Community Corner

Responding to the historic peace agreement normalizing economic relations between Serbia and Kosovo brokered by the United States, which incorporated Kosovo’s normalization of relations with Israel, and Serbia moving its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem into the agreement, Rabbi Pesach Lerner, President of the Coalition for Jewish Values, issued the following statement:

Please recite Psalms 20, 30, 88, 121, and 130.

Rachamim ben Sa’ida Mazal

Shraga Feivel ben Chayah Daba

Chaim Avraham ben Shifrah Zisel

Yehudah Yudel ben Miriam Gittel

Ezra ben Esther

Shimon ben Rachel

Mordechai ben Rivkah

David ben Shima

Menachem Mendel ben Sima Brachah

Rabbi Yitzchak Mordechai ben Rose Nizha

Dov Ber ben Chayah Gittel

Yaakov ben Chanah Dinah

David Mordechai ben Beila Rivkah

Yair ben Sarah

Ofir Chai ben Lilach

Chaim Meir Binyamin ben Chanah Sarah

Ariel ben Adva

Doriel ben Maya 

Mordechai ben Rivkah

Pinchas ben Feige Dinah

Levi Yitzchak ben Keren

Nachman ben Mendal

Geta bas Rinah

Chanah Chayah bas Leah

Efrat bas Oshra

Karen bas Rachel

Adinah Adele Yael bas Leah

Evon bas Sally

Rachel bas Esther

Esther Hadasah bas Devorah

Miriam bas Selma

Tamar bas Miriam

Miriam Margarita bas Esther

Angela bas Tamara

Rosa bas Osnat

Maya bas Isabella

Yaffah bas Iza

Shirly bas Yehudis

Rus Moriah bas Shoshanah Miriam

Miriam P’ninah bas Yehudis Masha

Naamah bas Tamar

Esther Perel bas Chanah Devorah

To add names of individuals who need a r’fuah sh’leimah to next week’s T’hilim column, please email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and complete the Google form.

Virtual Program Brings Together Participants From 15 States
And Two Canadian Provinces

Over 2,600 men and women from 15 states and two Canadian provinces are participating in the Orthodox Union (OU)’s SPIRIT program during the COVID-19 pandemic. The “Stimulating Program Initiative for Retirees that Inspires Thought” (SPIRIT) has played a vital role for those over 60 who have been staying home during the pandemic due to the increased risk they face.

Every New Yorker has felt the effects of COVID-19, but the hospitality industry, particularly mom-and-pop-owned restaurants, are among the hardest hit. The impacts have been felt throughout the industry, as many restaurants have closed their doors permanently, while others face serious financial risk. Although the City has permitted outdoor dining, restaurants are still struggling.

Chazal tell us that spiritual growth does not happen in leaps and bounds. The real battle, the choice between truth and falsehood, life and death, happens in the smallest possible steps – teeny, tiny, micro-movements, not miles.

Teachers from Bnos Malka Academy and Solomon Schechter Queens are taking part in an elite training program to better address the social and emotional needs of their students whose academic year will start off differently due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hidden Sparks, a nonprofit dedicated to training teachers and providing them with the tools to support struggling students in mainstream Jewish day schools, is conducting the training, which focuses on Social Emotional Learning (SEL), and is helping teachers establish classrooms routines which could be easily transitioned online if local authorities and administrators deem it necessary for the school to move to a virtual learning model. The program will take place over several months.

As part of the training, Hidden Sparks SEL Coach Lily Howard Scott is working with teachers in Bnos Malka Academy and Solomon Schechter Queens during the back-to-school season to help them prepare their students for success in the coming year. The program’s goals are to empower teachers with strategies to support students’ emotional responses to the pandemic and to train teachers on how to establish new classroom routines and practices that boost students sense of connection, engagement and investment at school.  

Lily Howard Scott, MS, is a teacher as well as a curriculum developer. Her work – both written and video-based – has been used in graduate school programs and professional development seminars around the country. She is a graduate of Northwestern University and Bank Street College of Education.

“Research shows that the way students feel in the classroom is inextricably linked to how well they perform educationally, and that their social and emotional wellbeing is tethered to their academic wellbeing,” said Hidden Sparks Executive Director Debbie Niderberg. “We’re thrilled that Lily is guiding our educators on how to welcome their students back to school and how to talk about pandemic. Given that students are most successful when they feel connected to and a sense of belonging in their classes, she is also helping teachers to nurture caring and connected classrooms for all pupils.”

The workshops will include strategies for both virtual and in-person classrooms. Throughout the months of August and September, Lily Howard Scott met virtually with the faculty team and will continue to consult with and further train educators based on the needs of their specific students and classrooms.