For several years, at least, Agudath Israel of America, the organizational arm of ultra-Orthodox Judaism, has demanded that allegations of child abuse be vetted by rabbis rather than directly reported to police. Increasingly, that position is coming in for harsh criticism. Much of that criticism is coming from within the ultra-Orthodox community itself, where advocates of victims of child molestation accuse their own rabbinic leadership of covering up the crimes of molesters, many of whom continued to prey on children for decades.

Agudah’s position is at odds with laws in New York and New Jersey that mandate reporting of child abuse in many circumstances.

There are several reasons 24-year-old Jaime Kaminer is planning to participate in the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee’s (JDC) Inside Jewish Moscow trip in July.

Kaminer — raised in Paramus and now in her third-year as a neuroscience graduate student at Stony Brook University — agrees with her school’s Hillel rabbi that there is “not much sense of community” among the Jewish students on campus.

“There are tons of graduate students, but we’re sort of a commuter school,” she said. “I’d be happy to come back [from the trip] and spread the word,” galvanizing other students to become more involved in Jewish life.

Englewood resident Dr. David Arbit has spent much of his adult life hearing about the Shoah.

“My father-in-law is a survivor,” says the physician, who practices in Fair Lawn. “At every bar- or bat mitzvah, he would get up and speak about his experiences.”

Now, however, Arbit can add many more firsthand accounts to those he already knows. As the physician designated by the March of the Living program to accompany this year’s honorees — some 16 former U.S. servicemen who were among the first to arrive at Europe’s many concentration camps during World War II — the doctor says he now has both new information and detailed verification of his father-in-law’s stories.

Last Sunday morning, 500 people came to the Jewish Center of Teaneck (JCT) to celebrate the life of Arthur Joseph.

Joseph, who moved to Teaneck in the 1950s and became a bedrock first of the town’s nascent Jewish community and then the Bergen Jewish community that followed, died in January at the age of 85. He was buried in Maryland. Sunday’s event — a presentation and brunch — provided an opportunity for area residents who could not attend his funeral to honor his memory.

Joseph made his fortune as a broker of apples and other fruits. When he retired, he decided he had to go back to work so that he could continue to fund myriad commitments to his community.

A musical pacifier, mittens and gloves with tissue pockets, a cleat guard — all these nifty novelties and more were displayed by their fourth-grade inventors at The Moriah School of Englewood’s Invention Convention on April 24.

Starting just after the January break, teachers guided the 45 pupils, working in pairs or threes, in deciding on their inventions. They brainstormed a need collaboratively, thought of possible solutions, designed the solutions on paper, and then built prototypes, said Robin Wexler, associate principal for general studies in the Lower School.

“Throughout our exciting Invention Unit, we hope to have stimulated the imagination of our children, and provided a channel in which to unleash their creative juices,” Wexler said. “It is our role as educators to show students the importance of integrating reading, writing, math, art, science and technology skills, as well as to emphasize the significance of becoming creative, divergent, and independent thinkers.”