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Rabbi Aharon Margalit’s autobiography, As Long As I Live, is an incredible story with many layers. This book reads like a novel with all the literary elements. The author builds the suspense, his writing voice is strong, and the descriptions of the setting are vivid and add to the story. On a deeper level, this book teaches the reader emunah and bitachon through the writer’s real-life examples. The lessons in emunah in this book are life-changing. Rabbi Margalit’s life is a lesson in believing in brachos from tzadikim, davening, and a positive attitude that Hashem is here and whatever challenge He gives us is for the best to help us grow. He shows how he learned these important lessons in bitachon from his parents, both Holocaust survivors who built a new family and life in Eretz Yisrael in a moshav after World War II. They both taught Rabbi Margalit unwavering trust in brachos from tzadikim and in Hashem’s presence in their lives. He begins the story with his early childhood, growing up on a religious moshav in Israel.

On Wednesday evening, June 10, the Bais Yaakov Academy of Queens held a special Zoom tribute good-bye event in honor of Rabbi Mordechai Gewirtz, its Dean, who is retiring after ten years of dedicated service to the school.

On Sunday evening, June 21, Rabbi Ephraim Eliyahu Shapiro, rav of Congregation Shaaray Tefilah in North Miami Beach and well-known speaker, shared an inspiring virtual shiur on behalf of Chazaq and Emet.

Mr. Pedro Tahay, who worked at the Wasserman Supermarket for the past 24 years serving our community, recently passed away from COVID-19.

On Monday evening, June 8, Rabbi Binyamin Pruzansky, well-known author and speaker, shared a powerful live-streamed shiur based on his new sefer, Inspired. The shiur was hosted by ArtScroll Publishers, TorahAnytime, and Chazaq. Rabbi Pruzansky began by stating, “A Yid needs to live a life of inspiration every day.”

On Sunday evening, May 24, United Kollel streamed a powerful pre-Shavuos event with three star-studded speakers. The first speaker, HaRav Shlomo Miller, Rosh Kollel and co-founder of Kollel Avreichim Institute for Advanced Talmud Studies in Toronto and head of the Toronto Beis Din, began by imparting that “marbeh Torah, marbeh life. We have a purpose in life.” Even with the batei midrash, Torah is still alive. Everyone is still learning. He shared a d’var Torah from Parshas BaMidbar that the numbers counted were all round numbers, to teach us that every Jew is alive for a purpose – “especially now, when your learning is bringing down the Sh’chinah.” When you are learning by yourself in your house, then Hashem is your chavrusa. When it is difficult to learn, we have a higher elevation in learning. Now we can really appreciate learning in yeshivah. “When we return to our batei midrash, it will be like rebuilding a beis mikdash m’at.”