The last synagogue in West New York turns 100 next week.

Congregation Shaare Zedek continues to hold Shabbat services, although attendance has dwindled to just over a minyan.

The small, square-mile town now has nearly 50,000 residents — more than twice as many as in 1912.

While the town has grown, however, the Jewish population has mostly moved out.

Daniel Kaminsky lives in Oradell, but he has assumed — inherited? — responsibility for keeping the synagogue afloat.

The mass rally of charedim at Citi Field last Sunday addressed what members of that community consider the evils of the internet and electronic devices. According to experts at an April 29 program held at Teaneck’s Congregation Keter Torah, the Internet and electronic devices can be a source of addictive behaviors that can have damaging effects on youth and adults alike.

Rabbi Yale Butler, who directs the department of community programming of Lander College, introduced a panel of three professors from Lander (part of the Touro College and University system) to discuss the topic of “Addictive Behaviors Among Our Young: Internet, Gambling, Drinking, Eating, Shopping & Texting.” Butler noted that “young people spend an inordinate amount of time unsupervised on the Internet. It’s an addictive factor in people’s lives.” The Teaneck resident added that texting and shopping are other examples of issues that can reach the level of addiction, and that have begun to plague the religious community.

The story of how the Dalai Lama encountered the Jewish community in 1990 is well known.

Less known is how the Ashkenazi Jewish community first encountered the Dalai Lama — in a Hebrew-language book published in Europe in 1804, compiled from travelers accounts in English and French.

“Jews then were not as sheltered as we think of them,” says Alan Brill, who quotes from the book, “Meorot Zvi,” in his own book, “Judaism and World Religions: Encountering Christianity, Islam, and Eastern Traditions,” just published by Palgrave Macmillan.

Teaching the importance of Islamic sources in the works of great Jewish thinkers can create an awareness of the possibilities of encounter. This educational process would be an internal Jewish endeavor and could carry important implications. First and foremost, if Jews are taught about the prior integration of the two faiths then there would be greater clarity that the political war between Arabs and Jews is not a faith war. It could promote an understanding that Islam and Judaism can coexist.

Jews were comfortable enough with Islam that many aspects of medieval Jewish culture were articulated, defined, and systematized under Islam. Knowledge of Arabic linguistics allowed Jews to refine Hebrew as a sister language. Jews followed Arabic and Persian models of poetry, and Jewish law was influenced by Islamic courts and Islamic jurisprudence.

A remarkable indication of the depth of this penetration of Arabic language and culture is the adoption of Islamic terminology to designate even the most sacred notions of the Jewish faith, a fact which has practically no parallel among Ashkenazi Jewry prior to the modern era. For example, the Hebrew Bible would be referred to as the Koran, the halakhah as the shari’a, and Moses as rasul Allah “‘the Apostle of Allah’.”

JERUSALEM – Israel’s security technologies were on display as the country hosted two separate international contingents.

THE 41st ICPO-INTERPOL European Regional Conference brought 110 senior law enforcement officers from 49 countries to Tel Aviv, while a homeland security conference drew 37 mayors from two dozen worldwide cities to sites throughout Israel last week. ICPO-INTERPOL stands for International Criminal Police Organization. “INTERPOL” is a contraction of “international police.”

“Israel has been forced to overcome difficult circumstances, including war and terror, in order to survive,” said Alfred Vanderpuije, mayor of the Ghana capital of Accra, following a visit to Elbit Systems, a defense electronics company based in Haifa. “And this has put the Israelis in a unique situation to develop security technologies.”

Dozens of teachers from New Jersey and New York gathered at Congregation Ahavat Torah in Englewood a week ago Thursday to learn about “Rescue as Resistance.” Presenting was Dr. Eva Fogelman, co-director of Child Development Research (CDR) and a Pulitzer Prize nominee for her book on rescuers, “Conscience and Courage.” Also presenting was Dr. Mordechai Paldiel, former director of the Department of the Righteous at Yad Vashem. Paldiel spoke about Jews who rescued Jews, with special mention of the Orthodox rabbi, Michoel Ber Weissmandl.

The conference, sponsored by CDR, an umbrella organization for a number of projects involving child survivors of organized persecution, was made possible with the cooperation of Dr. Paul B. Winkler, executive director of the State of New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education. Winkler spoke to the teachers about bullying in schools and “the three H’s.”

Five years ago, the inaugural Cycling for Peace group bike ride that was launched by the municipality of Acre (Acco) was dedicated to then-captive soldier Gilad Shalit. This year, organizers were excited to have Shalit leading the pack of about 500 cyclists on a 36-kilometer ride from the Shalit home to the multicultural seaside town of Acre, in northern Israel.

About 150 Arab-Israeli citizens joined the May 4 ride — the biggest turnout to date — showing that at least the wheels of peaceful intentions are rolling in some Arab and Jewish communities.