Eight Israeli combat soldiers sleep cramped together in a broken, hot trailer near the dangerous west bank enclave of Kalkilyah.

A group of Golani soldiers guard the northern border on frigid nights, with nothing but uncomfortable army-issued insulated jumpsuits to keep them warm.

An Ethiopian soldier lives a three-room apartment with her family of 11. She has no bed, let alone a bedroom. By day, she participates in tank exercises at a base for emotionally handicapped soldiers.

The Beth Israel Worship Center looks like any synagogue under construction. Its few hundred members meet in a temporary sanctuary where an ark holding a Torah sits near a podium in front of a giant flag with a Star of David draped on the wall.

But here’s a major difference: While many of the congregants claim to be Jews, the liturgy focuses on Jesus as savior. Beth Israel is a messianic congregation that recently opened its doors in Wayne, and the Jewish community has sought to educate itself against a possible missionary onslaught. Messianism has been condemned by Jewish clergy and leaders as a cloak for Christian missionizing.

A large group of rabbis spanning Judaism’s religious movements claims to have an answer to the vexing question of how to send China an Olympic-sized message without harming the interests of athletes or Israel.

In an appeal issued April 30 and timed for the commemoration of Yom HaShoah, 185 Jewish leaders — mostly clergy, and some with ties to this area — appealed to Jews not to attend the Beijing Olympics this summer as tourists.

The next day, the Anti-Defamation League rejected the boycott call and said comparisons the clergy statement made to the 1936 Berlin Olympics were inappropriate. This week, the leadership of three major Orthodox organizations released word of their opposition to the move as well.

While Yom HaShoah, established by an act of the Israeli Knesset in 1951 and observed on the 27th of Nisan, is widely observed by Jews throughout the world, not everyone agrees that the choice of date was a wise one.

A brief history: When the Knesset designated a Holocaust memorial day (formally, Yom HaShoah Ve’ HaGevurah, Remembrance Day for the Holocaust and Heroism), it disregarded the decision of Israel’s Chief Rabbinate that the Tenth of Tevet, which marks the beginning of the ancient siege of Jerusalem, should be the national remembrance day for victims of the Holocaust. The rabbis had also suggested that Tisha B’Av, the day of mourning for the destruction of the First and Second Temples, was an appropriate day to commemorate the Shoah.

Holocaust commemorations, large and small, drew thousands of participants — including survivors and their families — to synagogues throughout the region. Several of the larger gatherings were held in Teaneck, Englewood, River Edge, and Manhattan.

Hundreds of men, women, and children packed Teaneck High School for the annual Yom HaShoah commemoration sponsored by Teaneck’s Jewish Community Council.

Cantor Ellen Tilem led the Temple Emeth choir in Hatikvah, The Star Spangled Banner, and "Blessing," by Sam Glazer. Mayor Eli Katz then presented a proclamation signed by Gov. Corzine.