Community Corner

In a year where nothing seems to be normal, Bnos Malka Academy’s annual dinner will be an extraordinary event. A typical dinner focuses on a couple of well-deserving honorees who have demonstrated their devotion to the school. During the pandemic and the remote learning of a year ago, the partnership between teachers and parents was strengthened.

This week’s Torah portion is Shelach, where the mitzvah of tzitzit – and the blue string of Tekhelet that hangs from them – is recorded. To mark that, Ptil Tekhelet is running a Shabbat HaTekhelet campaign in which numerous Rabbis and educators from around the world will be giving classes and sermons to highlight the importance of Tekhelet. We met up with Dr. Baruch Sterman, co-founder of Ptil Tekhelet and author of The Rarest Blue: The Remarkable Story of an Ancient Color Lost to History and Rediscovered, to find out more about this initiative.

The Yeshiva Ketana of Queens is extremely pleased to be honoring Dr. and Mrs. Ellie Bennett at this year’s dinner reception on June 8 at the Young Israel of Queens Valley.

The New York City Jewish community continues to stand behind its long-time advocate Eric Adams, as the mayoral candidate, who has been topping the latest polls, continues gather Orthodox Jewish endorsements. On Monday, Adams added to his growing list of Orthodox Jewish endorsements: a coalition of growing and thriving Staten Island Jewish groups and the influential Sephardic Community Federation (SCF), which is based in Flatbush.

In Sefer Tehilim (95:7), it’s written that we are Hashem’s people, “today, if you hear His voice.” But, what does it mean in a practical sense to “hear” Hashem’s voice? What exactly are we supposed to be listening for? A Bas Kol from Shamayim? And [Hashem] said: “Go out and stand in the mountain before Hashem, Behold! Hashem passes, and a great and strong wind splitting mountains and shattering boulders [goes out] before Hashem. ‘Hashem is not in the wind.’ And after the wind, an earthquake. ‘Hashem is not in the earthquake.’ After the earthquake, a fire. ‘Hashem is not in the fire,’ and after the fire, a still thin sound [literally: “voice”].” Melachim I 19:11-12

Is there anything Jews can do to improve their safety? We put this question to Sholem Klein, the Coordinator of the Rockaway/Nassau Shomrim, a group of volunteers that works closely with Nassau County Police as well as the NYPD. This branch of Shomrim serves the Rockaway and Nassau communities.