NYC’s First Kosher Vending Machine & Other Orthodox Jews in the News

A Kosher Meals Vending Machine Comes To Manhattan
In Midtown, where there was once a kosher food desert, there is now a vending machine stocked with fresh Kosher meals. The heckshered contraption is meant to serve the Jews working inside Midtown Manhattan’s 10 W 33rd Street, but folks hankering for a kosher salad and smoothie can slide past security towards the haven of kosher food, delivered from Brooklyn’s Avenue U to the center of modern-day tourism.

Sports Agent Daniel Hazan Responds to LeBron James’ Tweet
LeBron James not getting fined for his “Jewish Money” post was the right call … so says NBA agent Daniel Hazan who is also Jewish.
We got the super agent out Monday night in NYC and had to ask him about LeBron’s XMAS Eve Instagram post that sparked backlash. ICYMI … LeBron posted a pic on IG with the caption “getting that Jewish money” which he THOUGHT was a compliment to Jews. It’s not, so LeBron apologized.

In Northern Brazil, Sephardic Converts Are Giving Dwindling Jewish Communities A New Lease on Life
Since 2015, at least 400 people with Sephardic ancestry have undergone Orthodox conversions to Judaism in northern Brazil – the area where their ancestors first arrived from Europe. In the state of Pernambuco, whose capital is Recife, these individuals established two Jewish congregations that operate their own synagogues and feature holiday events, including Passover seders.

17-Year-Old Long Island Ping Pong Prodigy Hopes To Become An Olympian
Estee Ackerman beat out competitors from all over the nation in table tennis, and she did it while observing a religious fast. The 17-year-old phenom from West Hempstead is one step closer after acing the US Open Table Tennis championships in Las Vegas. She brought home two gold medals in doubles and singles, beating a two-time Olympian. She is now the top women’s hardbat player in America, with sights set on the 2020 summer Olympics.

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