperwork and send it to me and sign it. And then when it came time for taxes, the financial institution messed it up and I had to call them again to get it fixed and corrected paperwork sent out.

Still.

It's a good thing to do. This way, you aren't leaving money around in accounts that you might forget about, and you also get to fully control what the money is being invested in after you roll it over into your non-employer IRA account. (You should have, in general, an IRA, and invest the maximum allowed every year into it. If you can't afford to do the maximum, you should do as much of the maximum as you can afford.)

Important: this is a rollover. You are not removing the money to use in general, it's staying in the IRA (traditional/Roth). You're just moving it between institutions and getting full control over it.

"Act fast, there's this--" No.

"Hurry hurry, you gotta get in on the ground floor--" No.

"Reply to this email within 30 minutes to be considered for this job--" No.

High pressure sales tactics are never on your side. You must buy it now. It will go away soon. You must make a decision now or regret it forever! 

-No downsides. You will always make money! Guaranteed!

-No transparency on fees, how much commission the seller makes, etc.

You may have heard about 529 plans. These are commonly known as being for college, but they can be used for more educational purposes than that, including elementary and high school. Because they're state-based, the options, rules, and regs will vary by state.

I'm gonna be upfront here. I don't have one of these and don't plan on using this method of investment. They are too restrictive.

However. The 529 option is ideal when there is a lack of trust. Because the heavy restrictions of the 529 plans are also its great strength.

If you're concerned that someone with access to the money will lose it all on sports betting, or buy beanie babies, or lose it in some get-rich-quick/reddit meme scheme, then 529 plans are for you.

Being able to grasp this about amounts of money is vital. If something is "a lot" or "a little" money is entirely in what you are talking about, where you are, and who "you" are. Is a million dollars a lot of money? Not to a government. Not if you're talking about your life savings in a location where a million dollars will not buy you a one-bedroom apartment.

Numbers mean nothing without context. Remember how your math teacher would mark you down if you didn't put the units? The units are important. Is a number big or small? That depends on what it's describing.

Let's say you've been carefully saving and investing and you have $10,000. Is that a lot of money? Is that enough money? The answer to that depends entirely on what it's for. If your purpose is to have a couple months rent and expenses saved up, so you have a cushion, then depending on where you live, this could be enough! This could be achieving your goal! Yay!

If this is meant to be a down payment or retirement, then no, it's not.

Now let's start adding zeros. $100,000? Could be a down payment, depending on where you live. Could be college tuition. Could cover medical bills (USA). $1,000,000, maybe you're just buying that house outright. (But not in the most expensive areas, remember that one bedroom apartment that costs more than a million dollars). Retirement? Well, it'll help.

$10,000,000? Now we're getting to the level of organization level money, but not much if you're running a medium sized business, though. If this is your personal savings, depending on your investments and depending on your expenses, you may be generating enough income to live on comfortably. With this much money in hand, you can pay college tuition without debt, buy new cars whenever you like, go on nice vacations, have great houses. And as long as you're not trying to keep up with the Joneses who have 100x your net worth, yeah, that sounds like a good number for a person not to have to worry about money -- but keep an eye out, still, for context! If this money is entirely created through wages, then it is subject to a massive downshift in networth when the high wage earner no longer is getting that wage.

Now let's take off some zeros.

Saving $1? It's better than saving nothing. Saving $10? Good start! Saving $100, now you have some padding. Saving $1,000, now you have even more.