YCQ Celebrates 79 Years at Annual Dinner

Upbeat and positive music played in the video celebrating the 79th anniversary of the founding of the Yeshiva of Central Queens, as children spoke with excitement about their academic achievements and numerous extracurricular activities. Likewise, the voices praising the honorees of the annual dinner spoke of their dedication to the school and the community.

With 1,000 students in the yeshiva at 70th Road and 150th Street, YCQ serves as one of the anchors of Kew Gardens Hills, comprising of a diverse student body that includes Ashkenazim, Bukharian, and Persian Jews living in Queens, the Five Towns, Great Neck, and West Hempstead.

Many of the parents attending the dinner have strong ties to the school, some as alumni with children at YCQ, others as members of the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) that organizes events for the school, supports student activities and shows hakarat hatov for the faculty. My wife and I were first-time participants of the dinner, parents of a kindergartener. As the dinner is included in the tuition agreement, we thought, “why not attend?” Participate in the raffle, meet the parents of our daughter’s classmates, learn about the honorees, and enjoy an evening with friends.

We first met Ben and Samantha Kramer in the basement of YCQ when he served as the gabbai of Kehilas Ishei Yisrael. Samantha chaired the dinner committee and together they helped the shul with its fundraising and events. At the time, their oldest son Gavriel was enrolled at YCQ and the Kramers poured their volunteer efforts into the yeshiva. With cutting edge video technology in a video brought to fruition by Devora Baer-Mandelcorn, director of grants at YCQ, family, friends, and rabbeim showed gratitude to the honorees for all they do for the yeshiva. YCQ Principal, Rabbi Mark Landsman, former Ishei Yisrael mara d’asra Rabbi Shmuel Marcus, Rabbi of Young Israel of Queens Valley, and Rabbi Josh Goller of the Young Israel of West Hempstead, where the Kramers now reside all gave words of appreciation for the selfless time the Kramers give to the school, their family, their shuls and the Jewish community.

Mrs. Sandra Dua has been teaching for 18 years at YCQ, and lives in the neighborhood. Her husband Steve, and their sons Shelby and Aaron are among the most visible members at Young Israel of Queens Valley. Layning the parsha, assigning aliyahs, and organizing the kiddush, as well as giving time as hockey coach and shabbaton caterer at YCQ are only some examples of the family’s involvement at their shul, school and in the community.

Shalom and Natalie Rakhminov represented an historic milestone at the dinner, as its first Bukharian honorees. They represent the generational transformation of Bukharian Jews in Queens. As newcomers they relied on the generosity of the the larger Jewish community, but after a couple of decades, young Bukharian Jews raised in Queens are giving back by contributing their donations and volunteer efforts to the larger Queens community and its institutions.

“It is really inspiring to our community and a message for all of us,” said Rabbi Shlomo Nisanov of Kehilat Sephardim in Kew Gardens Hills. “I’m happy that Ashkenazim and Sephardim mingle here. It is part of a trend.”

Natalie is the daughter of Leon and Ester Nektalov, granddaughter of renowned jewelry business owner Rakhmin Nektalov. “My father could not make it to the dinner as he is in Moscow for the World Congress of Bukharian Jews,” she said. The organization serves as a “State Department” for this community, meeting with foreign leaders and Bukharian Jewish communities in those countries. The family takes Jewish education seriously, enrolling Natalie at YCQ in 1994, as one the school’s first Bukharian students.

Shalom Rakhminov attended public school and developed an interest in religious observance in college where he studied to become a pharmacist. “He served as president of the LIU Hillel and brought Emet Outreach to the school, and they’re still there today.” The couple attends Rabbi Asher Vaknin’s youth minyan at the Bukharian Jewish Community Center in Forest Hills; they also support Chazaq and Emet Outreach programs and events.

Their story is not unlike our own. My wife is a graduate of the Bais Yaakov of Montreal, which had given her a solid foundation in observance, and I’ve attended public school through college. As president of CCNY Hillel, I brought a Chabad shaliach to campus, giving Jewish students their first full-time campus rabbi in more than a generation. We work hard and like to contribute to our community through our maaser and volunteer efforts.

My childhood classmate Gershon Baturov attended public school with me and is also a YCQ parent. We became observant around the same time but under different circumstances. “YCQ offers a good balance in its observance. Many of my friends attended the same schools and now our children attend the same Jewish school,” said his brother Aron Baturov.

The blend of a solid Jewish education along with high quality secular subjects makes the yeshiva ideal for professionals who seek a prosperous future for their children without compromising Jewish religious observance.

Our daughter looks forward to Monday mornings when her school week begins. Merik Akilov’s daughter is in third grade, “She lives for her school, her teachers, and science class. She comes home with Divrei Torah,” he said. This warm nurturing environment where our children can grow in Torah observance without compromising their secular education is what our parents and we as current parents have worked so hard for and it is amazing to see our children thrive in this amazing environment.

Full 2-page spread of pictures can be found on pages 24-25.

 

By Sergey Kadinsky