Founded in Yonkers in 1904 by Hungarian immigrants, Congregation Ohab Zedek was an offshoot of the Manhattan synagogue of the same name, and had some 1,000 members in its heyday. Nancy Klein tells the story of a mysterious scandal at the shul, and its surprisingly easy resolution.

In 1926, the spiritual leader of Ohab Zedek was the fiery Rabbi Philip Rosenberg. One day, in a battle whose cause I was never able to ascertain, Rabbi Rosenberg opened the holy ark and cursed the congregation. It must have been quite a scene. At that time, the ark stood some three stories over a raised platform before a magnificent stained-glass window.

The congregation was understandably upset. And so they contacted Rabbi Philipp Klein [of] Ohab Zedek in Manhattan, [who] proposed a solution: Philip Rosenberg would take a position at Cleveland’s Knesseth Israel synagogue, and the Yonkers Ohab Zedek would hire his newly ordained son, Rabbi Alexander Rosenberg, in his place. Amazingly, the congregation, the elder Rosenberg, and his son all agreed.

Alexander Rosenberg served the shul from 1926 until his death in 1972. His father remained in Cleveland for the rest of his life.

The synagogue eventually moved to the Riverdale neighborhood the Bronx, where it merged with another congregation. But a plaque hangs at the new location, praising Klein for his intervention in the affair.

On Tuesday, a Hizballah drone attack injured three people in northern Israel. The next day, another attack, targeting an IDF base, injured eighteen people, six of them seriously, in Arab al-Amshe, also in the north. This second attack involved the simultaneous use of drones carrying explosives and guided antitank missiles. In both cases, the defensive systems that performed so successfully last weekend failed to stop the drones and missiles. Ron Ben-Yishai has a straightforward explanation as to why: the Lebanon-backed terrorist group is getting better at evading Israel defenses. He explains the three basis systems used to pilot these unmanned aircraft, and their practical effects:

These systems allow drones to act similarly to fighter jets, using “dead zones”—areas not visible to radar or other optical detection—to approach targets. They fly low initially, then ascend just before crashing and detonating on the target. The terrain of southern Lebanon is particularly conducive to such attacks.

But this requires skills that the terror group has honed over months of fighting against Israel. The latest attacks involved a large drone capable of carrying over 50 kg (110 lbs.) of explosives. The terrorists have likely analyzed Israel’s alert and interception systems, recognizing that shooting down their drones requires early detection to allow sufficient time for launching interceptors.

The IDF tries to detect any incoming drones on its radar, as it had done prior to the war. Despite Hizballah’s learning curve, the IDF’s technological edge offers an advantage. However, the military must recognize that any measure it takes is quickly observed and analyzed, and even the most effective defenses can be incomplete. The terrain near the Lebanon-Israel border continues to pose a challenge, necessitating technological solutions and significant financial investment.