Shabsie Saphirstein

Commonpoint Queens Resilience Program for Holocaust Survivors commemorated Kristallnacht on Wednesday, November 9, with the opening of their photo exhibition “Resilience,” featuring the portraits – and words of resilience – of Holocaust survivors at their Sam Field Center in Little Neck, Queens. Over 150 guests participated in the unique reception that was highlighted by dozens of Holocaust survivors, sitting amongst their family, friends, staff, and community members.

I spent this past Shabbos, Parshas Lech-L’cha, in Lake Harmony, Pennsylvania, together with the Torah Umesorah family at their 66^th Annual National Leadership Convention, held in memory of its pioneering formative director, Dr. Joseph Kaminetsky zt”l. I participated as a volunteer for TorahAnytime, which was privileged to provide video recordings of panels and lectures, a first for the organization that represents 760 schools, 20,000 educators, and 260,000 children. I urge every rebbe, teacher, or Yid who cares about upholding our values to take a moment to view the convention recordings, as they hold a vast array of groundbreaking tools to improve classroom life, as well as sh’eilos u’t’shuvos with the roshei ha’yeshivos.

Late this past Thursday afternoon, at roughly 3:10 p.m., Main Street was thrown into pandemonium at the corner of 77^th Road when a string of gunshots rang out, taking the life Mark Greene, 18, a student from just across the street at P.S. 792 North Queens Community High School, a program that boasts just over 100 students. Formed for the 2007/8 school year, taking the location of Queens of Peace, the school offers an alternative grade system, forgoing the traditional grade levels for a four-house system unique to the school. Originally pledged to be operated solely for pregnant teens, the student body has since evolved and now comprises children with problems who seek a quick and effective way of graduating on-time or faster. Neighbors have complained of fights, car break-ins, and other petty crimes over the years, but nothing as dramatic as the events of this past week.

Rabbi Yossi Mendelson, Rabbi of Congregation Machane Chodosh of Forest Hills, Chaplain at New York Presbyterian-Queens and Creedmoor Psychiatric Center, and Clergy Liaison to the 112^th NYPD Precinct, was honored with delivering the invocation at New York City Hall last month on Wednesday, October 12 (Chol HaMoed Sukkos). Rabbi Mendelson shared a moment with NYPD Inspector Richie Taylor, Commissioner of Community Affairs for the Department, Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, and Council Member Lynn Schulman who had chosen the Rabbi for the distinction because of the warmth and inspiration shown by the Rabbi, his Rebbetzin Mushky, who founded Central Queens Jewish Community Circle, and their seven delightful children.

NYC Mayor Eric Adams made a surprise visit to the 9th annual Jewish Food Media Conference, a gathering of food critics and Jewish media influencers, where he declared, “Food is powerful.” The mayor noted how individuals often define themselves by their foods, like the Jewish community’s pride in a vast array of kosher offerings. The mayor himself is on a plant-based diet that he has claimed has saved his life. He has stated, “I aspire to be plant-based 100 percent of the time,” noting that he has occasionally dabbled in fish delicacies. At the event, the mayor signed copies of his work, Healthy At Last: A Plant-Based Approach To Preventing And Reversing Diabetes.

Two Rebbeim Survive Potential Disaster Situation

On the evening of Monday, October 24, just after 9 p.m., Rabbi David Aryeh Yakob was driving as he normally does on Monday evenings from his Williamsburg home to a Queens shul, Moshe Raya Mehamina in Forest Hills, as part of the chavrusa program. Things went awry for Yakob when his car ended up affixed atop of the new cement bike lane barriers recently installed along Queens Boulevard throughout Forest Hills and Rego Park. Both he and a passenger, another chavrusa rebbe, disembarked unharmed. Once FDNY arrived on scene, the vehicle was lowered from its hoisted perch without a single scratch. Such is solely the working of Hashem. “When one is a shaliach, a messenger, for a mitzvah, no damage or harm will come to him,” remarked Rabbi Naftali Rosenbaum of Hatzalas Doros Bukhara, visionary and director of the chavrusa program, Chavruta.