The first Pirates of the Caribbean film spent a few moments discussing the “honesty” of pirates. The lead character cheats in a duel and is thus accused, “You cheated!” He responds, “Pirate!” as if to say, “I don’t follow conventional rules.” One of the more memorable moments is when the female protagonist demands, in exchange for a precious medallion, that the pirates who are currently attacking Port Royal “leave and never come back.” When they agree, they begin to set sail with her on board, leading her to exclaim, “Wait! You have to take me to shore.” And she is told, “Your return to shore was not part of our negotiations nor our agreement so I must do nothing…” more

Knesset Member Naftali Bennett will be visiting the Young Israel of Woodmere, 859 Peninsula Blvd., on Saturday night, Nov. 16 at 7:15 pm. more

Thursday, Nov. 7 Lunch & Learn With Rabbi Shalom Axelrod of Young Israel of Woodmere. Today’s topic: Deception in Sefer Bereishis. Traditions Restaurant, 302 Central Avenue, off Rockaway Blvd., Lawrence. 12:30-1:30 pm. Buy a $12 lunch, eat and learn. Alan Stern 516-398-3094. more

Goldie Steinberg, a longtime resident of the Grandell Rehabilitation & Nursing Center in Long Beach, turned 113 last week, and the Grandell staff held a party so she could celebrate with her friends and family. more

It was a chink in the ironclad Nazi killing machine, a narrow glint of light in the suffocating darkness. On Nov. 15, 1938, five days after Kristallnacht, British Jewish and Quaker leaders mobilized to enlist the British government to permit the temporary entry of Jewish children fleeing the Nazis. For nine months, until the declaration of World War II on Sept. 1, 1939, 10,000 mostly Jewish children from Europe were transported to the United Kingdom, with the last group of children arriving May 14, 1940. more

His chances of survival were slim. But now almost five years after severe wounds from Operation Cast Lead, Aharon Karov triumphantly crossed the finish line at the New York City Marathon this past Sunday, helping to raise $50,000 for an organization that helped him and other victims of terror and their families. Aharon Karov was commander of a paratroop brigade and responded to return to duty for Operation Cast Lead in 2009 the day after his wedding. The house the soldiers entered in Gaza was booby trapped and blew up, collapsing on him, embedding more than 500 pieces of shrapnel in his body and severely damaging his brain and face, affecting his motor skills and speech. more

As the weather takes on an added chill and the nights get longer, reading indoors takes on added value to our quality of time. Therefore please note these brief suggestions for high quality reading and learning for the months to come. more

Finally, there is a movement developing to fight back against Al Sharpton, the professional bigot and racial agitator, not only within his own African-American community but also by a new media watchdog group that is reminding Sharpton’s MSNBC advertisers of the type of person with whom they are dealing. [Al Sharpton’s bigotry, especially toward the Jewish Community in Crown Heights and at Freddy’s Fashion Mart in Harlem, was covered over the summer by this column in The Jewish Star.] more

In most of our prayer books, the English translation of the daily recitation of the Akeidah lacks an extensive commentary. A recently issued commentary on the weekday Shacharit service, “The Siddur Illuminated By Chassidus” [Kehot 2013], by Rabbi Eliyahu Touger and Rabbi Sholom Ber Wineberg, is an exception, providing us with an informed and well-written analysis that would serve us well for this coming Shabbat Vayera and the annual Torah reading of the Akeidah: more

I will never forget the text that night around 8 p.m. – “The beach and the bay just met – everything is covered in water.” At that moment, as the Rabbi of Ohab Zedek in Belle Harbor, I knew our entire lives were now completely changed. In the weeks, months, and –now-year since the storm I realized just how right I was. more