Day: February 9, 2026

By Jared Dunkin, Tax Lawyer, Author, and Community Member

Thirty years ago, I was deeply moved by Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays with Morrie. I was in college at the time, and like many readers, I was determined to find my own “Morrie” – a mentor who could provide a roadmap for a life well-lived.

Many years later, I found that person in Rabbi Avrom Landesman. A lifelong Woodside resident and attorney, Avrom was a foundational architect of the Silver Spring Jewish community, including Woodside Synagogue, Yeshiva of Greater Washington, and Torah School of Greater Washington. Yet, to those who know him, he is simply the wisest, humblest, happiest, kindest, and funniest person we have ever met.

Following a health scare he faced at age 85 during the COVID-19 pandemic, I realized I had to seize every possible moment with him. For a full year, my wife and I visited him every Wednesday. These visits became a sacred routine: she would bring two soups and fresh baked goods, while I would bring my deepest questions and concerns about how to be a better husband, father, leader, and human being.

The lessons I learned are shared in my book, Wednesdays with Avrom. It captures his unique ability to use humor to dismantle the “ruminations” that pull us away from the present. He once told me about a man who refused to tell a stranger the time because he imagined a chain of events ending with the stranger marrying his daughter. The man concluded, “I’ll be damned to get a son-in-law who doesn’t even own a watch!”.

In an age where we carry little devices in our pockets designed specifically to steal our attention, Avrom’s wisdom is more relevant than ever. He taught me that “if you try to be in too many places at once, you are actually nowhere”. True fulfillment comes from being “all in”—giving 100 percent of your mind to wherever your body happens to be, whether at work, with family, or in prayer. He showed me that by mastering these transitions, we can experience the “tremendous power of each moment”.

Wednesdays with Avrom is available on Amazon at https://a.co/d/0bNjBdrr. In the spirit of Avrom’s lifelong commitment to the community, all proceeds are donated to Yad Yehuda of Greater Washington.

JARED DUNKIN is a tax lawyer who lives in the Kemp Mill with his wife and five children.
He is also the author of The Cat’s Meow https://a.co/d/043QEGfe and Brass Tax https://a.co/d/0hrXbYe3.

🟦 All profits go to charity

Wednesdays With Avrom is a warm, wise, and often humorous collection of life lessons drawn from the conversations, experiences, and character of Avrom — a truly remarkable human being. Through stories rich with insight and heart, the book shows how every person can find meaning, purpose, and a place to make a difference, even in today’s complicated world.

What readers are saying:

“Deriving wisdom from Avrom is like finding water in the ocean… a repository of knowledge, erudition, good taste, sagacity and friendship.”
— Hanoch Teller, renowned author and storyteller

“A sparkling book, filled with wisdom, and a must read… it could just as easily have been called The Book of Avrom.”
— Prof. Shnayer Leiman, Touro University & Yeshiva University

“There is no end to what one can learn from his life lessons, experiences, teachings, and humor.”
— Rabbi Moshe Walter, Woodside Synagogue

📌 Buy the book: https://a.co/d/0gZnNsf6
📚 Author page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B07PPXKFRM/about
📖 All published books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B07PPXKFRM/allbooks

Details:
• Publisher: Mensch Press
• Publication date: May 10, 2022
• 182 pages | English
• ISBN-13: 979-8986107912

David Goodman

Most small business owners don’t have a website problem. People simply cannot tell what the business does.

When someone lands on your homepage, they aren’t there to admire your logo. They are trying to answer one question fast: “Is this for me?”

That decision happens quickly. If your website does not clearly spell out what you do, who it is for, and what to do next, most visitors leave. They click on a competitor who made it easier.

Here are the three most common mistakes and how to fix them.

Mistake #1: Making It About You Instead of the Customer

Many websites lead with company history or a “Welcome” message. That information is not bad. It is just in the wrong place. A homepage is not where people go to learn more. It is where they decide whether to trust you.

Lead with what the customer actually cares about:
• What you do
• Who it is for
• What changes after they purchase your product/service

In other words, clarity beats cleverness.

