THE JEWISH Vol 13, No 36 n sept. 12, 2014 / 17 elul 5774
STAR
n the Newspaper of loNg islaNd’s orthodox commuNities n
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Long Beach grocer keeps it heimishe
Woodmere turns out to aid agunot
By Malka Eisenberg With the expansion of kosher megastores in heavily Jewish neighborhoods throughout metropolitan New York coinciding with the demise of small haimishe bakeries, butchers and grocery stores, at least one small kosher shop is swimming against the tide on Long Island’s South Shore. Shop Glatt Mart, at 172 E Park Ave. in Long Beach, is a tiny fraction of the size of Gourmet Glatt, Seasons, Brach’s or Pomegranate, but it’s large in soul and community impact. Owned and operated by Moshe and Esti Zaghi since 1996, Shop Glatt Mart has been Long Beach’s frum food mainstay through thick and thin — including the destruction and economic vacuum wrought by Hurricane Sandy, and now the impending departure of the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach, whose beachfront elementary school will soon relocate to Woodmere. “After Sandy they were devastated,” said Dr. Chaim Wakslak, rav of the Young Israel of Long Beach and the store’s kosher supervisor. “They suffered a great deal. At one point they were thinking of not opening.” But the store “is critical to the community” and the couple “very much liked,” he said, and the Zaghis “got a substantial grant from the community to repair the damage and upgrade the store significantly. People have allegiance Continued on page 13
By Ed Weintrob Rabbi Hershel Billet discussed how to appropriately encourage a recalcitrant spouse to deliver a get, and voiced support for the Organization for the Resolution of Agunot (ORA), at a parlor meeting in Woodmere on motzei Shabbat. “Halacha says that when a marriage is over you’re supposed to give a get — it’s very simple,” he said. “Fight in civil court all you want, but the Jewish responsibility is to give the get.” Billet, rav of the Young Israel of Woodmere,
Long Island remembers 9/11
Nassau County held its annual 9/11 memorial ceremony on Monday, as the sun set at EisenThe Jewish Star photo by Christina Daly hower Park in East Meadow.
told about 75 community members, at the home of Rachel and Marc Fries, that to do otherwise is not “legal halachic abuse,” but rather “counter to halacha.” A get should be given “unconditionally and in a timely fashion,” said ORA Executive Director Rabbi Jeremy Stern. “There should be no strings attached and there should be no delay. Once the marriage is irreconcilable and there is no chance for shalom bais there is no excuse for the get not to be given.” Stern said ORA has helped resolve 220 aguna cases in the 12 years since it was founded by students at Yeshiva University. In the last 12 months, its eight staff members and numerous volunteers fielded 162 calls, and at any given time they are actively involved in around 50 cases, he said. If mediation fails, ORA will use “all halachically acceptable and civilly legal forms of pressure” to facilitate delivery of a get. The group is also engaged in an educational process. ‘They don’t teach how to get divorced in yeshiva high school and Bais Yaacov,” Stern said, so last year ORA took its message to 3,000 students. Continued on page 8
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Esti and Moshe Zaghi in Shop Glatt Mart on East Park Avenue in Long Beach. Jewish Star / Ed Weintrob
ORA’s Jeremy Stern and Michelle GreenbergKorbin, at Woodmere parlor meeting. The Jewish Star