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On the upstate map, there are places such as Gilboa and Bethel, named by Christians for whom the Catskills scenery was reminiscent of the Holy Land. In a valley next to State Route 28 is the village of Fleischmanns, named for a Jewish industrialist who pioneered Jewish settlement in these mountains. Knowing little about its history, I only knew it as a spot on the map and, on my recent family vacation, curiously departed from the main road to drive through it.

The future of the country rested not only on Michigan and Pennsylvania, but also congressional districts where polls could only predict a tossup. New York’s Fourth District on the south side of Nassau County was one such example. While Donald Trump carried the majority of Long Island’s vote, in this district his party’s incumbent Rep. Anthony D’Esposito lost to Democrat Laura Gillen by 1.7 percent. Truly every vote mattered.

Among the shuls where readers can find the international HaMizrachi magazine of the Religious Zionism movement is the Young Israel of West Hempstead, whose members are closely following Israel’s war against Hamas. Last Sunday, one of the voices in this movement, Rabbi Moshe Taragin, spoke at the shul to introduce the documentary Serving on All Fronts, on the participation of Yeshivat Har Etzion and Migdal Oz students in this war.

For over three hours on Monday, members of the New York City Council questioned CUNY chancellor Felix Matos-Rodriguez on the uptick in anti-Semitic incidents in the country’s largest public urban university.

In the course of this year’s presidential election, as was the case in the past two elections, hyperbolic and patently false statements shared by Donald Trump receive their 15 minutes of coverage but without any harm to his poll numbers. These stories fade away and then another story emerges.

The evening following Shabbos VaYeitzei was scheduled for a melaveh malkah at the Hebrew Academy of Nassau County, the yeshivah in West Hempstead. Unknown to the faculty, parents, and students was the news that its founder, Rabbi Meyer Fendel, 94, died in Jerusalem. Upon learning of his passing, Rabbi Ouriel Hazan, the principal of HANC, expressed pride in the founder’s determination to create a yeshivah in West Hempstead, which made the community a magnet for Orthodox families.