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What is more fun than chopping and dicing together? Mixing and mingling, of course – as connections are being created! YUConnects brought the frum singles community together for an engaging evening on June 19 at the Young Israel of Woodmere, featuring a “Chopped” competition led by the renowned chef Naomi Nachman. Singles from various backgrounds had the opportunity to meet and enjoy a dynamic and interactive experience that combined culinary creativity with social networking.

On Tuesday night, June 18, community members gathered at the Bukharian Jewish Congregation of Hillcrest to hear an inspiring shiur by Rabbi Dovid Goldwasser, well-known speaker and author, on the topic of watching our words.

It was announced earlier this month that the Nova Music Festival exhibit in Lower Manhattan would be extended until June 22. This occurred in light of, or perhaps because of, unprecedented anti-Semitic incidents nationwide, including nasty demonstrations just outside it at 35 Wall Street. The exhibit, which memorialized the lives senselessly killed by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, came to New York City on April 21, and just days ahead of its closing, “more than 100,000 visitors have walked through the Lower Manhattan space during its two-month run, according to organizers – with a notable uptick over the past week,” as reported by JTA.

HANC Middle School’s Eighth Grade Graduation took place on Wednesday, June 19, in the gym of our illustrious yeshivah. The gym was adorned with balloons and a “2024” arch. The graduates looked extremely proud as they walked down the aisle, and their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents were certainly shepping a lot of nachas.

Thousands of children receiving special education services in New York State are now at risk of losing those services, due to an amendment proposed by the New York State Board of Regents.

The Coalition for Jewish Values (CJV), representing over 2,500 traditional, Orthodox rabbis in American public policy, Tuesday lamented the decision by Hebrew Union College (HUC), the flagship seminary of the Reform Judaism movement, to admit and ordain rabbinical candidates in interfaith relationships. This comes after the board of HUC dropped its ban prohibiting students from being in a relationship with a person of another faith.