Deborah Shimon has been living in Whitestone with her husband Albert and children for 12 years, having grown in their observance but very much at home in a neighborhood where there is little Jewish life. This year, their community is more visible with the first ever public menorah lighting at Francis Lewis Park, a historic waterfront space next to the great bridge that shares the neighborhood’s name.
“My husband owned this house for 30 years. He never wanted to move out of Whitestone. He wants to make Whitestone more Jewish,” she said. In their search for Jewish neighbors, the couple’s approach resembles Chabad.
“We take walks every Shabbos and look for the mezuzah, we then invite them over. There are a lot of Conservative Jews in Whitestone. Recently, a Bukharian couple moved in, and an Israeli couple that is becoming Orthodox.” As the only family from the Yeshiva of Central Queens living in Whitestone, they drive two of their three children to this school and purchase kosher food in Kew Gardens Hills.
“When we bought a sukkah, it was the biggest one available and I tried to fill it up,” she said. Shabbos is more difficult, as the nearest shul is a long walk from the Shimon home, but they make it a meaningful experience for their children and guests.
Francis Lewis Park is located near their house, a popular gathering spot for local residents, maintained by volunteers assisting the Parks Department.
“For a few years, several neighbors have shown interest in having a menorah in the park and we couldn’t get it together. This year, we are lucky to get Debbie, Marina, and Yifat to step in with the help of Rabbi Yossi,” said Dorian Colucci Mecir, president of Friends of Francis Lewis Park. “We love to get people together in the park.”
The menorah stands next to a baby blue spruce named Blue, planted by Councilman Paul Vallone six years ago, and now serving as a living memorial to the Whitestone lawmaker, who died at 56 earlier this year. “‘Let’s watch it grow together,’ he said. It is all about community,” Mecir said.
Every December, the tree is decorated and lit up, with neighbors and elected officials in attendance. “You look at this turnout that’s emblematic of who he was. Everybody together, through life and through death, even Republicans and Democrats,” Borough President Donovan Richards said at last week’s tree lighting, standing next to Councilwoman Vickie Paladino, a Republican.
Shimon said that previous attempts to install a menorah were not successful, as it is difficult to put together the large object and have volunteers lighting it each night. “We then learned that Chabad is interested in participating and running the event,” she said.
Rabbi Yossi and Dina Blesofsky settled in Bayside in 1991, founding Chabad of Northeast Queens to promote Jewish observance in this largely residential corner of the borough. “We wanted to do lighting here for a while, and the civic association, too,” he said. “They made it happen. It is a stunning park, the point farthest north in Queens.”
In his three decades serving the Jewish population here, Rabbi Blesofsky has seen many changes. Once-bustling Conservative temples have either closed or merged, as their membership passed on, moved out, or assimilated. He knows many of their former members who remain in Bayside, Oakland Gardens, Whitestone, and surrounding communities. They daven with him and attend Chabad events throughout the year.
Concerning Whitestone, he said that when it has a sizable number of Jewish families, it can become the site of a “satellite Chabad” operating within his organization, which can then spin off to become a self-sustaining Chabad House. There is a Conservative congregation, Whitestone Hebrew Center on Clintonville Street, which is also promoting the public menorah lighting in the park.
Rabbi Blesofsky noted that some of the now-gone Conservative synagogues, such as Bay Terrace Jewish Center, have a traditionalist approach, having been staffed by Yeshiva University musmachim, with Birnbaum siddurim and Hertz chumashim on their shelves. He said that many of their members are not hostile to Chabad and Orthodoxy, but it is a sensitive conversation, and it takes time to build trust.
“We have wonderful relations with these people. Build a Jewish future. That’s the argument I’ve made with two synagogues,” he said, in making the case for an Orthodox “conversion” of their buildings.
He spoke of one local example in which a Conservative synagogue welcomed Chabad of Little Neck to use its space and later sold its property to Yeshiva Har Torah. The building is used as a school, and the synagogue continues to function inside the new building at the same address.
“I daven for that every day. That’s the miracle of Temple Torah with Har Torah,” he said.
Shimon said that the support of her non-Jewish neighbors was instrumental in making the menorah an integral element of the park’s holiday decor.
“This would have never happened if not for We Love Whitestone,” a civic volunteer group. “I wear a skirt and hat. She spotted me in the park. She reached out to me,” Shimon spoke of her first encounter with Mecir. “She tried to get a menorah in the park to represent the Jewish faith. ‘Right away,’ I said. We are very excited.”
Alfredo Centola, president of We Love Whitestone, said that the first public menorah in his neighborhood was installed at the Whitestone Shopping Center, with support from Councilman Vallone, but the park offers symbolism and a sense of history.
“It’s a symbol of growth in the community,” he said. “With Paul’s passing, this tree is in his honor and the lighting has gotten bigger. Getting volunteers is always the difficult part in these things. We have a decent sized Jewish population.”
Francis Lewis was a Welsh-born merchant who signed the Declaration of Independence on behalf of New York. During the Revolutionary War, his Whitestone house was occupied by the British, and his wife was held captive, the harsh conditions possibly contributing to her death. In 1937, a portion of his former estate was dedicated by the city as Francis Lewis Park and nearby there is a boulevard spanning the borough in his honor.
Shimon invited local elected officials to the menorah lighting, and those who could not attend promised to do so next year. “It will be a much bigger celebration.”
“We feel like we haven’t completed our mission in Whitestone, to make even one person hear the brachah,” she said. “The work that Chabad does is incredible, and each one of us can bring Mashiach. That’s what pushed me to make this happen.”
By Sergey Kadinsky
