Susie Garber

What is the entire chag of Pesach really about? Why doesn’t the Haggadah deal with the halachos of chametz? On Tuesday evening, April 2, the community gathered to hear the annual Pesach shiur by Rabbi Herschel Welcher shlita, Rav of Congregation Ahavas Yisroel. The shiur was dedicated in memory of a beloved shul and community member, Mrs. Sherry Rada a”h, who was someone with so much yir’as Shamayim and who encouraged Rabbi Welcher to begin doing this pre-Pesach shiur. She was very meticulous in preparing for Pesach.

On Tuesday evening, March 19, the Navigating the Medical System Lecture Series featured a virtual lecture on maintaining a healthful weight, hosted by Congregation Etz Chaim.

What do you do when you’re scared and don’t want to do something, but your husband is all enthusiastic about doing it? You go with him. So, I went with him to view the total solar eclipse on Monday, April 8.

On Thursday evening, March 28, the community gathered for an informative, interactive meeting with the President of Queens College, Frank H. Wu, at the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills. The event was presented by Assemblyman Sam Berger. Rabbi Stuart Verstandig, President of the Young Israel, thanked Assembly Member Sam Berger and his staff for organizing this gathering with Queens College President Wu.

On Sunday evening, March 31, community members gathered at Yeshiva Kesser Torah for a shiur in commemoration of the fifth yahrzeit of Rabbi Elyakim Getzel Rosenblatt zt”l, the Rosh Yeshivah of Yeshiva Kesser Torah. Some speakers spoke in person, and some were on Zoom. Yaakov Rosenblatt, a son of Rabbi Rosenblatt, spoke first. He shared a d’var Torah about the garments of the kohen. The kohen had to change his garments when he served in the Mishkan and in the Beis HaMikdash. This was teaching us an important idea that sometimes we have to do things that are not so easy or in our comfort zone, but we have to change into the “work clothes” and do what needs to be done as part of our avodas Hashem.

On Motza’ei Shabbos, March 16, Amit Yaghoubi, well-known inspirational speaker, shared a beautiful shiur at Congregation Ahavas Yisroel. She began by stating that this year had been out of the ordinary. We want it to turn around from sadness to simchah. She shared a story with a lesson. A young woman became an orphan recently. She had very little money in the bank, but she called her rabbi and told him she wanted to donate all of her money to purchase tzitzis for the soldiers in Gaza. The rabbi first tried to discourage her from using all her money in case she needed it. She cried and was insistent that she wanted to perform this mitzvah. She said it would be a merit for her father, who was recently niftar.