If you would have asked me what Abir would end up doing with his life, I would have imagined him as a bouncer.... Abir, an ex-paratrooper, is one of the unsung heroes of the battle of the Chinese chicken farm, when a battalion of paratroopers in the Yom Kippur war had to take a crucial Egyptian position by running up 300 yards of open ground; most of the battalion never made it out of there. I could easily have imagined him grabbing one of the first planes out after the war, maybe to New York or Los Angeles. more

One of the results of Hurricane Sandy was the damage or destruction of some of the most valuable ritual items of our faith: Torahs, Tefillin, and Mezuzos. These sacred articles represent some of the most expensive and labor-intensive objects used by us on a daily and weekly basis. Each is vulnerable to climactic changes that can result in serious disruption in ritual observances. more

Like others I know who had power some or much of the time these past weeks, I feel so very grateful and also a little guilty. It feels odd to have something vital while neighbors don’t. Keeping busy, offering whatever help you are able to, mitigates the feeling somewhat, but knowing you definitely don’t want to trade places neutralizes that. And the possibility of being in that position next time is both worrisome and scary. more

No power. No heat. No fridge or freezer. No oven. No microwave. No TV. No Internet. No phone. No cell service. No lights, washing machines or dryers. Gas lines were blocks long and ran out of gas as it was nearing my turn. A huge tree fell across my pool, my boiler broke and after the power was returned, my Sub Zero compressor blew. My thermostat in my bedroom read 43 degrees at night and I went to bed so bundled that I resembled the Michelin man. more

Dear Editor: Please share our letter of thanks to Chabad: more

Now over a week after the election, the Grand Old Party has to quickly regroup and move ahead. But before they do, the party needs to change to have a future as anything other than a minority party. It’s not a matter of changing their core principles as some have suggested (in the end a shift of 407K votes in the battleground states would have changed the winner of the electoral college), but drastic changes need to be made in the way those principles are presented to voters to change the result of future elections. more

On Sunday, a group of volunteers from the Englewood Jewish community came to the Five Towns to sponsor a BBQ, tailgate style, at the home of Karen Green, Publisher of the Jewish Star. The group of eight New Jerseyans turned out delicious hot dogs and burgers from noon till dark with a smile, even enduring a Giants loss broadcast on the radio that blasted in the background. more

Over 150 bombs have been fired into southern Israel from Gaza since this weekend. Many of these missiles are fired in the mornings to coincide with children’s travel to school. Four soldiers in a jeep were wounded on Saturday ranging from seriously wounded to light to moderate condition. Four Israeli civilians, one from Sderot, were injured by shrapnel Sunday morning. more

The Israeli originated navigation app Waze was used by FEMA and U.S. government agencies to find operational gas stations to send fuel to in Hurricane Sandy’s aftermath, according to a report on gigaOM. more

The superintendent of a Sheepshead Bay apartment building preempted flooding in the basement by pumping water out of the building’s boiler and electrical rooms as the water began to back up out of the sewers the Sunday night before the storm. more