News

Last week, men, women, and teenagers from New York and New Jersey took the day off from school and work to get on a bus for NORPAC’s annual Mission to Washington, DC. This non-partisan organization sends over 1,000 volunteers to meet with 90 percent of Congress every year, but this year felt different. The recent comments by the newcomers to the House of Representatives, and the lack of admonishment from the veterans of that House, provided the volunteers a new sense of drive and purpose.

The highly competitive race for Queens District Attorney is regarded as an indicator of nationwide discussions on criminal justice reform. Last week, high-profile activist Linda Sarsour gave her endorsement to Tiffany Caban, the public defender running on a decidedly leftist platform in the seven-person contest.

The pro-Israel activist effort succeeded. On Monday night, the Board of Directors of the Redeemer Episcopal Church in Astoria voted to postpone “until further notice” the anti-Israel event titled “Celebrating Palestinian Resistance” after an outcry from pro-Israel activists led by local resident Zelig Krymko. “When the pastor saw how much this could hurt the church and how the majority of the board members are against it, he canceled it,” Krymko said.” Apparently, families in the community complained when they learned details about the speakers.”

The title to this wonderful, impactful exhibit, “Auschwitz. Not Long Ago. Not Far Away.” at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in downtown Manhattan, is somewhat misleading. It is not an exhibit about Auschwitz, although we do get there – seeing a showerhead from the gas chamber, a German gas mask, an empty Zyklon B canister, and a huge cauldron where the watery soup was made for inmates – but that is later.

The t’filin are 89 years old, but no one looking at them could know their history, where they had been, or what their owner had endured while he was a prisoner during World War II.

Measles has certainly been the hot topic as of late, discussed in many shuls, newspapers, and Facebook groups. We know that measles has been an issue for months, so why are we just waking up now? What is measles and why should we be afraid of contracting it? How did a once-eradicated disease rear its ugly head? Why our community? What should we be doing to stop it from spreading further?