Shabsie Saphirstein

This year’s Jewish Education Program (JEP) Queens testimonial breakfast, held in Kew Gardens Hills at Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim – Rabbinical Seminary of America, was filled with appreciation to an organization that has dedicated a yovel to bringing Jewish children closer to their heritage. Sitting beside longtime advocates of JEP, Reb Nachum Shmuel Hartman and Ronnie Schlanger, I came full circle with the mammoth impact JEP has had. Their outreach and love for Jewish youth was amplified by the tremendous outpouring of support as I flipped the pages of their breakfast journal.

Last week, the QJL introduced our readership to the holy work of HaGaon Rav Mordechai Jungreis shlit”a, the Nikolsburg Rebbe of the Woodbourne Shul, Congregation Bnei Israel, Zichron Mordechai. Over the past week, the rebbe continued to spread his awe-inspiring love for every Jew who entered the renowned Catskill’s makom kedushah. From a hachnasas sefer Torah and a hachnasas t’filin to the delivery of new seating, and the continued efforts to enhance the shul and its new kollel, the rebbe kept a full schedule, uniting all walks of klal Yisrael. Most notable was the rebbe’s influence on teenagers, filling the beis hamedrash with song and dance on more than one occasion. Some guests included Yisroel Besser, noted ArtScroll author and contributing editor at Mishpacha Magazine; Rabbi Ephraim Glatt, Assistant Rabbi, YIKGH; Chaim Kurz of Windsor Pharmacy; Shea Rubenstein, Executive VP, JCCMP; and Elie Rowe, President, Hatzolah Emergency Air Response Team.

The oft-repeated and underlying theme at the Thursday, July 7, Mega Siyum on Maseches Y’vamos was “It’s not the Daf, but the Yomi.” Charismatic, internationally acclaimed maggid Daf Yomi Rav Eli Stefansky hosted the siyum through his popular Mercaz Daf Yomi (MDY) to an audience of over 1,650. The lavish venue at Bell Works – the former headquarters of Bell Labs – in Holmdel, New Jersey, added an extra level of celebration to a gathering of enthusiastic and diversified followers of Rav Eli’s daily daf. The whole spectrum of a combination of chasidim, misnagdim, yeshivish, Modern Orthodox, and baalei t’shuvah joyously clutched hands and danced to the festive music, celebrating their accomplishment at concluding one of the most difficult masechtos in Talmud. For five exuberant hours, Rav Eli and his talmidim celebrated Torah through inspirational divrei Torah, fervent t’filah b’tzibur, delicious dining, delirious dancing, and well-deserved awards.

The safety of our community always comes first. The safety of our children and the educational institutions built to disseminate Torah is paramount. At Bais Yaakov Academy of Queens, the safety of the girls has long been discussed when entering the Kew Gardens campus at 85^th Road and Metropolitan Avenue.

The Queens Jewish Link has had the unique privilege of having Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld serve as our Rabbinical Consultant and esteemed contributor since inception. The rav’s heartfelt advice has made lasting impressions that positively affected the publication, Queens Jewry, and the Jewish community at large. Rabbi Schonfeld was called upon for advice quite often. Each time, he handled the situation with dignity, grace, and in a professional manner.

With the start of this summer in full swing, Rosh HaShanah preparations are far from our minds. However, the scene was quite different one year ago, when more than 30,000 Yidden prepared for the annual pilgrimage known as the Rosh HaShanah Kibbutz to the kever of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, the great-grandson of the Baal Shem Tov. Rebbe Nachman spent the last eight years of his life in Bratslav, Ukraine, prior to moving to Uman, where he perished in 1810. His legacy of an intense joyous love with our Creator, which anyone can obtain through his own will, continues today by his myriad of followers.