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Queens Shmira, in coordination with the local Jewish community, extended a note of appreciation to the hard-working service members within the Jewish communities of Queens. Coordinator Avraham Pinkhasov and I delivered meals on the eve of the holiday and this past Monday for breakfast and lunch to recognize those who left their families on the holiday to serve our community, providing essential public safety services. We noted this sacrifice when friends and colleagues are surrounded by loved ones.

I was a proud guest of the New York City City Council’s inaugural Chanukah celebration held on Monday, December 11, in the Council Chambers at City Hall. The festivities, overshadowed by the war against Hamas in Israel and the widespread anti-Semitism worldwide, featured City Council Speaker Adrienne E. Adams and co-hosts The City Council’s Jewish Caucus, represented in Queens by Council Member Lynn Schulman. Chair Eric Dinowitz joined Ari Kagan, Julie Menin, and Lincoln Restler, while Inna Vernikov and Kalman Yeger had previous engagements. Council Members Gail Brewer, Natasha Williams, and Marjorie Velázquez also joined. The program, co-organized by Pesach Osina of the Speaker’s Community Outreach Unit, and Madison Rosensaft, was kicked off by a delicious kosher reception and culminated with a variety of donuts as a parting treat.

The p’tirah of Rav Matisyahu Chaim Salomon, ztk”l, 86, Mashgiach Ruchani of Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, New Jersey, will undoubtedly shake the Torah world in the weeks and months ahead. It was barely a year ago, on January 23, when urgent calls were put out for T’hilim on behalf of the gadol, sadly the same calls went out this past Tuesday evening after he went into cardiac arrest. Hatzalah volunteers revived the rav at his home, steps from the yeshivah where he left such a profound impact.

“Chanukah tells us a story of the Jewish people coming together on their own to fight back against an invading force,” said Congress Member Meng at her Chanukah party, held traditionally on the Sunday morning prior to the holiday. “As Israel defends itself against terror and as the world faces horrifying instances of anti-Semitism, you are not alone. We saw what happened, we witnessed what happened. We believe you, you are not alone, you will not be abandoned, and you will not be neglected.”

Assemblymember Nily Rozic, Deputy Consul General of Israel Tsach Saar Host Fresh Meadows Gathering

A hastily arranged meeting with family members of hostages and survivors of the fateful massacre in Israel on October 7 was convened by Assemblymember Nily Rozic at the behest of Israel’s Deputy Consul General in New York, Tsach Saar. The private gathering, held at Rozic’s Union Turnpike office, attracted a wide range of elected officials spanning Queens politics. The meeting lasted only an hour but made a tremendous impact, opening the eyes of many in attendance to the horrors that led Israel to embark on their unprecedented war.

In the aftermath of October 7, Jews worldwide sought opportunities to help the IDF defeat the enemy and assist the thousands upon thousands of kibbutz residents begin to recover as they return to reestablish their communities. For Kew Gardens Hills resident Dr. Jack Walfish, this journey led to Moshav Naveh, a moshav on the southern border five miles from Gaza and two miles from Egypt in the Halutza Sands desert. Its strictly religious population pays homage to Israel’s first Chief Rabbi, HaRav Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook zt”l, and his son, HaRav Tzvi Yehuda zt”l. The consortium was established in 2006 in the aftermath of the Gush Katif disengagement; they settled in Naveh, continuing their belief of mishmar ha’gvul, defending the established borders of Artzeinu HaKedoshah with a peaceful living experience by reinvigorating the sacred soil with farming and agriculture production in regions greatly underpopulated.