News

When a Queens resident chooses to relocate to West Hempstead, one can think of the many ways that these two communities are similar. The World’s Borough has Flushing Meadows, with its two lakes as the largest open space within walking distance of the neighborhood. West Hempstead has Halls Pond, which is tiny in comparison to Meadow Lake, but within a five-minute drive from this pond is a much larger waterway inside a park. When my friends on Long Island ask for things to do during a week off from school, I remind them that there are scenic spots close to home, ideal for a hike during a pandemic.

 Emboldened by their recent electoral gains within the Democratic Party, leftists are tweeting angrily that we’ve called out their anti-Israel views in this publication. “I didn’t think I’d have to call out bad faith attacks using antisemitism as a weapon against progressives twice in one month, but here we are,” Mel Gagarin tweeted on Monday.

 In my ongoing research on the ancestry of my family, certain cities and individuals inspire days of reading before I return to the main focus of my genealogy. Between the Russian Revolution and the outbreak of World War II, the Kadinsky family lived in Gomel, Belarus, known in Yiddish and Belarusian as Homel. During this period, religious observance in my family had gradually lapsed, but in this city there were two notable rabbis who stared down the communists, and I’ve wondered whether my ancestors had any interactions with them.

The Internet never forgets. That’s the slogan that online sleuths say when they find old tweets that are out of step with contemporary values or politically acceptable views. With less than two weeks remaining before the February 2 nonpartisan special election for the 24^th Council District, an old tweet by Moumita Ahmed that disparages Israel could energize the Jewish vote in this crowded contest.

The border of West Hempstead and Franklin Square is marked by Dogwood Avenue, but it is certainly not the limit of the growing membership at Congregation Eitz Chayim of Dogwood Park, which is undergoing an expansion campaign that will give this house-turned-shul a grand entrance with a lobby, classrooms, and a social hall. “There has been a lot of growth with more families moving into this part of town,” said Eric Bienenfeld, a member of Eitz Chayim’s expansion committee. “There is a need for the building to keep up with the growth.”

“Building a Brighter Future” is the slogan of Chazaq, the multifaceted communal nonprofit based in Queens. At first glance, this means promoting Jewish education through enrollment in yeshivos, summer camps, and after-school programs, but so much of the success behind these efforts is the result of political action.