JEWISH WORLD

JEWISH WORLD • APRIL 12-18, 2024 27 tional NewYork Board of Rabbis, said the organization was privileged to have Weinstock as its 66th president. Wein- stock, he said, works with colleagues regardless of their sectarian affiliations. “That is a sign of significant leader- ship,” Potasnik said. “He’s a person of great integrity. He’s a convenor. He em- bodies the three I’s: integrity, indepen- dence, and intelligence.” Weinstock holds a graduate degree from Yeshiva University and was or- dained byYU’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. In his youth, he considered becoming a journalist or a psychologist, but his heart was always in Judaism, he said. His father was active in their New Haven syna- against mumps. I was the only kid in the neighborhood who caught it. All the rest were immunized. I paid the price of my parent’s willful neglect. I carry the awful effects of mumps with me all the days of my life because I was not vaccinated. Remember Me: My mother was an anti-vaxxer. FREE For your FREE digital issue send an email to: lijewworld@aol.com were immunized. Other children born to mothers in- fected with measles suffered cardio- vascular oddities that could not be repaired. Some babies died although surgeons tried to repair the damage their little bodies got from measles. You can’t imagine what life has been like for me because my moth- er refused an immunization. Every mother gets a choice to protect their child from vaccine prevent- able diseases. I wish mine had tak- en responsibility to safeguard me. Remember Me: I was never immunized for child- hood diseases because my parents were anti- vaxxers. They did not listen to scientists and medical professionals who cautioned to vaccinate to prevent the spread of whooping cough. I developed whooping cough when I was 12. Since then, I have suffered from chronic lung prob- lems, visual problems, and epilepsy. If only my parents had immu- nized me, my life could be so dif- ferent. Thank your parents if they and you were vaccinated to prevent little kids from suffering for a life- time with the endless repercussions of whooping cough. Michael Kossove is Professor Emeritus, and Adjunct Professor of Microbiology at Touro University, School of Health Sciences, New York. He is a polio survivor. Susan L. Schoenbeck, MSN, RN is Adjunct Faculty at Walla Walla Uni- versity School of Nursing, Portland, Oregon She is a polio survivor. When it was suggested that she’d be immunized against rubella, she re- fused. Shewas pregnantwithmewhen she came downwith a case of measles. As a result, I was born deaf. I had cataracts in both eyes, and multiple other problems. This could have all been avoided if she Until Jonas Salk introduced his vaccine in 1955, people with polio needed leg braces or wheelchairs; some needed to use breathing devices like the iron lung. Jonas Salk did not pro t from his vaccine, as he desired that it be available to all. He campaigned for mandatory vaccination during his entire life. Vaccinations continued from page 11 A child with measles can develop memory loss and seizures, go blind – even die. Anti-vaxxers: it doesn’t have to happen. Weinstock continued from page 8 announced his presidential candidacy and began courting elements on the extreme right. Weinstock came to the Atlantic Beach synagogue in 2021, after serv- ing as rabbi of Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, where he had been for 17 years. Atlantic Beach was “between rabbis” at the time, Weinstock said, and he had visited several times be- fore accepting the post. “I wasn’t looking for a second job,” Weinstock said of chairing the task force. It takes up a considerable amount of time, which only adds to his other communal activities as a mem- ber of AIPAC’s national council and as president of the NewYork Board of Rabbis. He has no regrets, however, because “these are my passions.” Motti Kremer, the Atlantic Beach synagogue’s treasurer and who head- ed the search committee that brought Weinstock to the synagogue, said in an interview that before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the community had been made up largely of summer va- cationers. During COVID, however, many people moved from New York City to Atlantic Beach to escape the virus. There was a need, therefore, for an experienced rabbi “who could reach out to the community, he said. We wanted somebody who could or- ganize.”Weinstock, Kremer said, “has always reached out.” Rabbi Joseph Potasnick, executive vice president of the intra-denomina- We wanted someone who could reach out to the community, somebody who could organize. gogue. “I was Jewishly busy,” he said. His wife Naama is a dentist in New York City. Two of their children live in Israel. Their daughter, Meira, 23, served in the Israel Defense Forces. Their son Yona, 20, is a student at ReichmanUni- versity. The couple have two younger daughters who attend New York City schools. His broth- er, Joseph, is the senior rabbi at Florida’s Young Israel of Hollywood-Ft. Lauderdale. Weinstock is at work helping to prepare the task force’s final report and recommendations. He is so far satisfiedwith the task force’s work. “There has been ap- propriate concern,” he said, and a clear need “to take action.” James Bernstein is a veteran jour- nalist who frequently writes for the ‘Long Island Jewish World.’ Antisemitic yers passed around in Oceanside and Rockville Centre.