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HERALD Former Lawrence mayor dies at 100
Family concert for Hanukkah
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VoL. 103 No. 1
JANUARY 1 - 7, 2026
1283570
All the news of the Five Towns
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A bat mitzvah, 63 years later Pnina Knopf fulfills her lifelong dream and honors Israel connection Dec. 20, the day before her 75th birthday. She had searched for a deepIn Judaism, it is a rite of er connection to Judaism after passage for a girl to become a the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks bat mitzvah — an adult in the in Israel. “After Oct. 7 I was diseyes of God — at age 12. Pnina traught,” she recounted. “I Knopf became one 63 years have 40-plus relatives living there, and I was terrified for later, at 75. my family. I did not As a girl takes belong to a temple, her place in the and after the war Jewish community, broke out, I felt a it is celebrated with need for a commucreative projects, nity of people who parties and other understood me and gatherings. Most believed in what I important, the girl did.” prepares for months Her journey for a special bat began when she met mitzvah service. the Jewish Centre’s Knopf, of East executive director, Rockaway, the mothLisa Stein, and then er of three grown PNINA KNoPF Rabbi Michael children, a grand- Member, Schlesinger, on Nov. mother of three and Hewlett-East 3, 2023. a member of the Rockaway Jewish “Lisa was my Hewlett-East Rocka- Centre first liaison to way Jewish Centre, HERJC,” Knopf has wanted to become a bat mitzvah her said. “It was really a retuning entire life. “I’ve been counting home, because my children down the years my whole life, went to HERJC when they were since I was 12 years old,” she 3 and 4 years old. We were said. “Growing up in the 1950s members until my daughter and ’60s, in a conservative Jew- was in fourth grade.” After her meeting with ish family, only male children Schlesinger, Knopf was invited had a bar mitzvah.” Knopf fulfilled her dream on ContinuED on pagE 7
By MELISSA BERMAN
mberman@liherald.com
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Aidan Warshavsky/Herald
Zeenea Victoria, left, was one of many who attended Dr. Jacqueline Maricheau’s community event at St. John's Episcopal Hospital.
Community ‘Baby Shower’ brings joy, and resources By AIDAN WARSHAVSKY awarshavsky@liherald.com
Dozens of expectant mothers gathered at St. John’s Episcopal Hospital, in Far Rockaway, on Dec. 19 for Episcopal Health Services’ annual Baby Shower, an event that blended festive holiday spirit with practical parenting support. Hosted by Dr. Jacqueline Maricheau, the hospital’s chair of obstetrics and gynecology, the event was intended to lift families’ spirits during the holiday season with gifts, guidance and community. In partnership with organizations like Campaign Against Hunger; Love, Nana; and the Queens Public
Library, the hospital offered a pop-up shop stocked with books and clothing for newborns, along with a raffle that awarded baby-changing bags, car seats, playpens and strollers. The event featured refreshments, music and an educational segment led by Debbie Steger-Cohen, a lactation consultant specialist who addressed the long-term health benefits of breastfeeding and detailed the challenges that new mothers may face during childbirth. “Breastfeeding provides babies with the necessary nutrients, proteins, sugars, antibodies, fats and vitamins to build immunity ContinuED on pagE 9
’ve been counting down the years my whole life since I was 12 years old.