I write this column not long after our community in northern New Jersey celebrated Yom Ha’Atzmaut where I had the privilege of attending the packed celebration held this past Monday night in Teaneck’s Votee Park with around 4,000 or so of my neighbors from Bergen County. (Read about it on pages 38-39). The evening event was a powerful one and I believe most or all who attended left feeling good about our community’s ability to come out in large numbers and celebrate Israel. Hopefully, there will be many more such events in the future.

Now, to the main topic for today. I am proud of many things as publisher of The Jewish Link. I am proud of how our paper is truly a “link” and bridge to so many in our community. I am proud of how many people tell me that they read our paper cover to cover every week. I am proud of how many great organizations, tzedakah initiatives, fundraising campaigns, dinners and the like are able to build strength and support from what we publish about their activities and successes. I am deeply proud of our varied and diverse sections ranging from divrei Torah to schools and sports and so much in between. But I have to say that one of things that make me proudest are our advertisers who believe in our paper, have built and continue to build their businesses through our paper and platform in print and digital, and many of whom have become good friends and partners at the same time. I am proud also of how many local businesses have launched with just a few ads in our paper and an accompanying article and how they have truly thrived.

So why am I mentioning this? Because for years now, my staff and I have long been trying to figure out a mechanism or approach that would help to recognize and promote the many great businesses serving our broad Jewish community and readership. We thought long and hard about holding big award dinners or luncheons for our strongest and best advertisers (and you all certainly deserve awards, for sure). We bandied about all types of ideas until we finally settled on one that we believe will be a great vehicle for our local advertisers and businesses to get more exposure, promote their services and products, and garner more notice and engagement (and more sales as well).

I am proud to formally announce The Jewish Link 2024 (and Inaugural) A-List.

What is the A-List exactly? How do you get on it? Who gets on it? The A-List will be the Jewish Link’s first ever list of top-ranked local/regional businesses and the way to get on the list will be decided by our readers and their votes. With this inaugural A-List, we are looking for your help in identifying and promoting the best businesses out there serving our community. With 11 major categories and over 100 sub-categories to vote for, the A-List is a chance and opportunity to vote for, say thank you to, and help promote your favorite stores and businesses.

And for our advertisers and business owners and marketing managers, the A-List campaign is a great opportunity for you to ask your customers and clients to vote for you and your business. Email or call or text/WhatsApp us at [email protected] or contact your existing ad rep if you want help in marketing your business effectively in this campaign. We believe it will be a great way to check and determine how strong your customer/client base is, build engagement and good will, and will only be a positive for you and your business.

To participate in the voting, we are asking all of our readers to fill out the online survey at https://bit.ly/jlink-a-list or scan the QR code in this article.

The voting campaign will be open for approximately one month, until June 15, and we will formally announce all of the A-List winners in a big special A-List edition at the end of July.

Also, to provide more of an incentive and to make it more fun, we are running a daily drawing for an Amazon gift card between now and June 15. All survey participants will be automatically entered in the daily drawing if they submit responses in a minimum of 10 categories.

We teased the A-List campaign just before Pesach, started promoting it seriously last week in the print edition and online, and we have already received over 500 submissions/votes. We have been blown away by the response and we hope to receive submissions well into the four figures and maybe more!

Hatzlacha to all of our advertisers and local businesses!