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HERALD Annual bike fundraiser
Kiwanis golf outing tees off
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VOL. 102 NO. 32
AUGUST 7 - 13, 2025
1283570
All the news of the Five Towns
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St. John’s opens new maternity facility By BRIAN NORMAN bnorman@liherald.com
Brian Norman/Herald
Hospital staff and elected officials cut the ribbon to officially welcome the new Labor, Delivery, Recovery and Postpartum unit at Far Rockaway’s St. John’s hospital on July 31.
St. John’s Episcopal Hospital, in Far Rockaway, has officially opened its new Labor, Delivery, Recovery and Postpartum unit, marking a milestone in maternal care for families on the Rockaway peninsula and in the neighboring Five Towns communities. The hospital broke ground on the project in May 2024, aiming to improve patient experience and safety while creating a welcoming, high-quality environment for expecting mothers. An early celebration with a ribContinueD on Page 7
Holocaust survivor celebrates 100th birthday with the JCC By MELISSA BERMAN mberman@liherald.com
Holocaust survivor Leah Goldberg celebrated her 100th birthday with a party on July 31, surrounded by family and friends, at the Marion & Aaron Gural JCC’s Chaverim program. The program provides psychosocial therapy support to Holocaust survivors. Goldberg, a North Woodmere resident, has been a regular in the program for 15 years, and wanted to celebrate with her fellow survivors and friends before her actual birthday, Aug. 3. “She is a very special person, extremely resilient with
everything that she’s been through,” Lisa Barnett, the JCC’s head social worker, said. “Leah loves to come to group sessions no matter how she’s feeling. When she was younger, she loved to dance and share her story.” Barnett, who has been involved in the Chaverim program for 25 years, said that it has been “an honor and a pleasure” to know Goldberg. “I have a special place in my heart for Leah and all the members of my group,” she added. “Knowing how strong her inner strength is, and (her) self-determination, and wanting to be connected with her family and
friends here — that’s what makes her shine.” Having lost her mother at a young age, Goldberg was raised by her paternal grandmother. Her family fled to Siberia from Poland when she was 3½, and she lived with her grandmother until she was 12½. “When the war broke out, my father saw his brother leaving, so he told them to take me along,” Goldberg recalled. “He took me along and we went to the Russian side.” The family ended up in something comparable to a concentration camp, but were told they had “freedom” in Siberia. “We lived in barracks in the
woods, and when you looked out the barracks, all you saw was trees — you couldn’t tell where is south and where is north,” Goldberg recounted. “Every day at 6 in the morning, a man would bring rations.” When the war was over, she was taken back to a city in Poland that bordered Germany. She stressed that the most
important thing her father said was, “When I die, I know I’m leaving two children in the world” — Leah and her older sister. “My sister and I fulfilled my father’s wishes,” Goldberg said. “She died here in the United States two years ago.” Leah met her husband, Abe ContinueD on Page 9