Queens Jewish Link
Connecting the Queens Jewish Community 
On Monday night, November 18, Rav David Yosef shlita, son of HaRav Ovadia Yosef zt”l, inspired and stirred a crowd at Congregation Ohr Natan. Rav Yitzchak Yisraeli, Chief Bukharian Rabbi of the United States and Canada, introduced Rav Yosef. The program was hosted by Chazaq.
The 17th annual Rachel Imeinu Yahrzeit Commemoration took place on November 9, Motza’ei Shabbos of Parshas Lech L’cha, all over the world. In Kew Gardens Hills, the Commemoration took place at Congregation Ahavas Yisroel. It was sponsored on behalf of the Torah Umesorah Aniyim Fund. Rebbetzin Miriam Welcher, representing the shul, led t’hilim on behalf of cholim. Next, Mrs. Sherry Rada welcomed everyone. She quoted Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky shlita, who said, “Klal Yisrael belongs to Rachel Imeinu. She’s with us all the time.”
On Sunday evening, November 17, there was a standing-room-only crowd of women at Congregation Ahavas Yisroel who came to hear Mrs. Dina Hurwitz share her inspiring story. With warmth and tears, Mrs. Hurwitz showed all of us how to face an extremely difficult challenge with love and hope and even joy. It was humbling and at the same time she gave each member of the audience the gift of hope.
This year, Rabbi Avraham Dovid Garber’s weekly parshah class is taking place at the home of Rebbetzin Trani Rosenblatt in Kew Gardens Hills in memory of the Rosh HaYeshiva of Yeshiva Kesser Torah, Rabbi Elyakim Rosenblatt zt”l.
On Tuesday evening, November 12, community members gathered at Congregation Bais Dovid (Rabbi Rubin’s shul) in Kew Gardens Hills, to hear a thought-provoking shiur from Rabbi Aharon Pessin, well-known speaker, author, and magid shiur who lives in Israel. The shiur was hosted by the renowned Chazaq organization. Rabbi Pessin spoke about cloning of humans and animals and the halachic ramifications and questions this involves. He focused on deep, important ideas that we can learn from studying this issue.
Few people realize that there is a whole community of hidden Jews in Puerto Rico who can trace their ancestry back to the Conversos in Spain during the Spanish Inquisition. Can you imagine being brought up as a Christian and finding out that the family you never met and the quiet secret your family was hiding was that you were really a Jew and your family was descendants of Conversos from the 1400s?
