Don’t judge a book by its cover, or in this case, don’t judge wealth by appearances. A homeless Jewish Holocaust survivor living in New York died last year and had amassed nearly $300,000 in savings. She bequeathed over a third of it to Hebrew University in Jerusalem to endow medical research. It is unclear how or why the woman saved the money while living on the streets. (Associated Press)

For years, Orthodox Jews living in high-rise apartment buildings have used socalled “Shabbat elevators,” which automatically stop at every floor, to circumvent the prohibition of using electricity on the day of rest. However, an expert on Jewish law, Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, 99, recently ruled that such elevators are against Jewish law because the extra weight each person adds requires more energy. After a public outcry, Rabbi Elyashiv is expected to grant exemptions to the elderly, ill and pregnant women. (Associated Press/Ynet)

For a group of kabbalah rabbis in Israel, getting swine flu vaccines just wouldn’t cut it. In August, they charted a plan around the Holy Land, reciting prayers and blowing the shofar in an effort to stop the spread of the flu. (Ynet/JTA)

In what is truly an only-in-America moment, a group of Amish families from Pennsylvania were taken on a walking tour of a Hasidic neighborhood in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights area. The groups have much in common: their shunning of modern culture, their traditional dress, and their German dialects -Yiddish and Pennsylvania Dutch. (Associated Press)

There’s a new item for sale in religious bookstores in Israel: “kosher” comic books. The books, gaining popularity among the religious youth, depict scenes from
the Bible and Jewish history. (AFP/Ynet)

Who says Jews can’t put up a fight? In November, Brooklyn-based boxer and rabbinical student Yuri Foreman won the World Boxing Association’s Super Welterweight Championship. Foreman observed Shabbat the day before the match that Israeli politicians and diplomats flew in to watch. (JTA/New York Times)

There are many groups of Americans visiting Israel these days, but how many groups have an average age of 86? A group of octogenarians from an Ohio retirement home recently visited Israel, and for many it was their first time in the Holy Land. The group of nine residents was accompanied by 13 assistants, including a nurse to handle all the medications. (JTA)