Chanukah is a time of revolution. At the first Chanukah, the Maccabees led a revolution to preserve Judaism against the Hellenists. Then, hundreds of years later, on Shabbat Chanukah of 1915, a poor Hasidic woman started a new revolution to preserve Judaism. This revolution would spark one of the greatest innovations in Jewish life. Her story […]
Too often, Hasidic Jews are depicted in the media as two-dimensional characters, lacking humanity, nuance, or individuality. Here’s a glimpse of a side you may not have seen. See more out-of-the-box Hasidim here.
You’ve heard of The Three Tenors, but have you heard of The Three Cantors? Yanky Lemmer, one of the three, was born and bred in Borough Park as a Belzer Hasid. After yeshiva, Lemmer went to Israel and was paired with a kollel student to learn for an hour a day. Lemmer’s chavrusa, Elimelech, invited him […]
Far too often the hasidic community is painted with a broad brush by the media, lacking nuance or showing the humanity of its inhabitants. Paula Eiselt’s documentary 93Queen does the exact opposite. It offers an up close and personal perspective of an ostensibly different world, yet one driven by human beings, struggling to make positive changes […]
Menachem Bombach may be the first person to have grown up in Meah Shearim and gone viral. A video of the midrasha he founded, the Hasidic Midrasha Torah Academy, featuring hasidic students hiking and learning math and science was shared by Israeli politician Dov Lipman a couple months ago and was an instant internet hit. Both the […]
While Hasidic women are commonly seen pushing children filled strollers, some of them, like Chumi Borenstein, push themselves to great heights on bikes to help sick children in need. Bike 4 Chai, perhaps the biggest biking fundraiser in the Tri-State Area, is taking place today and tomorrow, raising millions of dollars and increased awareness for […]
