Community Corner

The Jewish Youth Basketball League, a dynamic initiative in a joint partnership between Esquared, Chazaq, Beth Gavriel, and ABA, has successfully concluded another exciting season. The league, which commenced in October, provided a platform for youngsters from elementary school through high school to not only enhance their basketball skills but also build confidence, foster teamwork, and most importantly, have a great time.

On Sunday, January 7, exactly three months after the war in Israel began, the Great Neck Synagogue hosted a Boots for Israel boot packing event. Marc Yehaskel is a friend and life-long Great Neck resident. His invaluable advice and inspiration overseeing every aspect of the day brought Sunday’s Boot Packing in Great Neck to fruition. Rabbi Dale Polakoff, Rabbi of the Great Neck Synagogue, not only lent his shul, but “rolled up his sleeves,” and he and his wife Ellen spent the whole day packing, cleaning, and generally making sure to accommodate all the needs of the Boots for Israel group.

The Queens Community is looking forward with great anticipation to the annual Erna Lindenfeld Hachnosas Kallah Tea on Tuesday evening, February 6, at 7:30 p.m., at the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills.

Mosdos L’man Achai hosted a “Second Generation” Shabbaton with Rabbi Shmuel Z. Kleinman, Rosh HaMosad, in his Williamsburg, Brooklyn, residence. Sons of L’man Achai students and campers, many of whom also attend the organization’s high school and camp under the same name L’man Achai in Kew Gardens Hills, and Andes in the Catskills, respectively.

In Parshas B’Shalach, the Jewish people were trapped between the sea on one side and the advancing Egyptians on the other. Moshe turned to Hashem in prayer, and Hashem instructed him to raise his staff and stretch his hand over the waters to part the sea. The Jewish people then entered the sea.

Chazaq, the dynamic organization dedicated to community enrichment, held a poignant event on Sunday, January 7, at Kol Yisrael Achim, featuring Roi Assaraf, a survivor of the October 7 massacre. The event attracted a packed crowd eager to hear Mr. Assaraf’s compelling story of survival, faith, and the transformative journey towards embracing a fully observant Jewish lifestyle.