Batei Tsibur Celebrates Jewish Heritage Month  

On May 23, NYCHA’s Jewish Employees Organization (Batei Tsibur) commemorated Jewish Heritage month in the Ceremonial Room at 90 Church Street.  

The event was attended by a variety of NYCHA staff, including Batei Tsibur leadership and Vice President for Employee Engagement Yvette Andino. The guest speaker was Alan Pelikow, a retiree who formerly led the Law Department’s Administrative Hearings and Landlord/Tenant Divisions. 

Mr. Pelikow’s remarks, accompanied by a short video and recitations from audience members, explained the significance of the upcoming Jewish holiday of Shavout, which celebrates the giving of the Torah (Bible) to the people of Israel on Mount Sinai.  

He pointed out how some fundamental principles of Judaism contained in the Torah – such as theology, faith, and laws – relate to our modern times. 

“May is considered Jewish Heritage Month for many reasons, one of which is that it is the month in which the modern state of Israel was created in 1948,” Mr. Pelikow said, adding that he decided to focus his remarks on Shavout because of its meaning in Judaism. 

“People know the Ten Commandments, which is the most famous part of the Torah, and this really forms the basis for Judaism…and that’s why I used different examples of things that are in the Torah,” Mr. Pelikow explained. “One example is the quote, ‘Proclaim liberty throughout the land and to all its inhabitants,’ which is on the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia – so it touches a lot of things even if people aren’t aware of it.” 

In his remarks, Daniel Mahpour, President of Batei Tsibur, thanked Yvette Andino and Employee Engagement Manager Andre Cirilo for empowering and encouraging employee organizations at NYCHA to thrive. Earlier in May, the Employee Engagement Department held a membership drive for the various NYCHA employee organizations, a move Mr. Mahpour said has helped some organizations gain new members. 

As part of the commemoration, posters of notable Jewish figures after whom some NYCHA developments have been named were displayed on the walls.