Community Magazine December 2019

84 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE Chai Lifeline will celebrate its 2019 Annual Gala on Monday, December 9, at The Marriott Marquis in New York City. A leading children’s health support network, Chai Lifeline provides critical assistance to children with life-threatening or lifelong illnesses and their families, through more than two dozen, free year-round programs and services, including professional case management, two medically-supervised overnight camps - Camp Simcha and Camp Simcha Special, counseling; meal delivery; transportation to medical appointments; Project Chai crisis intervention; insurance advocacy, family retreats and respite, i-Shine after-school national programs for children living with illness or loss in their homes, and more. Joining Chai Lifeline in celebrating this year’s Gala theme, “An Evening for the Kids,” will be comedianMODI andmusic sensation Mordechai Shapiro. The Gala is chaired by Chaya Rivka and Mayer Fischl, Bari and Daniel Erber, and Julia Straus Baruch. To reserve a seat or table, or to learn more about the Chai Lifeline Gala, visit www.chaidinner.org . More than two decades ago when a mega entertainment and shopping complex was being conceived on a vast swath of swamp land in New Jersey, the iPhone didn’t exist, Amazon was only selling books online, and malls were where you went for all your shopping needs. Now, after endless fits and starts and billions of dollars spent, AmericanDream is officially opening its doors to the public as the second largest mall in the country, and the third largest in North America. It will showcase three million square feet of leasable space dedicated tomore than a dozen entertainment attractions - like a 16-story indoor ski slope, rollercoaster, waterpark, and eventually 450 retail, food, and specialty shops. The Mega Mall will feature amazing attractions and amenities, and a Kosher Food Court. The Kosher Food Court is the rst food market in a North American retail entertainment destination. There will be six units drawn from the best kosher food operators from NYC to Miami. The purpose of providing kosher food is to offer a new dining destination for kosher consumers. Hopefully, this allure of kosher dining will increase traf c to the mall from the many tourists and Jews living in the area. The mall won’t be completely operational until next spring, when several hundred stores will open. The Nickelodeon amusement park and an ice skating rink opened last month and the other attractions are scheduled to open in phases by the end of this year. Rabbi Nissim Karelitz, zt"l , the nephew of the Hazon Ish, who founded an internationally renowned Bet Din and was known as one of the leading poskim of our generation, passed away on October 21 st , aged 93. Tens of thousands of people attended the funeral of Rabbi Karelitz. The funeral procession left at 12:00 from Rabbi Akiva Street in Bnei Brak, heading toward the cemetery on Hazon Ish Street, where the Rabbi was buried. Many streets were blocked to traffic in Bnei Brak, and large police forces escorted the funeral procession. Many public figures paid tribute to Rabbi Karelitz upon news of his passing, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Reuven Rivlin, Chief Rabbis Yitzhak Yosef and David Lau, and the heads of the charedi parties, among others. Rabbi Karelitz was a highly respected posek . The Bet Din he established in Bnei Brak in 1967 was one of the largest and preeminent courts in the Jewish world. The Deal Sephardic Network (DSN) in Deal, NJ is now offering free transportation to and from their facilities for the their DSN Senior Program. This is exclusively for the Cove and Imperial House residents. The bus schedule is as follows: Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday – 11:00am pickup and 2:00pm drop-off. For more information, please contact DSN at 732 686 9595. co mm unity HIGHL IGHTS Chai Lifeline Celebrates “An Evening for the Kids” at December 9 Gala Massive American Dream Mall Finally Opens – Sort of… Rabbi Nissim Karelitz, zt"l , Passes Away, Tens of Thousands Attend Bnei Brak Funeral DSN is Now Offering Free Transportation for Seniors Program Rabbi Nissim Karelitz, zt”l