The Great Neck News, Friday, September 16, 2016
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emanuel to present federal judge It is with pride and pleasure that the officers and board of Temple Emanuel of Great Neck announce that the Honorable Jack B. Weinstein, Senior U.S. District Judge of the Eastern District of New York and longtime Honorary Trustee of Temple Emanuel, will speak from the pulpit, Friday, Sept. 23 at 7:30 p.m. He will offer the talk: “Preventing the Destruction of Our Environment: A Jewish View.” For almost fifty years, Weinstein has championed an independent judiciary. As a federal district judge (and later chief judge) he has written, lectured, and testified about the importance of fostering strong, free-thinking jurists in the U.S. courts. As a young judge, he exerted his independence by eschewing the traditional black robe in the courtroom (except for ceremonial occasions), and as a senior judge he continued to go his own way by at one time refusing to hear drug cases because he disagreed with federal sentencing guidelines. (He has written that the strict sentences imposed in drug cases often do not fit the crime...and have not
proven to be an appropriate or effective deterrent.) Weinstein’s independence has also manifested itself in his innovative approach to the organization and disposition of mass tort cases (large-scale personal injury litigation); he has been a central figure in mass tort litigation related to subjects such as the chemical known as Agent Orange and silicon breast implants. Weinstein signed the brief with Thurgood Marshall in the 1954 Brown case desegregating schools, and helped desegregate New York’s schools by his decisions. He also wrote the Supreme Court brief for one man/one vote for Nassau County and was active in the fight to eliminate gerrymandering. Born in Kansas and raised in Bensonhurst in New York, he graduated from Brooklyn College in 1943, and was an officer in the United States Navy during the Second World War. He graduated from Columbia Law School in 1948 where he was a professor from 1952 to 1998. While maintaining a large sched-
ule of classes, he served as advisor to or member of numerous academic, civil, judicial, legal and legislative and government groups. He was appointed U.S. district judge for the Eastern District of New York on April 15, 1967, by President Lyndon B. Johnson. He worked with chemical manufacturers and Vietnam War veterans to settle the thousands of Agent Orange cases. In 1984 he ordered the federal government to rewrite Medicare forms, making them more understandable to average senior citizens. Speaking to his colleagues who had gathered at Brooklyn Law School to celebrate his 40th anniversary on the bench, he put it simply: “A judge should be concerned about the dignity and welfare of every person that appears in court.” All members of the community are invited to attend the Sabbath Eve Service. Temple Emanuel of Great Neck is located at 150 Hicks Lane. For further information, please call 516-482-5701.
temple israel to host Q&a with Senate candidates Candidates seeking to represent Great Neck in the New York State Senate will answer questions asked of them by the community at a program open to the public at Temple Israel of Great Neck on Sunday, Sept. 18. The program, in the congregation’s Crystal Ballroom, begins at 10 a.m. and is sponsored by the Temple Israel Men’s Club. Democrat Adam Haber and Republican Elaine Phillips will answer questions addressed directly to them by the audience at the program, moderated by Democratic Club President and Temple Israel Past President Steven Markowitz and Republican Club President and Temple Israel Men’s Club Past President Marc Katz. The Senate seat became vacant after many years when incumbent state Sen.
Jack Martins decided to run for Congress. Haber, a Roslyn school board member, unsuccessfully challenged Martins in 2014 for the senate post and earlier had sought the Democratic nomination for Nassau County Executive. He is a former commodities trader turned restaurateur. He is currently serving his third term on the school board. Phillips, the mayor of the Village of Flower Hill, on the southern most tip of Port Washington, formerly had a career in finance on Wall Street. She was elected to a third term as mayor last March. Temple Israel of Great Neck, Long Island’s largest Conservative Jewish congregation, is located at 108 Old Mill Road. For further information about the program call 516-482-7800.
Lake Success holds annual e-Waste day The Village of Lake Success held their annual E-Waste Day on Sept. 3 at the Village Park Parking Lot and collected 1.28 tons of E-Waste. From left: Village Environmental Commission, Trustee Alan Mindel, Jill Madenburg, Esther Voigt, VLS DPW Supervisor Joe Barone, Peter Susser and VLS DPW Jim McDermott.