Passover

In the basement of her Oceanside, L.I., home, next to a window and a hand-lettered “Patience” poster, Irene Hizme sits at a drawing board, creating works of intricate calligraphy and flower-filled branches.

A Czechoslovakia-born Holocaust survivor in her “early 70s” and retired biochemist/computer programmer, she spends much of her free time these days making thank-you notes and birthday cards. She does many of her works as a volunteer for The Blue Card, an organization that offers financial assistance to aging Holocaust survivors.

 "Halakhah isn't concerned about child labor."

Sitting on a train approaching Manchester, England, recently, my friend Arron and I leafed through a copy of MetroNews — Britain’s biggest free paper — and came across an article about recent violence in Jerusalem caused by the latest settlement controversy.

I began to read the article aloud, nonchalantly voicing the words “Israel” and “Palestinians” as they passed by in the sentence.

Palm Beach in May? Why not? New Yorkers tend to regard Florida as the ultimate winter destination — a balmy, palm-shaded escape from frigid wind chills around Chanukah time.

But May and June are my favorite Florida months, with more reliable weather and a deliciously warm ocean. When the official high season ends as snowbirds fly north for Passover, all of a sudden Palm Beach takes on the feel of a friendly small town, with locals making small talk at the deli and fishing off the beach. And this year the deals are as sweet as the temperatures.