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It is hard to believe it’s been a year since our world got turned upside down, but that did not hold back the Young Israel of Jamaica Estates from creating a fulfilling Purim holiday.  To get in the Purim mindset, Rabbi Lerner once again captivated the community with his fascinating pre-Purim shiur titled “Esther’s Legacy: Popularity and Power.” There was a lively discussion about leadership and popularity. What does it mean that Mordechai was liked by most? Should good leaders strive to be popular?  Rabbi Lerner seems have both, as he has led the community through this difficult year and has clearly earned a good measure of popularity, as we congratulate him on being unanimously instated in Jamaica Estates for years to come.

Just days before the Biden administration took office, the US Labor Department recognized the Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce for bringing about a crucial policy change that opens federal job training grants to fund job training programs run by small and midsize community based organizations across the country helping all communities and Chambers of Commerce stimulate Job Creation throughout the United States.

The 28^th of Adar marks the first yahrzeit of Reb Yaakov Meltzer zt”l. Reb Yaakov, a beloved member of the Kew Gardens neighborhood of Queens, was a brilliant talmid chacham, a tremendous baal chesed, baal t’kiah, and a devoted medical practitioner. He was astute in the laws of taharos, hilchos eruv, and safrus. His priorities were defined by Torah and his chiyus was Torah and mitzvos.

The Coalition for Jewish Values (CJV), representing over 1,500 traditional, Orthodox rabbis in public policy, denounced calls by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) on a Qatari TV channel for the prosecution of Israeli leaders before the International Criminal Court (ICC). Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced an ICC investigation of Israel for fake “war crimes” as “pure anti-Semitism,” which the rabbis called “entirely applicable” to Omar’s support.

There are many ways to get chizuk when life gets confusing or difficult. But sometimes the biggest chizuk can come from within. The following ten Jewish meditations can help keep us on track. Filling our minds and hearts with these ideas will keep our minds clear so that we don’t lose focus on the most important things in life.

District 24 is once again formally represented in the New York City Council. James F. Gennaro, a Jamaica Estates resident, was sworn in this past Thursday, February 18 – 6,970 days after he was originally sworn in back in early 2002.