Community Corner

Monday, July 13, started out like a regular wonderful day. I rose extra early, planning to head to Long Beach Island, New Jersey, to visit my mom. The sun shone and I sped towards the Belt Parkway, my favorite highway with the glorious view of sailboats and rippling water. I was grateful for the usual traffic snarl until Exit 17W, which meant more people are back at work and the world is more on a normal schedule. I coasted to the Verrazzano Bridge, admiring the stunning view and thanking Hashem for the ability to go visit my mom in person. My plan was to arrive early enough to take a long walk on the beach.

On Sunday evening, June 21, Rabbi Ephraim Eliyahu Shapiro, rav of Congregation Shaaray Tefilah in North Miami Beach and well-known speaker, shared an inspiring virtual shiur on behalf of Chazaq and Emet.

On Tuesday evening, June 30, Rabbi Ben Tzion Shafier, Director of The Shmuz, shared a livestreamed shiur on appreciating our bodies, which was hosted by Asher to the Yatzar, Chazaq, and www.TorahAnytime.com.

On Monday evening, June 8, Rabbi Binyamin Pruzansky, well-known author and speaker, shared a powerful live-streamed shiur based on his new sefer, Inspired. The shiur was hosted by ArtScroll Publishers, TorahAnytime, and Chazaq. Rabbi Pruzansky began by stating, “A Yid needs to live a life of inspiration every day.”

Rabbi Aharon Margalit’s autobiography, As Long As I Live, is an incredible story with many layers. This book reads like a novel with all the literary elements. The author builds the suspense, his writing voice is strong, and the descriptions of the setting are vivid and add to the story. On a deeper level, this book teaches the reader emunah and bitachon through the writer’s real-life examples. The lessons in emunah in this book are life-changing. Rabbi Margalit’s life is a lesson in believing in brachos from tzadikim, davening, and a positive attitude that Hashem is here and whatever challenge He gives us is for the best to help us grow. He shows how he learned these important lessons in bitachon from his parents, both Holocaust survivors who built a new family and life in Eretz Yisrael in a moshav after World War II. They both taught Rabbi Margalit unwavering trust in brachos from tzadikim and in Hashem’s presence in their lives. He begins the story with his early childhood, growing up on a religious moshav in Israel.

On Wednesday evening, June 10, the Bais Yaakov Academy of Queens held a special Zoom tribute good-bye event in honor of Rabbi Mordechai Gewirtz, its Dean, who is retiring after ten years of dedicated service to the school.