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Friday, March 30, 2018
Vol. 78, No. 13
Traditional Israeli food part of joint temple teen event
TOBAY DUNE STABILIZATION
BY GARY SIMEONE
Oyster Bay Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino (third from right), Town Councilman Joseph D. Muscarella (second from left), Town Councilman Louis B. Imbroto (center), and Town Councilman Thomas P. Hand (right) recently joined with Nassau County District Court Judge Colin F. O’Donnell (second from right) , Massapequa Park Village Mayor Jeffrey P. Pravato (left), and hundreds of caring volunteers at the TOBAY Beach Dune Stabilization Project. Since 1989, the Dune Stabilization Project has been an initiative to help protect TOBAY Beach.
It was a night of cooking and dining on traditional Israeli food at the Temple Beth Torah in Westbury last Wednesday. The event was part of the Jewish Teen Initiative, which serves to enhance Hebrew high school programs through hands-on interactive activities and projects. Five local synagogues were involved in the event including Temple Beth Torah, the Jericho Jewish Center, Plainview Jewish Center, Woodbury Jewish Center, and the Old Westbury Hebrew Congregation. Hali Herman, coordinator of the Teen Initiative, said that the goal of these type of events is to have teenagers participate in projects, which are meaningful to the overall Jewish way of life. “It’s really about getting the kids involved and participating in these interactive activities and doing good deeds in the community,” said Herman. The main focus of the night was cooking traditional Israeli fare, such as pita bread, hummus, and a dish called Shakshuka,
which is a combination of poached eggs, tomatoes, and peppers. Ariel Magal, Director of the Israeli Center at the Sid Jacobson JCC, said that having the kids engaged in the cooking process helps them focus on the task at hand. “Everybody cooks the meal together, and we talk about the food while we are cooking it,” said Magal. “It brings everybody closer together and we are kind of like one body in the kitchen.” The teens were also taught a bit of Israeli history at the event. Members of Unit 669, an Israeli search and rescue team, gave a video presentation of the country’s medical unit operations and how they go about saving people’s lives. The JLife event was part of four main programs that take place throughout the year. Last month, teens helped build terrariums for senior citizen centers at an event at the Jericho Jewish Center. They also participated in a pay it forward program through LI Connections, to provide snack See page 22
Syosset man sentenced for throwing cinder blocks off overpass Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced that a Syosset man has been sentenced to five years in prison for throwing cinderblocks and paving bricks onto the Meadowbrook Parkway, striking a car and causing permanent injury to woman who was a passenger in a vehicle in December 2015. Jacob Palant, 21, of Syosset was convicted by a jury on May 17, 2017 of: • Assault in the 1st Degree (a B violent felony) Two • counts of Reckless Endangerment in the 1st Degree (a D felony) • Assault in the 2nd Degree (a D vio-
lent felony) • Three counts of Criminal mischief in the 4th Degree (an A misdemeanor) The trial before Acting Supreme Court Justice Meryl Berkowitz started May 1, 2017, and the jury deliberated for approximately a day and a half. His co-defendant, Andrew Denton, was sentenced on August 21, 2017, to 10 years in prison. “Jacob Palant and Andrew Denton endangered lives by throwing paving stones and cinderblocks at passing vehicles from a highway overpass,” DA Singas said. “People could have been killed
from this depraved behavior and it is a miracle that only one young woman suffered permanent injuries due to their actions. These crimes will not be tolerated in Nassau County” DA Singas said on two occasions on December 26, 2015, the defendants threw paving bricks and cinderblocks at cars from a Meadowbrook Parkway
Jacob Palant
overpass bridge in Uniondale. The overpass has high fences curved inward at the top to prevent this kind of criminal behavior but the defendants used extraordinary efforts to thwart these protections. During the first incident in the afternoon, the defendants did not hit any of the vehicles they targeted. However, during the second incident, at approximately 8:00PM, the defenSee page 22
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