Aremarkably diverse group of famous American Jews celebrate or celebrated their birthdays on the fourth of July.
Taken together, their life histories say much about why most American Jews are glad to express their patriotism on Independence Day.

In Europe, patriotic appeals were largely based on a mystical appeal to the country’s dominant ethnic group, and armies often went to war under the banner of the nation’s main Christian denomination. Think of the French going to war to protect their ancient homeland under the Catholic banner of Joan of Arc — or the Germans’ infamous appeal to fight for "blood and soil."

American patriotism, however, is largely based on the principles that motivated the Revolution — principles enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, adopted on July 4, 1776, and in the Constitution. It is a type of patriotism open to anyone who supports these democratic ideals and the government based upon them.

The teenage years are a time of questioning: Who am I? What is my spiritual path? What is my relationship to my country and the world? Three recent novels for tweens and teens — "A Bottle in the Gaza Sea" by Valerie Zenatti (Bloomsbury), "The Truth About My Bat Mitzvah" by Nora Raleigh Baskin (Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers), and "Spanking Shakespeare" by Jake Wizner (Random House) — explore different aspects of these questions.

"A Bottle in the Gaza Sea" opens with a bang, a literal one: the bomb that went off on September 9, 2003, in a Jerusalem cafe, killing a man and his daughter — she was to be married that day. Israeli teenager Tal Levine is profoundly shaken by the bombing, which seems to end all hopes for peace between the Israelis and Palestinians. Fighting despair and hoping that someone on the other side of the border also longs for peace, Tal writes a letter, complete with her e-mail address, and places it in a bottle to be thrown by her soldier brother into the Gaza Sea. Although Tal expects to hear from a Palestinian woman, she is answered by "Gazaman," a sarcastic young man who, although he ridicules her thoughts and desires, can’t seem to ignore her e-mails.

Touro University’s plans to open New Jersey’s first new medical school in many years hit a snag last month when the school failed to win necessary accreditation.

The Liaison Committee on Medical Education met in June to discuss preliminary accreditation for Touro University College of Medicine in the former Pascack Valley Medical Center in Westwood. In a move that will delay the school by at least a year, LCME announced this week that it would not grant accreditation to Touro, which partnered with Hackensack University Medical Center last year in order to create the state’s first private medical school.

Locals provide respite for Israeli youth

Despite several violations by the Palestinians, Israel is holding to a fragile truce that promises the residents of Sderot a reprieve from the almost daily rocket fire they have lived with for eight years.

While people in Sderot begin to remember what life was like before the rockets began, some local groups are providing opportunities for Israeli teenagers affected by the rockets to spend their summer in New Jersey.

"The Star-Spangled Banner," the quintessential patriotic song, hasn’t always been sung in English.

There are versions of it in Spanish, Samoan, Polish, German, Yiddish, and Latin. More than 400 recorded versions in English are listed on www.allmusic.com, including the one Jimi Hendrix made popular in 1970.

The latest version in Spanish, a CD titled "Nuestro Himno" ("Our Anthem"), was released at the end of April 2006 to coincide with pro-immigration reform rallies that were held across the United States on May 1. Forty performers sing on the CD, among them Gloria Trevi, a Madonna-like Mexican singer, and hip-hop star Pitbull.

It touched a raw nerve with conservatives, one of whom even called it the "Illegal Alien Anthem."

Who are those foreign Jews who live among us, who speak with a variety of accents? What did they leave behind, and how do they view the United States?

There are as many reasons to come to this country as there are immigrants, and each is a tale of wandering and faith.

The winner of this year’s Grinspoon-Steinhardt Award for Jewish Education didn’t start out to be a teacher.

In fact, Rabbi Seth Grauer of Bergenfield was studying law at Fordham University at night while working toward his ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary of Yeshiva University.

But to complete a requirement for his ordination, he taught a class at the Ramaz School in Manhattan, from which he graduated in 1996, and he enjoyed it so much that he decided to stay in Jewish education.

"I was more drawn toward teaching, and chose chinuch [Jewish education] and rabanus [the rabbinate] as a career instead of law," he said.

DEMAREST – When Phyllis Klein died of breast cancer in 2002, her husband, Henry, would eagerly have gone to a family bereavement camp with his teenage children — if only one had existed. Three years ago, the borough resident founded one.

"It struck me that there should be programs for people who have lost a family member to cancer — a weekend retreat, a camp," said Klein, who practices law in Englewood with the firm of Klein & Radol.

Klein had already set up Phyl’s Fund, a foundation in his late wife’s memory to promote cancer support groups in the area. But he felt something more was needed, and after tossing around ideas with fellow congregants at Temple Emanu-El in Closter, he started a subsidiary of Phyl’s Fund and called it Hearts of Hope.