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Breaking a routine makes it incredibly difficult to find your way back. I am currently feeling that friction with my writing; due to the Pesach break, I haven’t penned a column in two weeks. Now, the task is to find my rhythm again.

This winter has been so cold that it was not until Sunday, March 8, that I was finally able to ride my bike. I had a goal as to how far I wanted to ride: 25 miles, which I was able to do. However, it felt like I rode 75 miles. The helmet felt heavy, the seat was uncomfortable, and my back hurt. I chalk it up to not exercising enough during the winter, my weight gain, and getting older. That is why it is so important to exercise even when you are younger. The failure to do so catches up to you later in life. I remember that not long ago, I would ride 45 miles at the beginning of the season without a problem.

In the Haggadah, we read about Yaakov going down to Egypt and the subsequent mistreatment of the B’nei Yisrael by the Egyptians. The Haggadah then mentions Pharaoh’s statement, which is the first public antisemitic comment by the leader of another nation: “Come, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply and it come to pass that when a war occurs, they might join our enemies.”

The current situation between Iran, Israel, and the United States is on all our minds. I won’t address it here, because by the time this column is published, events on the ground may have shifted dramatically. It’s usually foolhardy to comment on such a significant development based solely on initial reports. That said, it’s no surprise that antisemites are already claiming Israel is pulling the strings. As Michael Che quipped on Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update, addressing the lack of congressional approval for the strikes: “He [Trump] did [ask for permission]—Netanyahu said it was okay.”

I recently spoke with a woman in her nineties who grew up on the Lower East Side (I’ll call her Sadie). She told me that times were much better back then; despite having no money, she claimed the community stuck together and everyone helped one another. However, when I asked why so many people from that era became so successful, her response surprised me. Given her idyllic view, I expected her to say their parents deeply valued education. While she agreed education was important, she admitted the real driver of success was a desperate desire to escape the Lower East Side as quickly as possible. Sadie herself was a prime example: as soon as she and her husband married, they moved away and never looked back. The irony is that Sadie didn’t seem to notice the contradiction between the “happy” version of history she wanted to portray and the reality she actually lived.

President Trump understands the importance of branding. His new website for reduced-price prescription drugs is known as Trump Rx. Likewise, investment accounts for children created by the One Big Beautiful Bill are called Trump accounts. These apply to only certain individuals.