A Capitol Education
Last week a group of 35 girls and a couple of adult escorts from the Be’er Hagolah Institute, located in the Starrett City section of Canarsie, Brooklyn, paid a visit to the state Capitol at the invitation of Senator Roxanne Persaud (D – Canarsie). Persaud, 59, a 10-year member of the upper house, leads and is a member of committees relevant to families at the yeshiva. She is the chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Social Services and a member of the Cities Committee overseeing New York City Disabilities Committee, New York City Education, and other committees. She is also an active member of the Legislative Women’s Caucus. Persaud was born in Guyana in South America.
“Too often girls are not brought here to the Capitol,” Persaud told The Jewish Press. “I organized this to make sure they met with women leaders including Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D – Yonkers). They went to the attorney general’s office and some of my colleagues in the Senate came over and spoke to them. We want to make sure they see positive role models. I told them this was the first time they were here but it should not be the last. We want to see more girls coming and to explore the Capitol.”
Built near the Queens border, the Brooklyn-based, 450-student educational Be’er Hagolah runs from grades K through 12 for boys and girls, catering to Jewish students in both boroughs. Even the girls’ division principal, Yocheved (Judy) Fischer, was impressed by what she experienced on this field trip.
“We came to learn about our state Capitol. We came to learn about how laws get passed. The process is fascinating,” Fischer said. “The amount of time that people put in – I’m just so thankful for what they give us: education, whether it’s funding for the books, the library, transportation, security and so much more,” she told The Jewish Press. “We do have students whose parents are immigrants. We have students from all different backgrounds and we give them a good education.
The students learn in dual accredited programs, taking civics and American history. Fischer said that many go on to college, but some take a year to attend seminary first, whether in Israel or locally.
Perach Levy, a 16-year-old junior from Jamaica Estates, Queens, wants to begin an education track to become a lawyer when she graduates from Be’er Hagolah Institute.
“I really enjoy being here because I find it interesting to see how everything works,” Levy said of her visit to the Capitol. “I learned a lot about the government that I did not know before. I never knew Albany [was] such a complex place.”
“Too often the kids in our communities do not come to see where the seat of power is in the state or in the country,” Persaud said. “They were excited because of the things they saw. They had a tour of the Capitol. It wasn’t like they came and that’s it – we made it meaningful for them so that they can go back and say I saw this, I experienced this.”
Now the students will have to write an essay about their field trip.
“I learned how the legislators take care of our community, how they care so much about our people, our school, our education,” said Libby Simcha, a 17-year-old junior who lives in Mill Basin, Brooklyn. “It’s important to know what’s going on and to know who your senators are and how to help out your community.”
Being in charge of the girls’ division for grades 7 through 12 in both Judaic and secular studies presents some hefty challenges for Fischer. “The toughest part of the job for me is getting the students off of social media, getting them to focus,” she said. “The amount of work we do is unbelievable.”
One of Governor Hochul’s main policy changes that was included in the recently passed state budget included taking cell phones away from students while in school. There was some pushback on this measure, but Fischer was ahead of the curve as she instituted the policy at Be’er Hagolah two years ago.
“We instituted the bell-to-bell no cell phone use two years ago. We take the phones during breakfast and return them on the way back to the buses. If a parent needs to reach a child they call the office,” Fischer said. “It was one of the first things when I became principal that I did. I got a little pushback. Within three months everyone was on board. The change was drastic.”
Back at the Capitol, Persaud praised the beauty of the old building. “Not many people see the Senate chamber. When you see the chamber with all the gold and the cornice (molding), it’s stunning. It’s always like ‘Wow, this is real,’” she said. “[The students] saw the million-dollar staircase. We took pictures with them there. You can’t afford to build that stairway now,” she noted.
“It’s good for them to see women in leadership, and that’s what it’s all about. They can understand that whatever they aspire to achieve, they can do it.”
Women Receive Prestigious Senate Award For Making A Difference
Among the 62 recipients of the Senate-sponsored Women of Distinction Awards one was Jewish and another is employed at a Jewish non-profit agency.
Orit Lender, 51, is chief executive officer of the Joan & Alan Bernikow Jewish Community Center (JCC) of Staten Island. Her Israeli parents and other family members joined her for the ceremony on Tuesday, May 13 at the Legislative Office Building in Albany.
