At his bar mitzvah at Cong. Keter Torah in February, Teaneck resident Daniel Raykher announced that he’d use a portion of his gift money to sponsor bar mitzvahs for disadvantaged boys in Israel.

True to his word — and with lots of help from his parents and Bris Avrohom executive director Rabbi Mordechai Kanelsky — Daniel and his family traveled to Israel this summer to join 13 young men at the festive occasion.

JERUSALEM – Deep in a valley below Jerusalem’s Old City, a narrow alleyway leads to the remains of three bulldozed Arab homes in an area slated to become an archeological park.

The homes, now just slabs of collapsed concrete, are in the eastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan. Despite international protests — including from the U.S. secretary of state — the remaining 85 or so houses there, which were built without permits, are to be demolished to make room for a park the city hopes will be a major draw for tourists.

The dispute over the area, together with recent evictions in the Arab neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, are the most recent markers in the battle over Jerusalem. Israel seeks to cement its control over the city in part by altering the demographic character of its eastern, Arab neighborhoods.

JERUSALEM (JTA)—This might be your grandparents’ federation system, but now it should belong to you.

That was essentially the message organizers of this year’s United Jewish Communities General Assembly were hoping to hammer home by programming an entire day aimed at “Next Gen” participants. The effort drew about 800 participants overall.

Tzedakah boxes and thermometers measuring donations adorn the halls of Temple Israel and Jewish Community Center in Ridgewood, reminders of the synagogue’s ongoing campaign to raise money for an orphan of the Rwandan genocide.

The synagogue committed last July to raising $4,500 to sponsor a child in the Agahozo Shalom Youth Village, a joint project of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Rwandan government, and other U.S. and Israeli partners to aid orphans of the 1994 massacre. The village is modeled on the youth villages of Israel set up decades ago for orphans of the Holocaust.

The minaret and the satellite dish offer a sharp contrast between centuries of tradition and belief, and the promise and perils that lie ahead in the Middle East.

Building on that image, Avi Melamed — Jerusalem native, former Israeli intelligence officer, scholar of Middle Eastern studies, and teacher — spoke Tuesday night about the ferment in the region.

In a presentation sponsored by UJA Federation of Northern New Jersey at its offices in Paramus, Melamed spoke of a deep identity crisis in the Arab Muslim world, citing increasing political unrest, the influence of radical Islam, and the tension between Sunnis and Shiites as major factors.

The 40-year-old Glen Rock finalist in Redbook Magazine’s national “Hottest Husband” contest is also one of the only Jews among the 22 lucky guys. A Jewish hottie? Well, his wife certainly thinks so; she’s the one who nominated him.

“I’d like to go on the record that this is extremely embarrassing for me,” Bryan Kule told The Jewish Standard. Nevertheless, he added, “I’m flattered that my wife thought enough of me to put me in there.”

Kule said she told him about the nomination after she was informed that he made the finals.