The City University of New York Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez and the Foundation to Combat Anti-Semitism (FCAS) Executive Director Matthew E. Berger last week hosted “Paint the University Blue” at Queens College, an event in partnership with FCAS’s #StandUpToJewishHate campaign to raise awareness about anti-Semitism and hatred against Jewish people by wearing blue squares or posting or sharing the blue square emoji.

In several places throughout the Torah, Hashem refers to the Jewish People as an am s’gulah. In this context, it means that they possess certain traits that supersede the rules of creation. For instance, according to Chazal, if a Jew intends to perform a mitzvah and is prevented from doing so, he receives a reward as if he performed it. If, on the other hand, he is prevented from performing a transgression, this same principle will not apply. He is not held accountable.

Early Monday morning, May 8, Sam Levy reached out to the Queens Jewish Link with a welcomed update in his ongoing case stemming from a February 19 anti-Semitic attack. “The DA’s office called me yesterday, alerting me that on Saturday, they arrested another attacker who committed the hate crime against me.” Levy expressed immense appreciation to our publication for our extensive ongoing reporting in his case.