The Holocaust, whose memory usually serves as an honored shared point for the Jewish community, sometimes is a point of contention for haredi Jews, who say they feel excluded from mainstream histories of the period. Those histories, and exhibits in Yad Vashem, emphasize the exploits of secular partisans and pay less attention to religious Jews who resisted the Nazis by studying Torah in ghettoes and keeping the commandments in death camps.

Jews around the tri-state area will clear store shelves of kosher-for-Passover goods over the next week — if there are any still left. From matzah to macaroons, supermarkets are offering a wide array of goods for the weeklong holiday, which is why A&P Supermarkets — and its banner stores Pathmark, Waldbaum’s and Food Emporium — are eager to reach this market. To that end they recently hired Barry Eizik to fill a newly created role as kosher category manager, and work to expand and improve the chain’s kosher offerings.