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HERALD VoL. 23 No. 43
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oCToBER 19 - 25, 2023
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‘Dream Court’ opens in the heart of East Meadow By JoRDAN VALLoNE jvallone@liherald.com
Tim Baker/Herald
Nancy Lieberman, Julius ‘Dr. J’ Erving and Bruce Blakeman cut the ribbon during a ceremony unveiling a new ‘Dream Court’ in Eisenhower Park, made possible by the Nancy Lieberman Charities.
Basketball stars made an appearance in East Meadow last week, officially unveiling a new state-of-the-art facility at Eisenhower Park. The new court, known as a “Dream Court,” was made possible by the Nancy Lieberman Charities. The ribbon-cutting ceremony, on Oct. 11, honored Julius “Dr. J” Erving, a Nassau County native who is widely considered one of the best basketball players of all time. Nancy Lieberman, a Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame member herself, who grew up in Far Rockaway, has been working with her charity to install Dream Courts around the U.S. since 2010. According to her website, NancyLiebermanCharities.org, the “initiative is centered on democratizing access to basketball for girls and boys, offering them an affordable avenue for recreation, a secure space to engage in play, an opportunity to foster social interactions, and a platform to cultivate essential values of teamwork and sportsCoNtiNuED oN PagE 10
Jewish community shows its support for Israel By JoRDAN VALLoNE jvallone@liherald.com
Cong re gants in the East Meadow Beth-El Jewish Center gathered for a moving prayer service last week, reflecting on the conflict in Israel. Feelings of sadness and frustration resonated throughout the synagogue’s sanctuary, as across the world, the Jewish people are facing the reality a difficult war with the Palestinian militant group, Hamas. Hamas, which controls the Gaza strip, and is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and European Union, attacked Israel on Oct. 7,
killing over 1,400 people and taking hundreds captive. As of last Thursday, at least 25 Americans were among those killed. Israel officially declared war on Hamas on Oct. 8, and launched a large-scale counter attack. Rabbi Aaron Marsh of East Meadow-Beth El led the congregation through prayers, including “Avinu she-ba-shamayim” — “A Prayer for the State of Israel,” among others, which targeted aspects of the war, such a prayers for hostages and prayers for Israel Defense Forces. There are members of East Meadow-Beth El that are direct-
ly impacted by the conflict, including a member’s niece, who lives in the region that was attacked, Marsh said. Her husband was described by Marsh as a member of the area’s “neighborhood watch,” who did not have a weapon available to him when the fighting began. “He bundled his wife, his two sons, one of them a toddler and one of them an infant, into their safe room,” Marsh said. “Understand that the safe rooms are meant to protect them from missiles. They don’t have locks on them. They’re not there to protect them from foot soldiers. “He told them to barricade
the door with whatever you can barricade the door with, and he went with whatever he had to defend his family,” Marsh went on. “From the inside, they heard gun shots, and the next thing they knew, there were people trying to break into the safe room and they were not successful. So they lit the house on fire.”
The wife and children mana g e d t o e s c ap e t h e bl a z e unharmed. “There’s a lot of shock and trauma involved in this,” Marsh said. “They did not find the body of her husband anywhere. Perhaps hopefully, he’s still alive, perhaps in captivity right now.” CoNtiNuED oN PagE 2