Community Corner

In a letter sent last week to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), more than 200 American rabbis from the Coalition for Jewish Values (CJV) demanded the immediate removal of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) from her position on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. They insisted that the violent attacks on American Jews in recent weeks “are directly attributable” to Rep. Omar’s bigoted rhetoric. They added that “tolerance of anti-Jewish hatred has proliferated” in Congress on Rep. Pelosi’s watch.

On Tuesday, June 22, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid appointed Asaf Zamir, 40, as the new Consul General in New York. Zamir, a member of Israel’s Blue and White party, is a former tourism minister and the deputy mayor of Tel Aviv. Zamir, who holds US citizenship, spent several years of his childhood in Florida, and holds a law degree from Tel Aviv University.

The toughest basketball player he had to guard was Shaquille O’Neil. The greatest player he ever saw play was Kobe Bryant. But Mike Sweetney’s greatest struggle was battling depression.

Chazaq, along with Chickens for Shabbos, organized and executed seven distributions at Congregation Ner Mordechai this year for m’lamdim, g’rushos, and agunos.

It is not every day that a gadol of our times comes to Queens. On Tuesday evening, June 15, HaRav Shlomo Kanievsky shlita, son of HaRav Shmaryahu Yosef Chaim Kanievsky shlita, made an extraordinary visit to Kew Gardens Hills at the home of Nati and Revital Elishaev. Rav Shlomo delivered touching remarks on the need for the continuance of Torah education in Eretz Yisrael and here in America. Every word spoken was thought out, certain, and came from a place of self-assurance that its impact will last generations. Rav Shlomo brought his breadth of Torah knowledge, his boundless ahavas haTorah, his dazzling insights, and his embodiment of the genuine midos into the Elishaev home.

On Thursday June 17, this writer had the honor of meeting with Rabbi Aharon Yehoshua Pessin, well-known speaker and author, to discuss his holy work. I had the privilege two years earlier of hearing Rabbi Pessin speak at Lenox Hill Hospital at a class given to medical staff, family, and friends as a z’chus for a r’fuah sh’leimah for a wonderful friend, who has since passed away.