Young Israel of Hollis Hills – Windsor Park

The Young Israel of Hollis Hills-Windsor Park serves the Northeast Queens communities of Bayside, Hollis Hills, Fresh Meadows and Oakland Gardens. We are a modern Orthodox shul with strong ties to Israel. Our members enjoy city conveniences while living a suburban lifestyle. We are located in a beautiful neighborhood with parks bounding us on all sides and trees and grass all around us. New York City is now officially the safest large city in the nation and our community is amongst the safest in NYC; we are very comfortable taking a Shabbat or Yom Tov night walk.

Our rabbi, Barry Kornblau, joined us in 2003 and has added energy, new ideas, and programming to our repertoire. We have recently started a Community Kollel; a number of young couples have moved into the neighborhood to further enhance our learning, event programming, and outreach. The shul currently has regularly scheduled classes in Talmud, halacha, and the weekly parsha, as well as a monthly class for women only. Also on our calendar is Beginner’s Hebrew as well as an explanatory service on Shabbat. Of course, we have daily Shacharit and Mincha-Maariv minyanim.

Our shul is a participatory one; no individual or small group hordes power. We seek and encourage involvement in the shul’s operation from the entire membership. No one gets lost in the shuffle here; everyone is valued and considered to be part of the fabric of the shul.

Come and experience the beauty, convenience and warm intimacy of our community and shul. Find out for yourself why we have been called “the in-town shul with an out-of-town feel”.

A Brief History of Our Shul

In 1951, members of a minyan at the Oakland Jewish Center, then in a storefront on Springfield Boulevard and Horace Harding Expressway, founded the Young Israel of Windsor Park, named for a housing development in the area, and davened in a private house they had purchased on 215th Street. Their first rabbi, Naftali Langsam, served the congregation and taught its Talmud Torah from 1954 to 1955. This Talmu

d Torah continued to provide an after school Jewish education for youngsters attending public schools, until 1975.In 1958, the building we presently occupy was dedicated in the same location.

Beginning in 1955 and continuing for 40 years until his passing in 1995, Rabbi Louis Bernstein (z’lb) served our congregation as rav, mentor, and friend. During this time, Rabbi Bernstein also served as head of the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA) and was well known nationally and internationally. He was succeeded by Rabbi Yehoshua Weber, who led our congregation between 1996 and 2002, and our present rabbi, Barry Kornblau.

In the 1960s, our shul was home to the Heller Hebrew Academy of Queens, which eventually merged with Yeshiva of Central Queens.

Our highly successful kollel began in 2003. Its first member was Ellie Weissman, now Rabbi Ellie Weissman, recently chosen to be the rabbi of the Young Israel of Plainview.

Our new name, Young Israel of Hollis Hills-Windsor Park, was adopted in 2004 in recognition of the larger area in which our members live today.