Why did Adir Schwartz-Settenbrino choose to celebrate his bar mitzvah in Jerusalem with a cognitively disabled Israeli “twin” he had never met, rather than party with his peers at home?

“The main reason I gave up my bar mitzvah with friends to twin it with a disabled child is because when you have it by yourself, getting all the attention and gifts, [you] feel too self-centered,” explains the Clifton youth, a student at Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy. “I wanted to be able to take what I have the opportunity to do and share it with somebody who wouldn’t have had it otherwise.”

Bzzzzz!

With the press of a buzzer, Tamar Novetsky signaled that she knew the answer to the physics question.

At stake: the honor of Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls, where Novetsky is a senior.

The competition: Creskill High School.

The venue: MSG Varsity’s The Challenge quiz show.

Did Novetsky beat the competition to the buzzer? Did she have the right answer?

Arthur Joseph, a champion of Jewish education and a beloved communal leader, died last Friday at the age of 85.

In 2007 — when Joseph and his wife, Joyce, were honored by Jewish Educational Services (JES) — an article in this newspaper, citing tributes to the couple, noted that when they moved to Teaneck in 1954, little of the current Jewish infrastructure existed in our area.

According to those who knew them best, the Josephs helped create many of the institutions we take for granted today.

The couple served as leaders in the community until a near-fatal car accident in Maryland on the eve of Passover in 2006. Joseph was in a coma for several months. When he revived, it was decided that he and his wife would live near their daughter, Marcy Markowitz, in Potomac, Md. Despite the relocation, the Josephs’ ties to the community remained strong.

The 19-year-old accused of firebomb and arson attacks on two area synagogues pleaded not guilty at his first arraignment in Hackensack Superior Court on Wednesday, while his attorney requested a change of venue outside of Bergen County for the trial.

Authorities arrested 19-year-old Anthony M. Graziano of Lodi late Monday night in connection with attacks on Congregation K’hal Adath Jeshurun of Paramus and Congregation Beth El in Rutherford. Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli elaborated on the events leading to Graziano’s arrest during a press conference Tuesday afternoon in Paramus. Graziano allegedly used gasoline in the Paramus arson and Molotov cocktails in Rutherford. In both cases, Graziano rode his bike to the synagogues.

Authorities do not believe there is a connection between a recent string of anti-Semitic attacks and a batch of anti-Semitic fliers mailed out to synagogue and communal leaders last week. Nevertheless, precautions are being taken, as the North Jersey Jewish community has been on heightened alert since a series of attacks on area synagogues began before Chanukah.

The flier — entitled “Wall Street Jews” and featuring mock-ups of magazine covers featuring distorted pictures of Jewish financiers — was sent out over the last two weeks to a number of area synagogues and institutions, including the Jewish Federation of North Jersey and this paper. Some of the fliers listed Anti-Defamation League (ADL) National Director Abraham Foxman and a New York address on the return label.

The North Jersey Jewish community breathed a sigh of relief earlier this week after the arrest of a suspect in the firebombing and arson of two area synagogues, but communal leaders continued to urge caution and vigilance.

Two weeks ago, the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey (JFNNJ) held a security briefing for Jewish communal leaders. The organization intends to follow up early next month with a series of workshops with Community Security Service, a New York-based organization that trains volunteers for Jewish institutions to guard against and report suspicious activity around their institutions.

It used to be, said Hannah Kehat, that only Orthodox women appreciated the value of Kolech, “the first feminist organization of religious women in Israel.” In recent years, however, women from all sectors of Israeli society are turning to the group for help.

Kehat — who holds a Ph.D. in Jewish philosophy from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem — is one of Israel’s leading experts on the interface between feminism and religion. She founded “Kolech: Religious Women’s Forum” in 1998.

Describing it as a “movement of feminist women in Israel acting against discrimination and the exclusion of women,” she noted that with incidents such as those in Beit Shemesh increasingly in the public eye, the activities of her group are receiving wider attention.

After 40 years, the Reuben Gittelman Hebrew Day School in Rockland County is closing its doors, causing “a lot of sadness” in the community.

“It’s the end of something really special in our county,” said Debbie Roth, vice president of the New City school’s board and the parent of Gittelman alumni.

Headed by Teaneck resident Rabbi Scott Bolton and serving students from a handful of Bergen County families, the school, serving Pre-K through 8th grade, will dissolve at the end of the current school year.

“We’ve had a drop in enrollment over the last few years,” said Roth, noting that changing demographics and widespread economic woes have taken their toll on the school. Parents were informed of the decision on Jan. 10. The board voted for the closure on Jan. 9.