David Schneier

Shloshim for Arlene Ross was held at Congregation Havurat Yisrael in Forest Hills on August 16. More than 45 people, including her daughter, Ariella, and people on Zoom, attended the siyum and special breakfast.

Rabbi David Algaze’s last day as full-time rabbi of the synagogue he created in 1981, Congregation Havurat Yisrael in Forest Hills, will be on June 6. Rabbi and Rebbetzin Tamara Algaze will relocate to Miami Beach, Florida. Both hope to spend more time with family.

“Why would Forest Hills resident Noach ben Avraham want to convert to Judaism, especially now?” is a question that hangs in the air among his fellow Jews. “Their question echoes centuries of trauma, amplified by the recent surge of anti-Semitism,” he said.

Blending mourning with resolve, the Queens Jewish Center marked Israel’s Memorial and Independence Days. Four local rabbis, a Jewish media leader, and more than 60 attendees honored the difficulties and sacrifices. Rabbi Dovid M. Cohen, CEO of The Algemeiner, a free online Jewish newspaper, was the keynote speaker. Cohen received s’michah from Yeshiva University and was a pulpit rabbi for 18 years in Manhattan, New Jersey, and the Five Towns.

Reuven Morrison didn’t have to confront the terrorists at Bondi Beach, Australia, on December 14, 2025.  He could have stayed on the ground, covering his head like the three police officers assigned that first night of Chanukah.  When Morrison saw that something needed to be done, and nobody else was doing it, he did it, said his daughter, Sheina Gutnick, at Chabad of Forest Hills North on Father’s Day, June 21.

 Arnold Newfield, a Holocaust survivor born in a transit camp in 1942, and Rabbi Dr. Elimelech Gottlieb, who has a master’s degree in Holocaust Studies, were the main speakers at the annual Yom HaShoah commemoration at the Young Israel of Forest Hills.