Community Corner

Queens Jewish Center marked the solemnness of Israel’s Memorial Day with tempered joy for Israel’s Independence Day, hosting about 70 people on April 30.

A child Holocaust survivor, who did not know she was Jewish – nor did the family hiding her – was the keynote speaker at the Yom HaShoah program at the Young Israel of Forest Hills on Wednesday, April 23. Around 45 attendees listened attentively.

It was an extraordinary evening and a true display of unity when the Emet JBoard hosted its first challah bake on April 24. Held at the Young Israel of Jamaica Estates, the room was literally overflowing with over 200 young women from St. John’s University, Queens College, Adelphi University, NYIT, and other campuses.

There has been much discussion and confusion surrounding the World Zionist Organization (WZO) and Eretz HaKodesh’s role within it. To help clarify things, we’ve put together a few key points.

The Torah instructs us to count the days from Pesach to Shavuot – a practice known as S’firas HaOmer. But this isn’t just a countdown; it’s a build-up. We count to link two defining moments in our history: the Exodus from Egypt and the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai.

Over the past year, Jewish students across American college campuses have faced an unprecedented wave of antisemitism. What once may have been subtle bias or passive exclusion has become overt hostility: vandalized Hillel buildings, acts and threats of violence against Jewish students, and demonstrations glorifying terrorism—all too often met with silence, or worse, from university administrators.