Holidays
Celebrates the Holidays
www.qns.com I LIC COURIER I DECEMBER 2017 25
The Community Advocate
Name: Rivka Wineberg
Occupation: Rivkaand her husband, Rabbi Zev Wineberg, run
the Jewish Community Center – Chabad of West Queens (JCC),
and the Chabad City Gan Preschool.
Number of Years in LIC: 10 years
How she celebrates: I celebrate Chanukah. Every year we orga-nize
a public menorah lighting and community celebration at the
Gantry State Park. We also provide a big menorah at Vernon Mall.
As a holiday gift to our neighbors, we donate space to host
rehearsals for the children’s holiday choir choirs.
Everything we build on the neighborhood is built upon relationships.
For the Jewish people, the JCC provides a home away from home.
For growing families, we host “Mommy and Me” and a number of other
classes. Everything we do is open to everyone, regardless of affiliation.
How she involves her five children during the holidays: Our kids
are our partners in everything we do. They always know that as a com-munity,
we have to be there for other people. It’s always about the next
person first – not us. People come before you. Love unconditionally.
Traditions she hopes to continue: Every year I print out holiday
coloring sheets and other festive decorations, and we decorate
our house’s walls with Chanukah decorations. We decorate the
halls so that the house has that festive feel. We would use new
recipes for donuts or latkes. Each child has his/her own menorah
because there is not enough light a child can bring to this world.
What she loves about LIC: The neighborhood is so diverse. We’re
from the Chabad ultra orthodox sect – we integrate with everyone
regardless of whether we are similar in our religious background or
not. Our kid love living in Long Island City as do we. We love life.
We are so happy to share that love of life and share that love of
Jewish culture with everyone around us.
Photos courtesy of Rivka Wineberg
