Community Corner

A week of Torah study and friendship was on the agenda when students in Emet’s Men’s Division headed to Arizona for winter break. Led by the dynamic team of Rabbi Reuven Kigel, Rabbi Michael Fuzaylov, Rabbi Yaakov Musheyev, and Rabbi Ari Hertz, the trip was geared towards those who have completed Emet’s Fellowship program and are ready for more advanced learning.

On Wednesday, January 12, there was a community gathering at Chabad of Rego Park to discuss mental health challenges that unfortunately contribute to opioid abuse in our community. Our community, and particularly our youth, are facing a number of mental health challenges that manifest as severe depression, suicides, and drug overdoses. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of drug overdose deaths has quadrupled since 1999. Over 70 percent of drug-related deaths involve an opioid. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 13 percent of young adults in the United States have major depression. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among individuals between the ages of 10 and 34. There are close to 5,000 drug overdose deaths among individuals between the ages of 15 and 24, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Roughly one-third of adults who have a substance use disorder also suffer from depression, according to Addiction Center.

It was a frosty November night when his heart gave its final beat. And she was alone. Completely and utterly alone. First, there was numbness. Then cruel tentacles of raw grief clutched at her heart. It hurt. And she was afraid. So afraid.

K’hal Adas Yereim of Kew Gardens hosted their annual Tu Bishvat Mesiba this past Sunday, January 16, at their Metropolitan Avenue beis hakenesses, Bais Bracha Simcha Hall. The 72^nd yearly event was a tribute to the meyased of the shul, Rav Yankel (Avraham Yaakov) Teitelbaum zt”l and Rav Shlomo Teitelbaum zt”l, who led the kehillah for over 50 years.

Name: Moshe Vatch

Location: Queens

Position: Coordinator

Year Volunteered at Misaskim: 4

Coalition for Jewish Values (CJV), representing over 2,000 traditional, Orthodox rabbis in matters of American public policy, responded sharply today to the recent report produced by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), asserting that a series of mainstream Jewish and allied charities are spreading "Islamophobia" by opposing radical Islamic terror. The rabbinic group called the report both pro-terror and antisemitic.