Community Corner

This season’s chagim fall on the weekend, leaving us with the hard choice of working all week to save up for a later vacation, or to enjoy the days off with our families. In the latter case, packing lunch involves knowing the location of the nearest sukkah, or eschewing hamotzi and mezonos food items while on the road. This country’s 250th Independence Day was back in July, but many venues are continuing to celebrate this historic number through the end of this year.

When my mother-in-law had her first Shabbos in West Hempstead, she understood that this wasn’t Brooklyn. There are only a handful of Russian speakers in the community. Among those who warmly welcomed her arrival here was Moshe Fundo.

Rosh HaShanah shopping brings crowds to Judaica stores, and in turn, elected officials use this opportunity to connect with the Jewish community. If it appears self-serving, it certainly is when that politician built his career on demonizing Israel. Last week, Mayor Zohran Mamdani stopped in Borough Park to sample the apple cider at Eichler’s, accompanied by askanim eager to establish a personal connection.

Straddling the Caucasus Mountains between Russia, Turkey, and Iran, the republic of Georgia is known to many Israeli travelers for its hospitality, resulting from its history and location. American Jews could look at the globe and regard this country as too distant. Last week, Manashe Khaimov of the nonprofit SAMI - Sephardic American Mizrachi Initiative, made the connection between American and Georgian Jews on a weeklong trip.

Security in Israel is usually associated with weapons, with images of armed Jewish civilians making the news. Beyond the headlines, One Israel Fund is contributing to numerous projects in which security involves the mental and physical health of Israeli soldiers, residents of Yehudah and Shomron, survivors of terrorism, and their quality of life.

 In the aftermath of the Holocaust, stories of survivors were initially overlooked as they rebuilt their lives and other crises shook the Jewish people, such as the Israeli War of Independence. Then there were historians who relied too heavily on the military and government records of the atrocities. Finally, there was Yaffa Eliach, who changed the way in which the world interacts with survivors of genocide. Her son, Rabbi Yotav Eliach, spoke about her work last Sunday at the Yom HaShoah program at the Young Israel of West Hempstead.