Rabbi & Rebbetzin Shmuel Gold and Margy Cohen were honored by the Queens Jewish Center at their 81st Annual Journal Dinner. More than 120 people attended at Simcha Palace in Kew Gardens Hills on June 23.
Rabbi Gold was baal k’riah for more than 50 years, as well as the unofficial rabbi of the 8:30 a.m. Shabbos minyan in the Beis HaMidrash.
Rabbi Gold advocated for charities like Tomchei Shabbos, Chickens for Shabbos, and Hachnosas Kallah of Queens. He was “the driving force behind the Mishnayos Home Study Program,” said Richard Etra, president of the Queens Jewish Center.
Former rabbis at the Queens Jewish Center, Rabbis Joseph Grunblatt and Hersh Milner, “left a great impression on him. As each magid shiur either moved or passed away, Rabbi Gold took over their classes: Talmud, Daf Yomi, Mussar, among others,” said Etra.
Rabbi Shmuel Gold read Megillas Esther for the shul and the homebound and drove them to their medical appointments. He “is a man who does chesed and maasim tovim, and, together with his eishes chayil, his home is a place where singles are frequently invited, and no one is alone for Shabbos or Yom Tov.
Rabbi Gold is “a role model of integrity, humility, learning, and a life replete with Torah values. He has given of himself daily, for which we are all his beneficiaries,” said Etra.
Rabbi Judah Kerbel of the Queens Jewish Center said that Rabbi Gold “checks in on people when he knows they are not well, and he goes to homes to blow the shofar for people who cannot come to shul, regardless of the long day of davening in shul.”
Rabbi Shmuel Gold embodies the Mishnah: “On three things the world stands: on the Torah, on the service of Hashem, and on acts of loving-kindness. It is these three things that, according to the Tiferes Yisrael, bring one to a holistic life as a Jew. Rabbi Gold is a role model for us in all three of these areas,” said Rabbi Kerbel.
Rabbi Shmuel Gold started going to the Queens Jewish Center after moving from the Bronx to Forest Hills in 1972. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Jewish Studies and a master’s degree in Hebrew from Yeshiva University. He also learned at YU’s seminary school, RIETS, for many years after graduation.
Yitzchok and Gitle Katz worked with the Golds at Tomchei Shabbos of Queens. Gitle Katz and Rebbetzin Gold also taught together at the Bais Yaakov of Queens. The Katzes said that Rabbi Gold “spent his entire professional life in social work. He earned his livelihood in Bushwick and places of that nature, but both he and Chai Sorah were social workers for all of us – at no charge.”
Rebbetzin Chai Sorah Gold “worked tirelessly in the Tomchei warehouse almost every available Wednesday night. She did menial tasks with aplomb, knowing that someone wanting would benefit from her work,” said President Richard Etra.
HaRav Doniel Lander, Rosh Yeshivah of Yeshivas Ohr HaChaim in Kew Gardens Hills, and son of Rabbi Dr. Bernard Lander, founder of Touro University, praised Rabbi Gold’s “infectious enthusiasm for limud haTorah and precious friendship,” and “his blend of Torah scholarship and genuine humility.” “He has been a beacon of ahavas Torah that has uplifted the entire Beis Midrash.”
Rabbi Gold spoke at the dinner of “the personalities that were part of the Queens Jewish Center.” Speakers from the Satmar Rebbe to Rav Moshe Feinstein to Uri of Uri’s Pizza because “he had an idea: If pizza motorcycles and scooters could get through traffic to deliver pizza, maybe Hatzalah could do the same.” They do now.
Chaim Stern, the former president of the Beis Midrash, worked in the textile business. “He would hang textiles on people’s doors or throw it out the window for poor people to take and try to support themselves.”
Rabbi Gold and his wife, Chai Sorah, are finishing up the paperwork with the Jewish Agency to make aliyah to Jerusalem. A son, a daughter, and 15 grandchildren live in Israel. Their daughter and her husband are involved with the Yeshivas Ner Yisrael in Baltimore, Maryland, where they live. The Golds have five grandchildren in America.
The 8:30 a.m. Beis Midrash minyan at the Queens Jewish Center has recently disbanded.
Margy Cohen received the Community Service Award. A member of the shul since 1968, she is a Board Member for both the synagogue and the Sisterhood and has been a volunteer at their office for the past 21 years.
Rabbi Kerbel said Cohen embodies the mishnah that says, “One with whom people are pleased, Hashem is pleased. Another mishnah similarly says, ‘Who is respected? One who respects other people, as it is said, ‘For I honor those who honor me.’”
“The commentaries of this mishnah say ‘If one treats others with respect, dignity, care, and kindness, this makes Hashem inherently happy; and likewise, one who relates to others with genuine warmth and affection will in turn be appreciated as well.’
“This is the idea that immediately came to mind when I thought about Margy. I have only experienced tremendous kindness when I interact with her. She always has a good word to say and goes out of her way to show appreciation. Margy has served our shul for over two decades without an ounce of self-importance.
“She helps people who come to the office to feel cared for and appreciated. Margy exudes a positive attitude about life, even in difficult situations, and I am constantly amused by the fun adventures she has with her many grandchildren.”
Richard Etra, the president of the shul, said that Cohen coordinates the seating for the High Holidays and the shul dinner, does computer work, mailings, filing, phone calls, and special projects – “Margy does them all with professionalism, warmth, efficiency, and good nature. She has made a difference in all our lives.”
Cohen said in a private interview that she does it all because of her love for the people and her “emotional ties” to the Queens Jewish Center office.
A native of Altoona, Pennsylvania, Cohen was a former reading specialist, teacher, and testing coordinator for first graders in public schools and at the Bais Yaakov of Queens.
Cohen attended Pennsylvania State University and earned a Master of Science degree in Education with a specialty in reading from Adelphi University. She has three children: Abba, Akiba, and Dvora.
