Community Corner

The Hampton Synagogue’s 30th Annual Thanksgiving Weekend Cantorial Concert will take place Saturday night, November 29, at 8:00 p.m. Hampton Synagogue’s world-renowned Cantor, Netanel Hershtik, will host the concert, which will feature two rising stars of the cantorial world, Nissim Saal and Chaim Stern. The cantors will be accompanied by the Hampton Synagogue Choir; Maestro Izchak Haimov, Conductor; and Raymond Goldstein, Musical Director of the Jerusalem Great Synagogue, at the piano. The concert is an international gathering of the brightest rising stars in the world of Jewish liturgical music.

The Grand Ballroom of the Ziegfeld in Manhattan shimmered Sunday night, November 9, as the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) hosted its 2025 Superstar Gala, a night that brought together some of the most influential figures in Jewish, American, and Israeli life – leaders bound by a shared mission: to defend Israel, confront anti-Semitism, and reaffirm the indomitable Jewish spirit in an age of rising hostility.

The Yeshiva of Central Queens proudly announces its honorees for the upcoming Annual Scholarship Dinner, to be held on Motza’ei Shabbos, December 13, at RAM Caterers in Old Westbury. This year’s distinguished awardees represent the very best of the YCQ community: devotion, leadership, and a steadfast commitment to the school.

On Wednesday evening, November 5, over 100 community women, as well as women from all over the United States, gathered excitedly at the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills for an amazing Jewish Women’s Unity Challah Bake. There were women of all ages and from all different backgrounds and all different levels of observance united to do a beautiful mitzvah and to connect to one another in a meaningful way. Some women braided challah for the very first time.

I was a Freshman at Rambam Mesivta on May 2, 1993 when they held a הַסְפֵּד for Rav Yosef Dov Soloveichik ז״ל, who had passed away a few weeks before. One of the two speakers was Rabbi Jay Marcus, Rabbi of the Young Israel of Staten Island. I knew that Rav Reuven Feinstein had a yeshiva in Staten Island but that was all that I knew about Judaism on the other side of the Verrazzano Bridge. He talked about how he took his first two sons to see Rav Soloveichik before their Bar Mitzvahs but I had no idea that this was a hint of what was ahead for me. I also didn’t know that Rav Ari and Mindy were there nor did I know that it was a week before the wedding Rav Elie and Devora nor did I know about the Yeshiva that they were planning to start.

Mission

Project Inspire mobilizes and empowers Torah-committed Jews around the world to reach out to our less-affiliated brothers and sisters, using their natural abilities and talents to create genuine relationships that awaken Jewish connection and strengthen a growing movement of outreach.