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Gov. Kathy Hochul submitted a letter to the State University of New York’s (SUNY’s) colleges and universities’ presidents on December 9, in which she underscored that “calling for the genocide of any group of people” on their campuses “would constitute a violation of [the State’s] Human Rights Law as well as Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.” This letter was written in response to the pernicious spread of anti-Semitism throughout college campuses in the wake of the deadly multipronged Hamas terror assault in Israel on October 7.

Rain, wind, and increased anti-Semitism didn’t damper an exciting outdoor Chanukah celebration in Forest Hills on December 10. DJ Jordan Benjamin pumped up Jewish music, trampoline artists did twists, and chocolate coins were dropped from a 30-foot-high fire department cherry picker.

In the years when I lived in Forest Hills, my first synagogue was Congregation Machane Chodosh, and the two pillars holding up its German Jewish traditions were Rabbi Manfred Gans zt”l and President Herbert Jaffe. A year ago, Herbert Jaffe departed from life, being one of the last voices from the German-born generation that founded this shul.

The Coalition for Jewish Values (CJV), representing over 2,500 traditional, Orthodox rabbis in American public policy, this week welcomed news that the White House had ended its partnership with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in its national anti-Semitism strategy, in the wake of virulently anti-Semitic statements by CAIR’s Executive Director Nihad Awad. CJV had requested that CAIR be removed from partnership in the national strategy as soon as it was announced, observing that “CAIR has incited anti-Semitism since its inception.”

The Young Israel of Queens Valley courtyard has been aglow with a unique installation, “Light Up The Nights,” presented nightly throughout Chanukah. The light display, a vision of the Idels and Morgenstern families, honors our brothers and sisters in Eretz Yisrael during this trying time. The display concludes Thursday evening, December 14.

A tradition of togetherness took on greater significance this year when Emet Outreach hosted their ninth annual Couples Shabbaton and Retreat. In the largest gathering to date, over 300 Emet alumni and staff spent Thanksgiving weekend at the Ocean Place Resort and Spa in Long Branch, New Jersey.