Community Corner

This year, Hashem is taking away the mageifah, and He should bless us with double simchah since last Pesach was so hard. Rabbi Herschel Welcher, rav of Congregation Ahavas Yisroel, ended his question-and-answer shiur on Pesach with this beautiful optimistic note.

On Tuesday evening, March 16, the Navigating the Medical System Lecture Series featured an informative virtual lecture with David J. Slotwiner, MD, FACS, FHRS, Chief of Cardiology at NewYork-Presbyterian Queens, hosted by Congregation Etz Chaim of Kew Gardens Hills.

Mr. Dennis Shore was a well-loved Kew Gardens Hills community member who passed away in November 2019. Chol HaMoed was always a time when community members could call and bring their children to his house to see his treasure trove of model trains. His oldest models include a #42 train from 1923 and a #29 from 1915.

Sometimes you can write about something you heard about and it’s meaningful, but when you actually see it up close, then there is so much more to say. Chazaq and Chickens for Shabbos partnered up for an incredible mitzvah. Monthly, there is a distribution at Congregation Ner Mordechai in Kew Gardens of all sorts of household items for m’lamdim, and the most recent distributions were also for g’rushos. Past ones were also for almanos. This mitzvah is being executed in a beautiful way, and it’s definitely giving Hashem nachas. He should bless Chazaq and Chickens for Shabbos for their efforts on behalf of our community and klal Yisrael.

On Sunday evening, March 7, Chazaq hosted a pre-Pesach shiur at Beth Gavriel and on Zoom. Rabbi Ilan Meirov, Founder and Director of Chazaq, shared that “When a person wants to do good, nothing bad will happen to him.” The machatzis ha’shekel was on fire. Why were the coins on fire? This teaches us that when you give, you don’t lose anything. “When you give, you get more. This should be our mentality when we give tz’dakah. Anyone who gives tz’dakah receives six blessings. If you help someone feel good, you get 11 blessings. It’s so important to give with kindness to help the person feel wanted.

On Sunday evening, March 7, Let’s Get Real with Coach Menachem featured its 44^th shiur. Rabbi Naftali Horowitz shared wise advice on all aspects of finances and the proper Torah perspective on money. Rabbi Horowitz shared his own background and how he moved into the job he does currently. He works as a manager at JPMorgan and advises people who are wealthy. He noted, “The money aspect is the easiest part of the job. The real challenge is the emotional and psychological things that money does to people.” He shared something that we all know, which is that money does not correlate to happiness and fulfillment or peace of mind. The Gemara teaches that thousands of times.