_________________ WANTAGH ________________
HERALD Wantagh honors Class of 2023
Milestones noted by Seaford BoE
Bill to improve boating safety
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Vol. 71 No. 28
JUlY 6 - 12, 2023
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Patriot Award winners honored By MICHAEl MAlASZCZYK mmalaszczyk@liherald.com
Michael Malaszczyk/Herald
SEAfoRd 9/11 MEMoRIAl Committee Chairman Tom Condon, far left, 2023 Patriot Award winners Nicole Nietsch, Ryan Baldwin, William Kind, William Cascio and Jamie Young, and committee President Ken Haskell, the brother of Timothy and Thomas Haskell.
The Seaford community once again declared that it would never forget the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, recently selecting five Seaford High School seniors for scholarships in the annual presentation of the Patriot Awards. The seniors — Ryan Baldwin, William Cascio, William Kind, Nicole Nietsch and Jamie Young — were presented with the awards at a dinner at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury on Continued on page 9
South Shore synagogues meet to combat antisemitism By MAlloRY WIlSoN mwilson@liherald.com
Eleven people were murdered Oct. 27, 2018, in the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, just for being Jewish. It was the event that changed synagogue life forever, according to Ian Brecher, executive vice president of the Oceanside Jewish Center. With Jewish communities on the South Shore and beyond seeing an uptick in antisemitism, seven local synagogues came together to host a seminar on how to properly handle and address any antisemitic acts and comments that people
may be experiencing and to hopefully prevent any events like the mass murder at the Tree of Life synagogue from happening again. East Meadow Beth-El Jewish Center, Oceanside Jewish Center, Merrick Jewish Centre, South Baldwin Jewish Center, Congregation Beth Tikvah in Wantagh, Congregation B’Nai Sholom-Beth David in Rockville Centre, and Congregation Beth Ohr in Bellmore have always worked together when it came to the issues that each congregation was facing — and antisemitism is no different, Howard Tiegel, president of the Merrick Jewish Centre, said.
“Jews are a group of people that have always dared to be different,” Scott Richman, the regional director for the New York/New Jersey Anti-Defamation League, said. “A series of conspiracy theories or tropes began to develop around us, and those conspiracy theories are what we still live with today. “When you talk about why there is antisemitism, antisemitism is essentially just those conspiracy theories.” Anybody can report incidents of antisemitism to the Anti-Defamation League, and someone from the office will respond and record the event. Richman said that 2022 was the
worst year of recorded incidents, and each year appears to be getting worse. New York has the most recorded antisemitic acts, and 73 of 111 assaults across the nation in 2022 occurred in New York. Attendees were invited to listen and ask questions at three breakout sessions — rabbinic
responses to antisemitism, preparing for antisemitism on the college campus, and antisemitism in public schools. Sofie Glassman, an incoming junior at East Meadow High School, shared her in-school experiences with antisemitism. “Antisemitism is something that I have faced since the start Continued on page 2