Sergey Kadinsky

The second yahrzeit for Rabbi Yehuda Kelemer zt”l, the late rav of the Young Israel of West Hempstead, was marked by a busy weekend that included a parent-child tish on Friday night with singer Eitan Katz, who also led Shabbos davening, and Kollel Yom Rishon with two leading speakers from Yeshiva University. The events were attended by members of all West Hempstead shuls, demonstrating Rabbi Kelemer’s influence across the community.

Less than a week after Sen. Chuck Schumer and Gov. Kathy Hochul attended a community forum on anti-Semitism at the Lincoln Square Synagogue in Manhattan, the Jewish community of West Hempstead had its own forum, hosting Nassau County Legislator John Giuffre.

Gene Richter, 90, has been a Queens resident for most of his life. A veteran of the United States Navy, he speaks of his experiences to schools and shuls. One such encounter inspired a team of teens to depict his story in comic form in a new children’s magazine published by the Youth Department at the Young Israel of Queens Valley.

Seeking to promote discipline and talent among children, a gemach for violins was founded last summer in West Hempstead. This Motza’ei Shabbos, participants of the West Hempstead Violin Gemach will have their public concert, hosted by Creative Corner.

Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, Chanukah was often used by shuls and Jewish organizations for dedication dinners, fitting with the holiday’s celebration of the Beis HaMikdash being rededicated so many centuries ago. A groundbreaking, grand opening, sefer Torah dedications, and completion of mortgage payments, are documented in detail by Jewish and secular media, along with journals published by the shuls.

Across the landscape of New York City and its suburbs, Jewish names appear on streets, parks, schools, and other points on the map. We often expect such names to appear in visibly Jewish neighborhoods, honoring rabbis, politicians, and activists. But as Brad Kolodny notes in his research, much of Long Island’s early Jewish history began further to the east. He is the founder of the Jewish Historical Society of Long Island, which highlighted Hartmann’s Pond in Amityville as one such example.