Community Corner

Nosson Nota (Jonathan) Kaplowitz a”h, 50, of Kew Gardens Hills, was niftar this past Sunday, June 23. Rabbi Shaul Wertheimer, founder of Chabad on Campus at Queens College, officiated a graveside levayah Monday afternoon at New Montefiore Cemetery in West Babylon.

Orot, the ladies-empowered division of Ohr Natan, brought over 300 Jewish women together from all backgrounds – Ashkenazi and Sephardic, young and old – for a powerful pre-Shavuot celebration in Forest Hills on June 9.

My father, David Baron, whose Iraqi name was Jiji (changed later in Israel and then in America to Baron), was born in Basra, Iraq. In 1948, when war broke out in Israel, my father was one of those Jews who fled to Iran through the underground because the Shah was good to the Jews at that time.  After living in Iran for three years, he made Aliyah to Israel and joined his parents and the rest of his family. Life in Israel was hard for them because they lived in tents. They were accustomed to being non-observant, so they just settled with their way of life as it was.

How do you explain the incredible impact one person can have on so many others? Mrs. Sarah Malkah Cohen, a”h, a resident of Kew Gardens Hills, was a magnet and an ima to so many. She was nifterah on Lag BaOmer, and so many people attended her l’vayah to pay tribute to someone so special. Rabbi Moshe Rosenberg, Rav of Congregation Etz Chaim, eulogized her and shared that many people sitting in this room would not be here except for Malkah (people called her Malkah). Perhaps he meant in a spiritual way, but maybe also physically and psychologically, as she encouraged and supported so many people going through all sorts of difficulties.

In joint statement, leaders condemn recent antisemitic incidents and pledge to investigate hate-motivated acts or threats of violence On Tuesday, all 62 District Attorneys in the state of New York, and the New York State Attorney General, individually signed a joint statement reassuring their constituents of their public safety priorities while pledging to prosecute and investigate hate-motivated threats or violence in response to the recent string of antisemitic incidents in New York City.

This past week, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz’s office seized an unlicensed mobile cannabis dispensary, known as “The Green Empress,” on the corner of 43^rd Street and Queens Boulevard in Sunnyside. The confiscated product from the truck was not only unlicensed and unregulated, but it was also heavily marketed toward children with names such as “Skittles” and “Gummy Sharks,” and packaging nearly identical to snacks popular with school children. The vehicle’s owner was charged with unlawful sale and unlawful possession of cannabis for allegedly operating the illegal business.