22 Mar Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum’s New York Times Obituary/1979
Read Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum's New York Times Obituary/1979...
04 Mar Williamsburg wasn’t always a haven for Jews…
Can you imagine a Williamsburg without a Jewish congregation?Here's a notice of - almost a rumor - of the formation of a synagogue in Williamsburg in 1852. Williamsburg is described as a "growing town on Long Island"!From The Occident, Elul 5612, September 1852. ...
04 Mar The House of the Prince of Peace once upon a time in Williamsburg
A century ago a Christian Mission to the Jews stood in the heart of Williamsburg. A great sign "The House of the Prince of Peace" stood atop the building, and inside was, among other things, a medical clinic called the Sar Shalom Dispensary.It was founded by Leopold Cohn, a Hungarian apostate, who founded a ministry to the Jews called the...
16 Jun Routine Announcement to Tenants in Yiddish
h/t Williamsburg News on Twitter...
06 Jun Roses are Red; Shovues is Green
Pre-Shovues shopping days in Williamsburg: Video captures a custom unique to Shovues and it isn't about creamy cheesecakes. To local florists in Hasidic Williamsbrug, business this week is busy. Very busy. The Shovues holiday substitutes for lost opportunities on Valentine's Day and Mother's Day, two holidays Hasidim generally don't celebrate. In the days leading up to Shovues, families and acquaintances will exchange...
06 Jul How to pronounce Hasidic
just came across this line in an email correspondence: "life of an Hassidic woman." Because of the an before the word Hassidic, we think that Hassidic is pronounced with a silent H, as if it was acidic. Our sentence reads "life of an Acidic woman." No, that is not good. Grievous error. Hasidic is actually CHasidic, with a strong guttural CH in the beginning. Because the guttural CH does not exist in English, we drop...
12 Jun Hasidic EMS treating Jehovah’s Witness
Since I wrote about the church in Kiryas Joel yesterday, a number of people shared with me their memories of the time when the peaceful, insular world of Kiryas Joel was overwhelmed by the mass influx of Jehovah’s Witnesses who came to the church on Mountain Road. It was an unforgettable sight when the buses poured in and the Hasidim...
30 May Artistic Illustration of Hasidim and Hipsters
Photo: Free Williamsburg magazine This is from the Free Williamsburg magazine's October 2010 edition. It is a illustration of Williamsburg's colorful and contrasting population of hipsters and Hasidim. The hipster frog is riding a bike, the lion has his headphones on while his hair is grown in long - channeling some rock music personality, the cow has a lot of tattoos, the...
25 May Anecdote from a Visitor
A visitor in Williamsburg told me today: I once stumbled upon the Hasidic community - I think it was Williamsburg - when I mistakenly got off the train at the wrong stop. It was shabbes, but I needed to get to my location, so I used my phone;s GPS. So I'm walking the streets and looking at my phone and following...
23 May First Person Female Account of Hasidic Williamsburg
A really interesting first person account of Hasidic Williamsburg, seemingly written by Deborah Feldman (nee Berkovic,) author of NYT Bestselling book Unorthodox. It is a description from an insider’s perspective, although the writing is a better reflection of the style of writing among high school students than of a reliable personal opinion. Thank you to the former classmate for sharing! Here’s the text: "I know...
