Community Corner

Yaakov Katz is a Queens-based photographer who specializes in family and corporate photography. You can see his work on Instagram @yaakovkatz. Mention that you saw his Siyum HaShas pictures to save 10% on your next shoot until February 29.

 Yes, you read that header correctly.

Hakerem Wine and Liquor is an extraordinarily popular frum-owned Kew Gardens Hills destination for a variety of alcoholic beverages that often grace our Shabbos tables and shul kiddushim. This past Sunday at 5:40 p.m., the scene inside this establishment, just off Jewel Avenue and Main Street, was one of shock and awe. A man donning a mask, leaving his features indiscernible, brazenly walked in, brandishing a firearm and demanding the cash from the register.

In light of the recent uptick of anti-Semitic events in New York, Assemblymember Daniel Rosenthal advocated for additional resources for local synagogues and schools from the NYPD. The Assemblyman visited Rabbi Mark Landsman at the Yeshiva of Central Queens, Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld of the Young Israel of KGH, as well as leadership of Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim along with Chief Barrere of NYPD Queens Borough Patrol South and the Commanding Officer of the 107th Precinct.

The National Council of Young Israel (NCYI) thanked Senators Cory Booker and Robert Menendez and NJ Assemblyman Gary Schaer (Passaic) after they publicly advocated for an increase in security funding in the wake of a wave of anti-Semitic attacks in New York and New Jersey, as well as around the country. The senators are advocating increasing the funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program from $90 million to $360 million, while Assemblyman Schaer called for an increase in New Jersey’s own Nonprofit Security Grant program from $1 million to $9 million.

Just over a year ago, on November 29, 2018, the Queens community was rocked by the devastating, ruthless, and unwarranted beating of David, an innocent Bukharian youth at 64^th Road and 108^th Street. His crime being simply that of his heritage – a member of our Jewish tribe. The gruesome pictures of its aftermath circulated all facets of media like wildfire, bringing the most hardened individuals to tears.