“I would have entered in the contest if I knew about it,” he said emphatically. Gideon Gur Aryeh and his wife Bina Hyman contacted The Jewish Star after they read last week’s report about the Sukkah City contest that led to a documentary movie. But his sukkah was not built because of a contest but because he saw a need and a problem that sought a solution. With planning and an artistic eye, Gur-Aryeh assembled a sukkah that is unique, spacious, practical and can be assembled and disassembled and stored from year to year. more

The contrast between the beginning of the book of Bereshit and our parsha is not only striking in terms of G-d’s vision for the world, but is even fascinating to compare on a textual level. more

Imagine a singular commentary on just three verses of the Bible, the first three verses from the Book of Genesis, Parashat Bereishit, that we read in shul this past Shabbat. This singular commentary, authored by Rabbi Yosef Bitton — “Awesome Creation: A Study of the First Three Verses of the Torah” [Gefen Publishing House, 2013] — is an extensive textual analysis that delves into the deeper meaning of one of the most fascinating sagas of both religious and human history, the creation of the world. more

The Bronx-based Simone Healthcare Development, the company that made a deal with the Lawrence Board of Education to buy the Number Six School property last January, but lost the public referendum on the sale, has bought the 12,000-square-foor Verizon building at 1436 Broadway in Hewlett for about $1.38 million. more

Tiberius is one of my favorite cities in Israel. It was the home of many great rabbis who lived or were buried there. The Sanhedrin fled from Jerusalem during the Great Jewish Revolt against the Roman Empire, and after several moves eventually settled in Tiberias. Many scholars believe that the Mishna and the Jerusalem Talmud were compiled by Rabbi Judah haNasi in Tiberias. It also happens to be the location of Pagoda, my favorite Chinese restaurant in all of Israel. A sad part of Tiberias history occurred 75 years ago. On Oct. 2, 1938, an organized group of Arab attackers massacred 21 Jews. Three of the victims were women and ten were kids younger than 12. They were stabbed, shot and burned. more

Thursday Oct. 3 Lunch & Learn With Rabbi Shalom Axelrod of the Young Israel of Woodmere. Weekly series resumes at Traditions Restaurant, 302 Central Avenue, off Rockaway Blvd., Lawrence. 12:30-1:30 pm. Buy a $12 lunch, eat and learn. For info, call Alan Stern 516-398-3094. more

To the Editor: Speaking on behalf of the progressive Democrats who read your paper, I was annoyed to see yet another piece by Jeff Dunetz using Judaism as a justification for a partisan political position [“A Rosh Hashana message to our President,” Sept. 6]. more

Terror has been rearing its ugly head throughout the world lately. In Kenya, a Somalia-based, al-Qaida-linked rebel group, al-Shabab, burst into Nairobi’s Westgate shopping mall and murdered dozens of victims in cold blood. In Nigeria, at least 160 people were massacred in two attacks by the radical Islamist organization Boko Haram. In Pakistan, a terrorist blew himself up outside a church in the city of Peshawar, killing more than 80 members of Pakistan’s Christian minority. In Israel, terror struck as well. Over the holiday of Sukkot, two soldiers paid with their lives. IDF Sgt. Gal (Gavriel) Kobi took a single lethal bullet to his neck in Hebron. Forty-eight hours earlier, Sgt. Tomer Hazan was murdered by his Palestinian host, Nidal Amar. During the same week, Iran, a country that supports and finances terrorism, sent its president to the U.N. General Assembly as if he were a beacon of peace. more

Woodmere Fire Department volunteers will be opening their home on Sunday, Oct. 13, for a day of fun, fire education and recruitment. Darren Moritz, a volunteer fire fighter, noted the importance of learning fire safety. He recounted two incidents in Woodmere when children put a pizza box in the family’s stove to heat up the pizza inside. “There was a fire in the oven,” he recalled. “A fire extinguisher puts it right out — but it destroys the oven.” Fire fighters will demonstrate how to put out a fire using both water and fire extinguishers. more

Responding to the complaints of yeshiva parents that their children’s rides to and from school were taking way too long, the Lawrence Union Free School District and the Independent Coach bus company worked over the Jewish holidays to make the runs more efficient and the trips shorter. more