Shabsie Saphirstein

We are now six decades removed from the courageous travels the Freedom Riders took through the segregated South. On the evening of Tuesday, July 19, the Helen Marshall Cultural Center at Queens Borough Hall filled to honor Queens residents who participated in the 1961 Freedom Rides. The program, organized by Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, celebrated the crucial role these leaders played amongst other noteworthy institutions in the fight for equality during the Civil Rights movement.

The oft-repeated and underlying theme at the Thursday, July 7, Mega Siyum on Maseches Y’vamos was “It’s not the Daf, but the Yomi.” Charismatic, internationally acclaimed maggid Daf Yomi Rav Eli Stefansky hosted the siyum through his popular Mercaz Daf Yomi (MDY) to an audience of over 1,650. The lavish venue at Bell Works – the former headquarters of Bell Labs – in Holmdel, New Jersey, added an extra level of celebration to a gathering of enthusiastic and diversified followers of Rav Eli’s daily daf. The whole spectrum of a combination of chasidim, misnagdim, yeshivish, Modern Orthodox, and baalei t’shuvah joyously clutched hands and danced to the festive music, celebrating their accomplishment at concluding one of the most difficult masechtos in Talmud. For five exuberant hours, Rav Eli and his talmidim celebrated Torah through inspirational divrei Torah, fervent t’filah b’tzibur, delicious dining, delirious dancing, and well-deserved awards.

As one of the more than 120 Chaverim of Queens and Great Neck volunteers, I can attest to the need for improved road safety equipment. From jacks to air pumps and lockout kits, every detail matters, and often is on hand to save a fellow neighbor’s day, or rescue them in their time of peril.

The Queens Jewish Link has had the unique privilege of having Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld serve as our Rabbinical Consultant and esteemed contributor since inception. The rav’s heartfelt advice has made lasting impressions that positively affected the publication, Queens Jewry, and the Jewish community at large. Rabbi Schonfeld was called upon for advice quite often. Each time, he handled the situation with dignity, grace, and in a professional manner.

This year’s Jewish Education Program (JEP) Queens testimonial breakfast, held in Kew Gardens Hills at Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim – Rabbinical Seminary of America, was filled with appreciation to an organization that has dedicated a yovel to bringing Jewish children closer to their heritage. Sitting beside longtime advocates of JEP, Reb Nachum Shmuel Hartman and Ronnie Schlanger, I came full circle with the mammoth impact JEP has had. Their outreach and love for Jewish youth was amplified by the tremendous outpouring of support as I flipped the pages of their breakfast journal.

Last week, the QJL introduced our readership to the holy work of HaGaon Rav Mordechai Jungreis shlit”a, the Nikolsburg Rebbe of the Woodbourne Shul, Congregation Bnei Israel, Zichron Mordechai. Over the past week, the rebbe continued to spread his awe-inspiring love for every Jew who entered the renowned Catskill’s makom kedushah. From a hachnasas sefer Torah and a hachnasas t’filin to the delivery of new seating, and the continued efforts to enhance the shul and its new kollel, the rebbe kept a full schedule, uniting all walks of klal Yisrael. Most notable was the rebbe’s influence on teenagers, filling the beis hamedrash with song and dance on more than one occasion. Some guests included Yisroel Besser, noted ArtScroll author and contributing editor at Mishpacha Magazine; Rabbi Ephraim Glatt, Assistant Rabbi, YIKGH; Chaim Kurz of Windsor Pharmacy; Shea Rubenstein, Executive VP, JCCMP; and Elie Rowe, President, Hatzolah Emergency Air Response Team.