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Central held a very meaningful Yom HaShoah program on Tuesday, led by Rabbi Joshua Strulowitz and the seniors from his History of the Holocaust elective. After a brief introduction by Rabbi Strulowitz, the student body was divided into breakout groups. Each group heard from three groups of seniors, each senior group speaking about a European city that was deeply affected by the Holocaust.

Rabbi Ashie Schreier discussed learning from previous generations, and congregant Robert Lindenblatt spoke about how he survived the Holocaust in Budapest, Hungary, during the Young Israel of Forest Hills’s annual Holocaust Remembrance Day, done this year by teleconference on Monday, April 20.

MTA hosted a meaningful virtual Yom HaShoah program on Tuesday, April 21, which focused on faith and resilience during difficult times. The program featured NYC Council Member Mark Levine, who represents the 7^th District, including parts of Washington Heights, and chairs the Council’s Committee on Health. Councilman Levine discussed the importance of resilience in fighting the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and also shared the living examples of resilience he has seen in the Holocaust survivors he works with through the Council’s Holocaust Survivor Initiative, which he founded.

On Sunday afternoon, April 19, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks shlita shared insights and ideas about the current situation. He began by stating that it’s a miracle that virtually every country in the world has taken some decision to have a lockdown to stop infecting others. “This is one of the extraordinary events in world history.” It shows that the world is valuing life. Judaism values life. This was in sharp contrast to ancient peoples who did not share our values. The pyramids were built at the expense of so many lives. In ancient times, individual life didn’t count. This was true in the 20^th century, as well, during the era of Stalin and communism, for example. “This is the first time that sanctity of life is taken seriously by every country in the world, and that is a miracle.”

After over a month of being confined to our homes, school children have shown their dedication! Keeping up with school remotely is a major challenge for both children and parents trying to assist in their children’s learning! Thanks to a pop-up global initiative called “Beshivticha B’veisecha” (commonly referred to as The Beshivticha program), hundreds of children got the motivation they needed to bring out their best in these trying times!

The OU Women’s Initiative, a division of the Orthodox Union, has launched a daily podcast called “Counting Toward Sinai,” offering shiurim about T’filah. The series will include lectures given by 49 renowned female scholars from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Israel, who will present five-minute shiurim at the pace of one per day during the 49 days of S’firas HaOmer leading up to the holiday of Shavuos.