Shabsie Saphirstein

Well over 1,000 community members piled into the spacious Hadar Bet Yaakov multipurpose room for a pre-Purim carnival organized by the incredible All About Kindness organization on Sunday afternoon, March 10. Designed as a measure to give back to the community – comprising individuals who donate their time and money for the betterment of Queens’ Jewish community – founder Lyudmila Mierova pulled off the impossible in a mere four days of planning.

On Tuesday, a drawing of hate against the Jewish community was sketched with a marker on a door at Hillcrest High School. The depiction has since been removed, and the incident remains under investigation by the detective squad of the NYPD’s 107th Precinct.

Last June, I was invited to attend the Jerusalem Conference in New York at the New York Hilton Midtown in the hours following the Celebrate Israel Parade. The event was eye-opening and informative, as Ministers of the Knesset, Israeli elected officials, noted CEOs, and other personalities shared their views and mingled with the crowd. The expansive delegation of Israeli dignitaries that visited New York helped to strengthen the connection between Israeli and United States Jewry.

I took a few minutes this past Sunday afternoon, Rosh Chodesh Adar Beis, to visit Congregation Ahavas Yisroel’s Purim Carnival. Talmidim and talmidos of members at Rav Hershel Welcher’s shul enjoyed paradigmatic carnival booths, like Coke or Pepsi, staffed by elder bachurim, as Jews worldwide gear up for Purim jubilation. Pizza, cotton candy, and more fun kept all entertained!

The spirit of Purim radiated throughout the aisles at Seasons of Queens Kosher Supermarket in Kew Gardens Hills this past Sunday, March 10, as the community staple held a family-friendly festive celebration dubbed “It Must Be Purim at… Seasons.” The program drew many neighborhood families and filled the store with gleaming faces of community children.

From Forest Park Jewish Center, Ezra Academy, YESS!, and the VHQ,

Rabbi Sladowsky was klal Yisrael’s emissary in Queens

Rabbi Yitzchak Sladowsky zt”l was one of Queens Jewry’s early visionaries who saw a need to amplify Torah and Yiddishkeit throughout the borough and spent more than a half century seeing this life mission through. Two decades ago, the rabbi retired from the rabbinate to spend time amongst family in Lawrence, Nassau County, where he continued his avodas ha’kodesh. The Torah giant passed away on Sunday, February 18, at the age of 92. The next morning, a touching levayah was held at Central Avenue’s Cong. Shaaray Tefilah, followed by k’vurah in Eretz Yisrael.