Community Corner

For more than a decade, activists at Columbia University have tried to make the school a proving ground for the campaign to isolate Israel. There have been petitions, referendums, faculty campaigns, encampments, arrests, an occupied academic building, congressional hearings, and federal investigations. Through it all, one objective remained constant: pressure Columbia to divest from Israel and companies connected to the Jewish state.

 At 11:45 p.m. on Thursday, July 16, footage reviewed by the Queens Jewish Link shows a man sprinting past the Young Israel of Jamaica Estates and flinging a substance toward the shul’s entrance.

Women from across the community filled the Young Israel of Queens Valley on Tuesday evening, July 21, for the launch of Geula Wellness, a new Queens-based organization supporting mothers experiencing postpartum depression, anxiety, and other emotional challenges surrounding childbirth.

A few weeks before the p’tirah of Arlene Ross a”h, I enjoyed a slice with her at Naomi’s Pizza in Kew Gardens Hills. We debated politics, as we often did. Arlene did not argue simply to win. She argued because she believed something had to be done – and because she expected the people around her to help do it.

 Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. welcomed elected officials, communal leaders, faith organizations, performers, and residents to the Helen Marshall Cultural Center at Borough Hall on Monday, July 27, for a borough-wide celebration marking America’s 250^th anniversary.

An hour before the Misaskim Volunteer Appreciation Dinner on Monday, July, 13, a small group of dedicated volunteers was already inside Ateres Chaya Rivka, a brand-new community simchah hall on Main Street, just off 68th Drive in Kew Gardens Hills. The elite contingent comprised Misaskim of Queens’ inaugural Emergency Disaster/Recovery class, tasked with chesed shel emes at a tragic scene most hope never to encounter.