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College of Staten Island and Programs in Biochemistry and Chemistry at the CUNY Graduate Center

 City University of New York was once a bastion for free and safe public higher education. Among its stakeholders, Jewish New Yorkers flocked to the lecture halls of City College, Brooklyn College, Hunter College, and Queens College and received excellent preparation for careers in law, education, engineering, business, the humanities and the sciences. I myself have been fortunate to be a faculty member at the College of Staten Island and the CUNY Graduate School for nearly 50 years. My wife received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Queens College. We and our fellow Jews belong at CUNY and demand that all communities and stakeholders in the University are welcomed and treated fairly. Today we feel less than welcome at CUNY.

Remembering the unassuming KGH couple who were the very definition of generosity

Much credit for the content herein goes to the Kuppermanns’ daughter, Wendy Joy Binah Kuppermann, and Yehuda Weinberg.

Part II

The following is the transcription of the second installment of Rebecca Rushfield Wittert’s in-person interview with Rabbi Fabian Schonfeld about the origins of Kew Gardens Hills, conducted at his home in February 2018. It is continued from last week.

Donald Trump’s presidential legacy includes an array of highlights, but the appointment of Amy Coney Barrett as the 103^rd justice on the United States Supreme Court will forever be a notable climax. The first decision where her influence weighed heavily was passed down late on the eve of Thanksgiving, giving many a welcome surprise this past Thursday morning in a ruling that has temporarily barred New York State from enforcing the restrictive 10- and 25-person attendance limits at houses of worship in red and orange zones, respectively.

Questions of "annexation" have taken center-stage lately. Since the revealing of President Donald Trump's Peace Plan, pundits and politicians have been asking: Should Israel annex "Area C," a/k/a Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley, as outlined in the Oslo Accord? Before we can answer this question, which evokes mixed feelings worldwide, we must question whether "annex" is the correct word at all.

The Three Weeks is the time period during which we mourn the churban of the [First and Second] Beis HaMikdash as well as the countless atrocities that klal Yisrael has endured over the centuries at the hands of those who hate us and want to annihilate us. We know on an intellectual level that life without the Beis HaMikdash is not as it should be. We also understand that there was much pain and suffering during the Spanish Inquisition, pogroms, blood libels, the G’zeiros Tach v’Tat, and the Crusades. But many of us are most able to relate on an emotional level to the more recent events that hit closer to home. There is an abundance of museums, books, videos, testimonies, and programs designed to ensure that the Holocaust will never be forgotten. Despite the fact that the number of Holocaust survivors is dwindling, our generation continues to be impacted by their experiences and inspired by their spirit and m’sirus nefesh. It is especially poignant when there is a personal story within one’s family.