Lender lived in Israel on Kibbutz Urim before moving to Staten Island as a child. She met her husband, Ed, while on a trip to Israel and has been married to him for nearly 20 years. The couple has two children, David and Ethan, who are active in JCC youth and sports programs.
The October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas, killing Israelis and Americans, was particularly jarring for Lender. “I felt completely devastated. A community that I loved was on lockdown. My family was in a shelter for more than 28 hours, and clearly I was devastated for all those that were murdered and those kidnapped,” she told The Jewish Press.
All the recipients received a bouquet of flowers and a Lucite award inscribed with their name.
“If there was a New York state ‘Person of the Year,’ it would be Orit,” Senator Andrew Lanza told The Jewish Press. “She’s a remarkable human being. She is just driven by only doing right. She always puts right over wrong. She stands for the things that I think we all need to embrace to make for a better society, a better country, and a better world.”
“It’s one thing to say we want to do right by each other. It’s hard to do. It’s hard to stand up when the other side is coming at us. It’s not easy to do,” Lanza noted.
“She lives by tikkun olam, repairing the world,” he said. “Where I come from, we call that doing G-d’s work and I think that’s what she does. I’m blessed to know her. Staten Island is blessed to call her a neighbor… It gives me hope that there are people like her in the world.., If not for people like Orit, we’re lost.”
The lovefest between Lender and Lanza continued during Lender’s remarks. “The senator holds an annual fair for individuals with disabilities for our entire community to come to the JCC and understand the resources that are available,” she noted. “Of course, we at the JCC have programs and services, but we open our doors to all agencies that serve individuals with disabilities. The senator really champions that year after year,” she said.
Lanza enjoys the camaraderie he receives at the multi-use JCC building. “I am an honorary member of the JCC. It’s a wonderful place with good people, and in Staten Island we are blessed,” he said. “There are so many wonderful people we call neighbors there. I’ll tell you how much I care about the JCC – when I was elected to the Senate, I chose that place to be sworn in. It was memorable. It’s a place where you can come together.”
According to Lender, “We operate the only older adult center for the Staten Island network. We operate three senior centers where we’re providing a kosher meal every day for seniors. We serve more than 10,000 seniors annually. We also have a kosher food pantry that is open both for the Jewish community and the broader community. We help more than 50,000 individuals throughout Staten Island for services from early childhood all the way to senior adults. We serve for holiday food distribution and we operate a food pantry.”
Lender is the first Jewish recipient of the award from Lanza since 2011 when the Senate started the award program.
Another recipient of the award was Connie Jones, 72, who works as a program assistant for the Jewish Community Council of Greater Coney Island’s (JCC GCI) Urban Neighborhood Services Multi-Service Center.
Jones almost didn’t make it past the starting line for her new job. She was hired October 2012 just before Hurricane Sandy hit. “I worked there for eight days before the hurricane. The hurricane came and destroyed the office,” she recalled. “The director at that time told me to stay in contact with her. She was going to decide whether to reopen or just let it go. She decided to reopen it. Beginning in November 2012, she reopened the not-for-profit center to give out supplies for people who need it. She asked me if I would come help her with that, which I did. We handed out supplies from November 2012 until January 2013. Then she shut down the center [once again] and she told me to stay in contact.”
The New York City Housing Authority called upon Jones to check up on tenants to see if there was any further need for supplies or health care. “I did that from January to June 2013. Then the director of Urban Neighborhoods called me again. She wanted to know if I wanted to come back and work for her and I said, yes. I’ve been there ever since then,” Jones said.
“We provide various services for the people that live in this community and the surrounding areas. The gratification is when people come here with an issue and we’re able to help them to resolve it. We assist people with finding affordable housing, assist with finding jobs and education with a GED program for people who are coming back later in life to get that diploma. It is rewarding when you’re able to help someone and you’re making a difference in their life,” Jones said.
“To know that people know what you do and want to honor you for that, is a privilege. When you find a job or a career that you like doing and are passionate about what you’re doing, just continue to do the work. Know that you are making a difference,” she added.
This was her first time visiting Albany. “I was very excited to be there,” she said.
