News

This past Thursday, April 22, was also Earth Day. NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson and his Council colleagues opted to use this day when we focus on the environment to vote and subsequently appoint James F. Gennaro as the Chair of the NYC Council Committee on Environmental Protection, a position that Gennaro previously held from 2002 to 2013. The seat was vacated by former City Council Member Costa Constantinides who resigned for a nonprofit sector job after serving as Chair for seven years. Over the impressive twelve-year span, Gennaro authored and passed into law 50 major pieces of environmental legislation, and shepherded hundreds of other bills through the committee. “I am honored and humbled to hold this position again and will do my utmost to advance the work of the committee along lines of excellence,” wrote Gennaro following word of this announcement. “I am very grateful to Speaker Johnson and my colleagues for their confidence in me. I won’t let them down.”

For 12 years, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai (Rashbi) and his son Elazar dwelt in the cave, sustaining themselves on carobs and water. In the cave, Rabbi Shimon learned to look at the world in even the most physical and coarse places and still find Hashem and His Goodness within. For, the physicality itself is really hidden, latent spirituality. By coming to this realization, Rashbi was thus zocheh to reveal Hashem in every aspect of creation (the good and the bad) through the mystical teachings contained in the Zohar. He came to a place of shalom between him, those around him, and His Creator, and thereby became the conduit of shalom into the world. I’ve heard it said that when someone learns the Zohar properly, all questions fall away.

Hate crimes and anti-Semitism are still a major concern for residents of Queens. Neighbors in Rego Park are now being extra cautious when outside, following an unprovoked attack on a 56-year-old Jewish man on his way to Minchah services at Congregation Ohr Natan this past Shabbos afternoon around 6 p.m. As we are very aware, the neighborhood surrounding 99^th Street is heavily religious, to where many residents have escaped the religious oppression in their Soviet homeland and arrived in New York seeking freedom.

Defendant Allegedly Desecrated Rego Park Jewish Center with Hate Symbol;

The Accused Faces Time in Prison if Convicted

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced last Friday that Ramtin Rabenou, 41, has been charged with criminal mischief as a hate crime and other crimes for allegedly defacing the Rego Park Jewish Center on Queens Boulevard with a swastika and for scrawling graffiti at multiple other locations in the area in February 2021.

Reflecting on the life of Rabbi Jerome “Jerry” Acker z”l, Yaakov ben Ephraim Fishel, whose levayah took place on March 30, evokes a wholesome feeling of a compassionate man who dedicated his days to the voice of the Torah and the Jewish community of Kew Gardens. Rabbi Aryeh Sokoloff, mara d’asra of Congregation Adas Yeshurun, a.k.a. the Kew Gardens Synagogue (“The Big Shul”), remembered Rabbi Acker for his remarkable attributes. “Rabbi Acker was the standard-bearer for the minhagim and nusach of our beis ha’k’neses, who from a young age represented the values of our shul,” said Rabbi Sokoloff.

Two months after joining Queens Borough President Donovan Richards on the steps of Queens Borough Hall to condemn hate in New York City, another rally was held this past Sunday morning addressing the recent rise in anti-Asian and anti-Semitic attacks. These acts are rooted in racist and xenophobic sentiments where the aggressors generally have little concern for age or gender and aim to instill terror.