By COLlive reporter
He united communities in his life and his death.
The crowd gathered in Midwood this week to honor the memory of Yoseph Robinson HY”D, a Jewish Jamaican man murdered in 2010, mirrored his unique life.
In attendance for the renaming of the Ave. J and Nostrand Ave. intersection in Midwood to the “Yoseph Robinson Ave.” were members of his Caribbean-born family and Orthodox Jewish rabbis.
The 34-year-old Robinson worked at the nearby MB Vineyards kosher liquor-store when it was robbed. He was shot while trying to protect his friend.
He overcame a checkered past of drug dealing and petty crime, becoming an Orthodox Jew at age 23 and incorporated Torah verses into the hip-hop he used to write, the New York Daily News reported.
Robinson helped form a bridge between the Caribbean and Orthodox Jewish communities of Midwood and East Flatbush, friends and family told the newspaper.
The event saw a unique mixture of public officials come to salute Robinson’s memory.
There were U.S. Congresswoman Yvette Clarke, NYS Senator Simcha Felder, NYC Council Speaker and mayoral candidate Christina Quinn, NYC Council members Jumaane Williams and David Greenfield and Manhattan Borough President and Comptroller candidate Scott Stringer.
Speaking at the event were also Rabbi Moishe Tuvia Lief of Agudas Yisroel and Rabbi Aryeh Ralbag of Vaad Harabonim of Flatbush.
“Yoseph died a hero,” Williams said. “I’m hoping that the street sign serves as a reminder of that.”
Haashem Yinkom Domoh
Please take heart Councilman Jumaane Williams…..
Another good reason for “STOP AND FRISK” .
Big kiddish Hashem, from strength to strength!
And it’s all because of one special man. May his soul be uplifted to new heights.
That is the possible etymology of the name.
-Benveniste
Always a pleasure to see you working the Olum Haskonus!!
Yitzmach Yeshuos!!!!!
Agudah Shul!!!!!