News

In the “world’s borough,” every language can be heard, and for Jewish languages, the epicenter of this diversity is Rego Park. I experienced it in my youth, in which the barber spoke Bukhori, the baker spoke Hungarian, the rabbi spoke German, elders spoke Yiddish sprinkled with Romanian and Ukrainian words, classmates spoke Russian, and many other such anecdotes within a short walking distance.

The century-old mansion-turned-shul that is the Young Israel of Wavecrest and Bayswater was filled with lights this past Motza’ei Shabbos, matching the dancing and energy of the New York Boys Choir, as it expands to include participants from Queens.

The necessity of porch cameras speaks of the rise in crime, usually burglars seeking to steal packages or break into homes. This past Sunday, a Hewlett homeowner had his pro-Israel flag stolen and the act was captured on camera.

On the hundredth day after Hamas breached the Gaza border and murdered the largest number of Jews in a single day since the Holocaust, the Young Israel of West Hempstead hosted the volunteers who spent the past 15 weeks identifying the dead, comforting their survivors, and themselves.

For many couples living in West Hempstead, their careers have been established and they earned their home in the suburbs, but within themselves an emotional void developed, as work, parenting, and daily responsibilities leave little time for spouses to focus on each other. Perhaps that’s why, when the House of Torah shul recently hosted Rabbi Ben Zion Shafier of the Shmuz lecture series, the room was packed, and he was warmly welcomed by his talmid Rabbi Avichai Bensoussan.

In the days following the Hamas attack on southern Israel, Jewish communities across the diaspora mobilized to pray and donate funding and resources to the Israeli military, nonprofits, and affected communities. West Hempstead resident Michael Mandelstam joined these efforts, but he felt in this crucial moment, there was no substitute to being physically present in Israel to bear witness or offer assistance and encouragement. “Five or six of us were interested in going from day one, but we decided to wait until the last week of December when we were able to go with a strong group of 20 guys.”