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

The Rockaways continue to suffer one year after Hurricane Sandy, with many indigent people living in the narrow six-mile-long stretch between the upscale Five Towns to the east and Belle Harbor to the west. This week, an organization known for bringing free medical care to countries in the Third World and war-ravaged regions, is bringing its services to the peninsula, opening Doctors of the World Rockaway Free Clinic at 230 Beach 102nd St. in Rockaway Beach. more

Ninety-nine years after the Turkish genocide of the Armenians, one of the most poignant symbols of Armenian suffering is being held hostage — by the White House. The prisoner is an 18-foot long rug. It was woven by 400 Armenian orphan girls living in exile in Lebanon, as a gesture of appreciation for America’s assistance to survivors of the genocide. In 1925, they sent the rug to President Calvin Coolidge, who pledged that it would have “a place of honor in the White House, where it will be a daily symbol of goodwill on earth.” more

Thursday, Oct. 31 Lunch & Learn With Rabbi Shalom Axelrod of Young Israel of Woodmere. Weekly at 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

I am a 38-year-old Orthodox woman, and a mother of seven beautiful children. Three years ago I underwent a double mastectomy, oophorectomy (ovary removal surgery) and a full hysterectomy (surgical removal of the uterus); I am BRCA1 positive. When I was five years old my mother died of breast cancer. Due to her death, my childhood was difficult and I experienced emotional traumas. As a result, my father couldn’t take care of me anymore and I left my home when I was 12 to try to find a home to live in. I had a very unstable and traumatizing childhood, moving from family to family, trying to find a stable home. As I grew older my biggest fear was having a family and doing the same thing to them. As the saying goes, man plans and G-d laughs, so as fate would have it, at age 18, I met my wonderful, beautiful husband. more

We are all made of many cells that normally grow, divide and die. Cancer is cells that grow out of control and can invade other tissues and organs. When a malignant or cancerous tumor starts in the cells of the breast it is called breast cancer. It is most often found in women but men can get it, too. Most breast cancers start in the glands or ducts of the breast. Cancerous cells can spread through the lymph system, small groups of cells that fight infections that carry a clear fluid away from the breast. more

One in every 40 Ashkenazi Jews has the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation, as compared to one of 350 in the general population. This mutation conveys a risk of 87 percent for breast cancer by age 70. “Patients who test positive for the BRCA 1 or 2 gene are at a significant increased risk for the development of breast and/or ovarian cancer in their lifetime,” said Dr. Susan M. Palleschi, MD, FACS, a breast surgeon affiliated with North Shore University Hospital. The BRCA gene mutation also conveys up to a 64 percent risk of developing a second breast cancer, up to a 44 percent chance of developing ovarian cancer by age 70 and increased risk for other cancers in both men and women. more

The trip for HAFTR’s eighth grade boys began with a chesed activity at the Masbiah Soup kitchen where they packed food packages to be delivered in communities around Brooklyn and Queens. more

30,000 people relived the “Purchase of A Lifetime,” on Shabbat Chaye Sara, at Meorat HaMachpela, Cave of the Patriarchs, in Hevron, this past Shabbat. Tens of thousands converge yearly on Hevron to commemorate the purchase of Meorat HaMachpela (Cave of the Patriarchs) cave by Avraham more than 3,500 years ago, in a transaction detailed in last Shabbat’s parsha. Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Wash), fourth from left, recently visited the cave during his first trip to Israel, with Dr. Joseph Frager and Dr. Paul Brody, chairman and vice president, respectively, of the International Committee for the Land of Israel, standing to the congressman’s immediate left. more

Being way past deadline (as usual) for this week’s column, I was frustrated as not only was I late, I couldn’t come up with a topic to write about. Total writer’s block. And as hard as it is to come up with ideas for my column, it’s even harder to correlate them to the recipe, as you have probably noticed in the past, or you will certainly notice this week. So last night, while sitting at my computer, which by the way is from the Dark Ages, or so my kids tell me, I was close to calling my editor and admitting defeat, when while eating the fifth snack in the span of 20 minutes, I started to choke. Seems the almond I swallowed had different plans than the norm. Being home alone, I panicked a bit, but all ended well. I was a little shaken, but I had an idea for this week’s column.N more