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Summer in and summer out, the fabled sandy beaches and cocktail crowds of Long Island’s East End draw a reliable mix of celebrities, high flyers and city folk escaping the urban grind. 

But in recent years, an increasing number of Jewish families — parents of young children, retirees and a growing crowd of dedicated weekenders of all ages — have been calling the Hamptons home for all four seasons. 

Waving Israeli and U.S. flags and posters of Gilad Shalit, hundreds of Jewish activists on eight ships sailed up the East River to the United Nations on Thursday to call for action on behalf of the Israeli soldier held captive by Hamas for four years.

The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations organized two large passenger boats and several groups joined the flotilla on sailboats and other pleasure craft as it rounded lower Manhattan from the West Side. The flotilla set sail on the eve of the fourth anniversary of Shalit’s capture.

What do you get when you Google “funny jew?” Marvin Silbermintz. More specifically, Marvin showing off a few hilarious inventions of his own devising – a Kiddush fork, a challah-doubler and a special Jewish comb, among others. A prize-winning comedian who wrote Jay Leno’s monologue for 19 years and appeared often as Jay’s Rabbi, Marvin currently does stand-up, lectures, writes and stars in the Chabad telethon (www.FUNNYfromBIRTH.com).

If there is one consensus issue that unites an increasingly frayed American Jewish community — and is also overwhelmingly supported in both Jerusalem and Washington — it is the need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and energy, particularly from Iran and OPEC.

But the gap between recognition of the problem and active efforts to solve it is frustratingly wide, even as the vast oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico dominates the headlines and demands our attention.