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David HaMelech famously stated, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for You are with me.” David HaMelech did not expect that we will live amazing lives with no hardships. Life may certainly be difficult at times (e.g., financial difficulties, children who do not live up to our expectations, health issues, etc.). At times, just like David HaMelech, we may feel as if we are “walking through the valley of the shadow of death.” What keeps us all going is when we stop to realize that we are not afraid. We remember that Hashem is with us and will comfort us and help see us through any rough times we experience.

On Sunday night, amid a packed shul that included shul members, county representatives, and rabbanim from every shul in the neighborhood, the Young Israel of West Hempstead installed Rabbi Josh Goller as their newly appointed Rabbi. “Newly appointed” is a bit of a stretch, though. Rabbi Goller has been serving as the mara d’asra for over a year now. However, with the community mourning the loss of the much beloved and revered Rabbi Yehudah Kelemer, as well as the global pandemic, the celebration was postponed until this week.

Rabbi Yeruchim Silber, director of New York government relations for Agudath Israel, joined elected officials from Queens, as well as religious leaders, advocates, and families, to call on New York State to expand the Empire State Child Tax Credit.

With a scarcity of kosher Passover food in Ukraine, UJA-Federation of New York worked with four local synagogues to collect 12,000 pounds of holiday food that will be distributed to Jews remaining in Ukraine as well as Jewish refugees who have been forced to flee. Food was collected at synagogues in Long Island, Westchester, and Manhattan on Sunday, March 27, and packed on Monday, March 28, by Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, for shipment to Ukrainian Jewish communities.

With the need for emergency food at an all-time high, Masbia gets a huge warehouse in Boro Park, down the block from Bingo. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Masbia added more storage space by renting additional storefronts adjacent to the original facilities, but this one is the first standalone warehouse facility where pallets are stored three stories high.

In testimony this week, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson said that the African Hebrew Israelite sect that appeared in her court was “a small community, a cultural community of people who believe in vegan lifestyles. They call themselves African Hebrew Israelites, but it’s not a religious community, it’s a cultural community around healthy living.” Following backlash, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency ran a news report asserting that “conservatives on Twitter” were “claiming erroneously that Jackson had embraced an anti-Semitic cult.”