On Monday, March 4th 2026, several high-ranking officials of the New York State Assembly and other politicians from Brooklyn to Long Island, including Mr. Bruce Blakeman, gathered in front of Oceana Theatre in Brooklyn, NY to hold a press conference and register our whole-hearted disapproval over the planned concert of Uzbek pop singer, Yulduz Usmonova. This was not a regular press conference, and this was not to be a regular performance by a pop singer. The reason for the g

Yulduz Usmanova versus the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. A case of polar opposites. - Dmitri Oster, LCSW

Antisemitic hate and vandalism in the heart of Jewish Queens, New York: a failure of our public educational institutions. Ignorance on display. -Dmitri Oster, LCSW

I had client who was referred to me on more than one occasion, for more than one criminal offense. This client was also involved with more than one criminal justice agency, on both the state and federal levels. This client also has open court cases in more than one state, although his residence was within New York. This was a client with a higher-than-average intelligence, and with middot (character traits) that you can sense wanted correction and healing. The client was, ho

On Thursday, April 16th, 2026, the now infamous anti-Semite and open Jew hater – Nathan White – appeared in court for his further arraignment. Kathryn Donnelly, Ariel Kohan, others and myself also showed up to that court hearing. We waited hours for the vile defendant to appear in court, and he finally was brought in with handcuffs and surrounded by NYPD Officers. As soon as he came out through the waiting room chamber doors, our eyes met and I felt a plethora of physiologic

Monday was Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. The Gregorian calendar year is 2026, and the lessons from that catastrophe of history should never be forgotten or diluted. We are less than 100 years from that unimaginable tragedy. Six million Jews, mostly across the European continent, were systematically tortured and exterminated. In today’s day and age, it is almost inconceivable to imagine how this was allowed to happen. But it did. We can and should never forget how p

As we leave the time of Pesach and transition into our standard routines and practices, a thought remains: Perhaps it might serve us well to remember the various ways we can serve our Creator through our many gifts. Reading new daily sections of the Korbanot over the first 13 days of Nisan reminds us of the beauty of dedication to Hashem through our prayers, as we await the rebuilding of the Third Temple. I couldn’t help but recall the sanctity of the luminous voice of Avrom

QUEENS, NY—Justice has yet again been delayed for a Jew. On March 18, 2026, defendant Eric Zafra Grosso failed to show up again in court in the hate-crime case regarding his broad daylight attack of Rabbi David Shushan. While this is not surprising, there are a few insights – and calls to action – that can be gleaned by engaging in a sober-eyed review of events leading up to this moment. Rabbi David Shushan’s attacker is still at large, and there are not many attempts via th