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It’s the month(s) of Adar, a time of increased joy. As Purim continues to approach, the excitement continues to mount, especially after a longer winter than usual. But I ask you to please indulge me briefly, as I share our family’s sadness with the passing of my beloved father-in-law, Nathan Mermelstein, on the morning of Shabbos Kodesh, Parshas Ki Sisa, 18 Adar I.

When I was in Eretz Yisrael a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to see my wonderful cousin, Reb Izak Cohn. As we both share a love of s’farim, whenever we meet, our discussion invariably turns to the newest s’farim we purchased.

These days, you can order almost anything and have it delivered to your door, in a relatively short amount of time.

Unfortunately, emotions don’t work that way. A person can’t just snap his fingers and feel differently. If anyone could, and knew how to teach that to others, he would become rich very quickly.

It’s always a special z’chus to travel to Eretz Yisrael. The last time I had been there was five years ago, when I went with our oldest son, Shalom, in honor of his bar mitzvah.

When our twins were born over five years ago, I was informed that my rebbe, Rabbi Berel Wein, happened to be in Monsey. It was a great z’chus that he was willing to serve as sandek for Gavriel Yehuda, the older twin.

Our family enjoys eating cherry tomatoes, particularly “Nature-Sweet cherub heavenly salad tomatoes.” Ironically, I have other close family members with whom I grew up who harbor a severe dislike for tomatoes and won’t eat salad that has any tomatoes in it. But the Staums who live on Landau Lane go through a few packages of the little red guys each week.