Sergey Kadinsky

Among the charitable bike races of the summer, Tour De Simcha offers the most challenges, with a 65-mile route that loops around the grounds of Camp Simcha in the Catskills, with mountaintop views and meanders on the tight gorge of the Delaware River. The rewarding feeling comes at the end, when participants are greeted by the cheering campers and their counselors.

While hundreds of laws are passed in Albany every year, amendments to the New York State Constitution are rare. Yet, that is just what was proposed by New York legislators last week in an “extraordinary session,” and its results could have significantly weakened religious freedom in the state.

Among my neighbors, Marc and Ariella Goldhammer have an open door, with strollers parked outside on many Shabbos afternoons. Since their arrival in West Hempstead, their home has become a magnet of hospitality. Sadly, this past week, it was a home of mourning after Ariella’s brother, David Moshe Henoch, 18, died in a scuba diving accident in Florida this past Sunday.

Governor Kathy Hochul and her running mate, Antonio Delgado, visited the Kew Gardens Hills home of Nati and Revital Elishaev last Sunday in a final push to secure the vote of the Queens Jewish community. They listened as local elected officials and community leaders spoke of their support for the pair and the need for Jews to vote in the primary this past Tuesday.

On the week when President Joe Biden traveled to Israel and Saudi Arabia to affirm this country’s relations with Israel, revive funding to the Palestinians, and secure favorable rates for oil from the Saudis, the Jewish community of West Hempstead was united in its support for Jews in Yehudah and Shomron.

The only public school district on Long Island where voters rejected the proposed budget in May had its revote on Tuesday. Residents of West Hempstead cast their ballots on how much in taxes they will be paying in property taxes to support their public school district. Outside the West Hempstead Middle School, the scene was less tense than last time, when the proposed tax increase was 2.14 percent. This time it was 1.5 percent, following a series of newsletters, a public presentation, and pleas from public school parents. The proposed hike is lower than the average for a Nassau County district.