Sergey Kadinsky

In the last three decades of his life, Sheldon Adelson, 87, had an outsized influence on American and Israeli politics, fueled by an empire of casinos in Las Vegas, Macao, and Singapore that defined the skylines of these cities. Estimated by Bloomberg News as the world’s 37^th wealthiest person, this cabdriver’s son was unapologetic and tough in his embrace of conservatism as he purchased newspapers and bankrolled successful presidential campaigns.

I had my bar mitzvah in a shul that asked little from its members. It could afford to pay for its expenses with the Hindu temple across the street renting its parking lot and a Chinese daycare renting out the former Hebrew school. My grandfather was a member and his brother-in-law was a gabbai, and the only Levi in a minyan that echoed in a sanctuary designed for at least a hundred worshippers. On paper, Kissena Jewish Center is an active synagogue but it is a shadow of its former self.

The center of the Jewish community in West Hempstead has been expanding in every direction, and all shuls, shops, and schools have been experiencing the need for more space. For Bais Torah U’Tefilah, or BTU, the relocation to a bigger facility is a walk across the street. “We have been getting ten to 15 new families joining each year, and we initially made plans to expand our current building before the opportunity came to move across the street” said Rabbi Uri Lesser, mara d’asra of BTU.

Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, Rabbi Dr. Aaron Glatt has been holding public online briefings on the latest developments concerning the virus. This past Sunday, he had a much larger audience in a presentation sponsored by Yeshiva University, where he made a solid case for vaccination alongside Rabbi Mordechai Willig, a rosh yeshivah at its rabbinical seminary. “We have to understand that it’s an incredible chesed from HaKadosh Baruch Hu that within one year we’ve been able to come up with two vaccines,” Rabbi Glatt said. “The Ebola vaccine took five years and most vaccines take 11 to develop.”

With less than a month remaining until the nonpartisan City Council special election for the 24^th District seat, this publication is reminding readers to be aware of their poll sites and the candidates on the ballot, and to mark Tuesday, February 2, on your calendars. Having interviewed James Gennaro and Neeta Jain last month, we now turn to two more candidates who have reached out to the Queens Jewish Link but in actuality happen to be our neighbors and demonstrated a thorough knowledge of Jewish communal priorities. In a ranked choice election, voters can choose all of the candidates mentioned above, ranking them based on preference.

An experienced voice from Queens will be chairing the House Foreign Affairs Committee after securing the support of his party’s colleagues last Thursday. Rep. Gregory Meeks, 67, who is also the chair of the Queens Democratic organization and serves the sizable Jewish communities of Far Rockaway and Jamaica Estates, as well as areas of Nassau County, will also be the first African American at this post. “I’m extremely honored to be elected Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee,” Meeks said in a statement, where he called to “bring diplomacy back.” “The new era of US foreign policy will not be just a return to normal, but an opportunity to broaden the committee focus and forge new coalitions to address global challenges.”