News

The community of East Meadow, Long Island, celebrated the dedication of its first sefer Torah this Sunday, with close to 300 in attendance. In a clear act of hashgachah pratis, an elderly woman left funds in her will for a sefer Torah to be written for a shul with a daily minyan that is in need of a sefer Torah, and Congregation Shaarei Zedek of East Meadow was chosen as the beneficiary. The hachnasas sefer Torah on Sunday was a true milestone for this rapidly growing community, and a source of pride for its members.

UJA-Federation of New York has received a $10 million legacy gift from longtime New York-based philanthropists Jack and Shirley Silver that will be directed to help lift vulnerable New Yorkers out of poverty and fund UJA’s anti-poverty initiative “Upward New York.” This gift is in addition to the Silvers’ $20 million legacy gift made in 2017 to support Jewish camping. The Silvers’ gifts are the largest estate pledge commitments made known to UJA during a donor’s lifetime.

On Sunday evening, November 7, Let’s Get Real with Coach Menachem Bernfeld featured a fascinating program with practical suggestions for building a career and dealing with various money issues. The speaker was Adam Lieberman, an experienced sales and finance consultant and brother of Dr. David Lieberman.

Even for those of us who are generally optimistic, it is so easy to focus on all the “wreckage” in our lives (e.g., all the bad decisions we’ve made, all the times we’ve fallen, all the good resolutions that were never kept, all the places where we feel like we have no control). Positive change seems so far away, and we have fully convinced ourselves that there is no point in hoping that we can do any better.

The Young Israel of Jamaica Estates has been organizing a monthly Family Mitzvah Morning for more than seven years now. Originally conceived of by Rabbi Emeritus and Rebbetzin Shlomo and Karen Hochberg, and now continued under the leadership of the current rav, Rabbi Dov Lerner and his wife Miriam, families, including kids, parents, and grandparents come together each month for a fun activity or project to support an organization or chesed program in need. The monthly program is coordinated by volunteer Yael Schreiber and YIJE’s Youth Director, Jacob Herskowitz.

On Sunday evening, October 17, the virtual program Lets Get Real with Coach Menachem featured shiur #76 with two professionals in the field of addictions. Coach Menachem introduced the program with the statement that “No matter where anybody is, there is hope.”