Mistake #2: Wasting Your Most Valuable Real Estate

The “Above the Fold” section is the area visible before someone scrolls. This is where most websites lose people.

Generic headlines like “Quality Service You Can Trust” sound nice, but they are meaningless. They could apply to almost any business.

The “Before & After” Fix:

The Mistake: “Excellence in Everything We Do.”

The Fix: “Emergency Pipe Repair in [Your City]. Same-Day Service. Call for a Quote.”

The Mobile Reality: A huge chunk of local traffic comes from smartphones. On a phone, above the fold is tiny. If someone has to hunt for a menu or scroll just to find your phone number, you have already lost them.

Make your “Call Now” or “Book Now” button impossible to miss.

Mistake #3: Trying to Impress Instead of Making It Easy to Take the Next Step

Many sites prioritize flashy design over results. They rely on stock photos and buzzwords that distract instead of helping someone take action.

The best small business websites are simple:
• Clear language (no jargon)
• Real photos (your team and your work)
• Proof that reduces doubt (reviews, guarantees, results)
• One clear next step (don’t give five choices, give one)

Your Website Has One Job

A website does not need to be fancy. It needs to be obvious. If a stranger can land on your homepage and immediately understand what you offer and how to take the next step, you are ahead of most competitors.

The best websites do not win because they are beautiful. They win because they are clear. They respect the customer’s time by making it easy to get what they came for.

David Goodman lives in Silver Spring with his wife and four children. He runs a marketing agency focused on helping businesses turn their websites and advertising into reliable sources of leads and revenue.

A close study of the verses in this chapter shows that, after introducing the subject of the manna, its actual physical description is not given until the conclusion of the chapter. Only then are we told, in verse 31: “It was like coriander seed, it was white, and it tasted like a cake fried in honey.” The question naturally arises in classic Torah commentary as to why the Torah does not provide this vivid description at the outset, when the miracle of the manna is first introduced.

One of the great Torah commentators of recent generations, Rabbi Yehoshua Leib Diskin, asks why it was necessary for the Torah to describe the appearance and form of the manna both here and again in Sefer Bamidbar. He explains that the answer lies in Moshe’s instruction to Aharon in verse 33: that he should take a jar, place manna into it, and set it aside for safekeeping for all future generations. Rashi explains that in the era of the prophet Yirmiyahu, when the Jewish people were rebuked for neglecting Torah study, they responded that they could not abandon their livelihoods in order to learn Torah, as they needed sustenance.

Yirmiyahu answered them by producing the tzintzenes haman — the “jar of manna” — and declaring, “Behold and see the manna with which your forefathers were sustained in the wilderness.” He continued with the enduring words: “Harbeh shluchim yesh laMakom l’hachin mazon l’yere’av” — “G-d has many messengers and many ways to provide sustenance for those who fear Him.” This powerful moment stands as one of the most profound Torah lessons on bitachon and Divine sustenance.

From this episode we learn that the container of manna served as a lasting reminder of the great miracle that sustained the Jewish people in the wilderness. It reassured them — and all future generations — that just as Hashem provided food in the desert, He continues to sustain His people when they place their trust in Him and dedicate themselves to Torah. Yet a critical question remains: how could the Jewish people be certain that this jar truly contained authentic manna?

The answer is that it perfectly matched the Torah’s detailed description of the manna’s appearance — like coriander seeds, which are normally dark, yet these were white, radiant, and crystal-like. This unmistakable and miraculous appearance authenticated the contents of the jar as the very same Heavenly food that descended daily from Heaven to nourish our forefathers.

It is precisely for this reason that the Torah delays the description of the manna until the end of the chapter. By doing so, it directly connects the physical description of the manna to the verse describing the tzintzenes haman preserved for all generations. In this way, the Torah emphasizes that the manna was not merely food, but an eternal testimony to Hashem’s care, His Divine providence, and His promise to sustain those who commit themselves to the study of Torah — in every generation and in every circumstance.