Beloved Queens Jewish leader and journalist Cara Trager dies at 71 after being struck by car

Hundreds gathered last month to mourn Cara Trager, a prominent Queens Jewish community leader and journalist who died May 29. Trager, 71, succumbed to injuries sustained four days earlier when she and her husband were hit by a car while returning home.

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There was nobody more pro-Israel, and a bigger Zionist, than her.

Trager's fierce support for Israel was a defining aspect of her life. Rabbi David Wise noted her strong Zionist convictions, and her husband, Michael Trager, joked that expressing love meant telling her he was pro-Israel. She had planned to wear a "Proud American, Proud Zionist" shirt to the Israel Day Parade on the day she died.

Her son, Eric Trager, spoke of missing her deeply, remembering her as someone who "loved, and was loved deeply." Her daughter, Rachel Sales, invoked the Jewish principle of choosing life, stating Trager embodied this repeatedly. "She was never less of herself, she was always like, you get the full Cara Trager, all her beliefs, all her opinions, all her love, all her energy, all of it," Sales said.

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I will spend the rest of my life missing her, and wishing she was here.

Michael Trager attended the arraignment of the driver, Dawood Faisal, 22, who faces charges including second-degree manslaughter, leaving the scene of a collision resulting in death, and reckless driving. Faisal pleaded not guilty. Michael Trager expressed a belief that Faisal may have targeted a heavily Jewish area. Faisal's attorney did not respond to requests for comment. "As devastated as the family is, and me in particular, I’d like to at least hope that justice is served, that this puts an end, or at least helps put an end, to senseless violence," Trager said.

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My mother, Cara Trager, loved, and was loved deeply. This is how I will remember her, and this is how I hope she will always be remembered.

Born May 4, 1955, Trager grew up in the Bronx. She is survived by her husband, children Eric and Rachel, daughter-in-law Alyssa Saunders, son-in-law Benjamin Sales, and grandchildren Max, Teddy, Dov, and Yael.

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In Judaism, we choose life, and she chose life again and again and again.