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In a significant move, Daniel Loeb, the president and principal financial backer of the Margaret and Daniel Loeb Foundation, has redirected a $1 million donation originally destined for Columbia University to enhance Jewish education. This announcement was made at the Yeshiva University Chanukah celebration, where Loeb, the dinner chairman, highlighted his concerns about the relevance of traditional Ivy League institutions in the future, comparing Harvard's prospective trajectory to that of MSNBC in the news industry.

The fourth-grade boys file one by one into the classroom, wide eyes taking in the colorful posters on the walls. Shyly, they find their seats, put their brand- new backpacks on the floor and look up at the rebbi. Nervous himself, the young rebbi goes up and down the rows, asking cach boy to introduce himself.

I recently had the privilege of visiting the Israel Chesed Center (ICC) several times, and each experience left me in awe. On October 7, my granddaughter, Lonnie Levin, a 9th grader at Shulamith, spoke at the “Tekes Zikaron,” which was attended by over 700 people. Just last month, my husband, Rav Moshe Weinberger, had the honor of giving the introductory remarks for Rav Yitzchak Dovid Grossman, the renowned “Disco Rabbi” from Migdal HaEmek, at a packed Evening of Chizuk.

On the 5th day of Chanukah, the Israel Chesed Center hosted a heartwarming double “achdut” event, fostering unity among our local communities and between our residents and our brothers & sisters in Israel. The event was led by Mrs. Menucha Bornstein, the founder of Achoti, and was attended by students from 13 different area yeshivot, along with their mothers and grandmothers.

The Ziegfeld Ballroom on West 54^th Street in Midtown Manhattan was transformed into a beacon of solidarity and celebration as over 1,500 attendees gathered for the 30^th anniversary gala dinner of the One Israel Fund. Simultaneously a celebration of what has been accomplished, a grim reminder of the present challenges, and a hopeful and inspirational proclamation of future endeavors, the gala dinner gave a strong message to all attendees that One Israel Fund is in this fight for the long haul.

Assemblyman Sam Berger (D-Kew Gardens Hills) announced last week that he intends to introduce legislation in the 2025 legislative session aimed at combating the disturbing rise in anti-Semitism in New York. The legislation will require all New York State agencies to incorporate IHRA’s working definition of anti-Semitism into their anti-discrimination policies.