On Monday, December 30, Rabbi Yossi and Dina Blesofsky of Chabad of Northeast Queens brought the community together for their annual grand menorah lighting. As the senior shaliach of all Queens' shluchim, Rabbi Blesofsky has been a guiding force in bringing the joy and light of Chanukah to neighborhoods across the borough. This year’s event, originally planned for Sunday, December 29, was rescheduled due to inclement weather, but the festive spirit was as vibrant as ever.

Hatzolah of Queens and Great Neck held its annual members appreciation event over Chanukah at Congregation Ner Mordechai in Kew Gardens. The lavish celebration, befitting the organization’s life-saving work, featured vibrant live music and moving words of gratitude from Hatzolah of Queens and Great Neck coordinators, including Rabbi Binyomin Kessler – Menahel of Yeshiva Ketana of Queens – and Sruly Lowy.

In Parshas VaEira, Hashem commanded Moshe to first warn Pharaoh about the impending plague. Moshe told Pharaoh that if he refused to free the Jews to serve Hashem, “so said Hashem: ‘In this you shall know that I am Hashem.’

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced the closure of an unlicensed cannabis shop that operated at 103-17 Queens Boulevard in Forest Hills, blocks away from a public park and a junior high school. More than 30 pounds of marijuana, with a street value of approximately $38,200, were confiscated, as well hundreds of packages of cannabis product, following a search of the premises.