Community Corner

As we approach the joyous holiday of Purim, we are reminded of one of the most powerful messages in Jewish history: No matter how dark the situation may seem, we must never give up hope. The story of Purim itself is a perfect example of this.

Our grandmother, Sarah Richter, was suddenly taken from us on January 27 – kaf zayin Teves. Bubby Sarah, as she was lovingly known, evokes the image of a woman larger than life. She exemplified the qualities of a baalas bitachon on the highest level, combined with a simchas ha’chayim, and a stunning ability to connect with friends and family alike, on a warm and personal level.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, the highest-ranking Jewish Republican in America and the first Jewish Executive in the county’s history, kicked off his re-election campaign with a rousing speech in Massapequa.

The seventh of Adar was the day on which Moshe Rabbeinu was born, and also the day on which he died exactly 120 years later. Tzadikim were often given the ability to completely live out their years. It is written that Moshe passed away through the “Kiss of Hashem.”

Fifteen months ago, on October 7, 2023, Arab Muslim terrorists, associating as Hamas, broke a ceasefire with Israel by murdering 1,200 innocent Jews, including peace activists, at an all-night “nova festival” and regular families in their nearby kibbutz homes. They murdered, they raped live women before murdering them, and raped women they had already murdered. They beheaded men, women, and children, sliced off body parts while their victims still were alive, and burned living, breathing babies to death in kitchen ovens.

The annex in Amsterdam, where Anne Frank, her parents, sister, and three other Jews hid from the Nazis, has been recreated at the Center for Jewish History in Manhattan.