COMMUNITY HIGHTLIGHTS

Community Highlights  

Daniel Keren

New Jersey Grand Jury Clears Jersey City Police of Murder 

A New Jersey Grand Jury cleared 13 police officers who shot dead David Anderson, 47, and Francine Graham, 50, the attackers who killed Mindy Ferencz, Moshe Deutsch, and Douglas Miguel Rodriguez Barzola in last year’s attack on a kosher supermarket in Jersey City. Earlier that day Anderson and Graham gunned down Detective Joseph Seals at a nearby cemetery before they entered the market. Two police officers were wounded in the three-hour shootout at the kosher supermarket.

Agudath Israel Protects Representation of Orthodox Jewish Communities in New York  

Rabbi Yeruchim Silber, Agudath Israel of America’s New York director for 

governmental relations,  testified last month before the New York State Redistricting Commission that the Orthodox Jewish community should be treated as a “community of interest” in drawing legislative districts for both the state legislature and Congress. New York State law insists that “communities of interest” be considered when creating legislative districts. Orthodox communities in Brooklyn and Rockland County are divided into numerous districts that defuse the ability of Orthodox Jews to elect their own representatives. Rabbi Silber offered to provide the NYS Redistricting Commission with maps showing how these Orthodox districts should be drawn.

NYC Police Commissioner Visits Yeshiva

of Flatbush following Arson Attack

In the aftermath of an arson attempt by Sharee Jones on the Yeshiva of Flatbush on Avenue J, NYC Police Commissioner Dermot Shea visited the yeshivah to announce her arrest. Jones was charged with reckless endangerment as a hate crime and fifth-degree arson. The suspect was seen on a video marching on Flatbush Avenue with a megaphone spewing anti-Semitic threats. The commissioner was accompanied by Chief Michael Kemper of Patrol Borough Brooklyn South, Inspector David Wall, Commanding Officer of the 70th Precinct, and Deputy Inspector Richie Taylor of Community Affairs.

Anti-Semitic Remarks at Haverstraw Draws Criticism from Top Politicians

A Haverstraw Town Planning Board Meeting in Rockland County sent shockwaves through the community when a town resident expressed his desire to run his car over a Jew. While board members appeared disturbed by the resident’s anti-Semitic outburst, others in the audience responded with laughter and applause. The meeting was videotaped by a member of the Orthodox Jewish community.  NYS Gov. Kathy Hochul, NYS Attorney General Letitia James, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer, Haverstraw Town Supervisor Howard Phillips, and the Rockland County district attorney’s office criticized the violent rhetoric expressed at the meeting.

My Extended Family Chanukah Party the Jewish Children’s Museum

Torah Vodaath Community Mourns

Petirah of Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Schorr, Zt”l

The petirah of Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Schorr, zt”l, last month at the age of 81 saddened many of his former talmidim in Yeshiva Torah Vodaath and mispallilim in Kensington where he served as mora d’asra of Khal Tomchei Torah. The eldest son of the legendary Torah Vodaath Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Gedalia Schorr, he was the Rosh Kollel and maggid shiur in the Torah Vodaath beis medrash for almost 30 years. He moved a few years ago to Yerushalayim. 

$50,000 Grants to Non-Profits to Protect Against Hate Crimes

NYS Gov. Kathy Hochul recently announced a program to assist non-profit organizations such as religious schools and houses of worship with $50,000 who are vulnerable to hate crimes. The program has $25 million dollars and some non-profits with three facilities are eligible for a maximum of $150,000. These grants are for non-profits that have not previously received similar grants to protect themselves from hate crimes. Both the Orthodox Union and Agudath Israel of America have expressed support for these grants. The application deadline is January 7.

Brooklyn Jury Convicts Attacker

of Rabbi Menachem Moskowitz

Justice still lives at times in Brooklyn. Last month a King Country jury convicted James Vincent of strangulation and a hate crimes assault on Rabbi Menachem Moskowitz. Three years ago when the rabbi was returning home after davening in an East Flatbush shul on Shabbos, Vincent beat up Rabbi Moskowitz while shouting, “You Jews took my house and mortgage.” The rabbi was saved from possible death when two bystanders intervened. Crown Heights community activist Rabbi Yaacov Behrman expressed appreciation to district attorney Eric Gonzalez and to the police department for helping make the case. Vincent was arrested as a result of surveillance videos from nearby homes. Rabbi Moskowitz expressed his thanks to Jews around the world who offered him chizuk and hopes the verdict will make Brooklyn streets safer.

UNBREAKABLE: KLAL YISRAEL’S RESILIENCE ON DISPLAY AT 99TH NATIONAL AGUDAH CONVENTION