Serving Great Neck, G.N. Plaza, G.N. Estates, Kensington, Kings Point, Lake Success, Russell Gardens, Saddle Rock and Thomaston
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Friday, December 16, 2022
Vol. 97, No. 50
HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE
LIRR COMPLETES POCKET TRACK
SANTOS RECEIVED MONEY FROM OLIGARCH’S COUSIN
PAGES 23-38
PAGE 2
PAGE 9
Historic 100th convention for Haddassah
PA R K V I L L E P R I D E
‘No problems, just challenges with solutions’ for G.N. native, president BY R OB E RT PE L A E Z As a young teacher in Great Neck more than 40 years ago, Rhoda Smolow said she never thought of being a leader in the Jewish community while her grandmother envisioned it differently. Smolow, who moved to the peninsula in 1978, was a reading teacher in Glen Head involved in the Great Neck community. She recalls her grandmother being a member of Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America, which brings women together to promote change in a variety of prominent issues facing the global Jewish community. Following a chapter event in New York City, which her grandmother’s group attended, Smolow, a fifth-generation Hadassah member, fell victim to something millions can relate to — being embarrassed by a grandparent. “My grandmother turned to all of her friends and said, ‘My granddaughter will be the national president of Hadassah’,” Smolow told Blank Slate Media. “To this day, I think she had a foreshadowing or something that saw what I didn’t see. And I hope she’s still watching.” More than 40 years after her grandmother’s prediction, Smolow became the 27th president of what is now the nation’s largest Jewish women’s or-
ganization in America in early 2020. While being president was not an aspiration when she was first starting out in one of Hadassah’s Great Neck groups, Smolow said her continuous involvement and passion for working with people led her to this position. “I really, truly am a people person,” Smolow said. “I love working with people, I love mentoring people and I am a diplomat. So often I’ve been called in to be someone who can help find solutions to issues or challenges. There are no problems, there are only challenges that have solutions.” Smolow did have presidential experience within the organization on the chapter level for Great Neck and on the regional level. She also held a handful of other committee and leadership positions before her national presidency. Hadassah, founded in 1912, utilizes the two hospitals of their medical organization in Jerusalem, Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem and Hadassah Hospital Mount Scoups, to aid more than 1 million people every year and with cutting-edge and highly touted medical research. The 300,000-member organization also helps combat antisemitism and ensure Israel’s security. When the coronavirus pandemic struck just weeks after Smolow was sworn in as president, the organizaContinued on Page 50
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE GREAT NECK SCHOOL DISTRICT
More than 100 families gathered to show their school pride during an event hosted by the Parkville PTO.
Cilluffo appears to have survived write-in bid BY R OB E RT PE L A E Z No official results for the Great Neck Park District election were available as of Wednesday morning, but former Commissioner Robert
Lincoln said a last-minute write-in campaign fell short against incumbent Frank Cilluffo. The Great Neck Park District did not provide official election results as of Wednesday morning.
Lincoln, who served as a park district commissioner in Great Neck for more than two decades, retired from his post last year. Over the weekend, he said, he was apContinued on Page 51
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