Last Tu Bishvat, Jew in the City was thrilled to introduce our readers and radio show listeners to Leshomra, an Israeli organization dedicated to teaching Haredi children about loving nature and increasing environmental awareness. Their work is so crucial as there are too many members of the Orthodox Jewish world who regularly litter and have not embodied […]

In 2013, a Hasidic filmmaker took the world by storm with her critically acclaimed feature length film, Fill the Void. It was distributed by Sony Pictures and premiered at the Venice Film Festival. Its writer-director, Rama Burstein, is a hasidic baalas teshuva, whose newest effort, The Wedding Plan, comes out this weekend (it opens May 12 in […]

Though he may be the only hasid in the world to boast bleached-blond peyos, singing at the White House and appearing in a Pepsi commercial, Lipa Schmeltzer  (also known as “The Jewish Elvis,” and “The Lady Gaga of Hasidic Music”) had a rather typical hasidic upbringing in terms of religion. Emotionally, there were challenges. Growing up […]

  Sarah Dukes, a 33-year-old mother of five from Crown Heights, is the first Hasidic woman to be on the Grammy® ballot. She is currently on the ballot (as a potential nominee) for best New Age Instrumental Album for the 59th annual Grammy® Awards. Born and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina, Dukes started weekly piano […]

Military food rations generally don’t include kugel and matza balls, but when a group of uniformed U.S. Army and Israeli soldiers came in for an early dinner last week at Gottlieb’s Restaurant in Williamsburg (Satmar-owned for three generations) that’s exactly what they got. Gottlieb’s is a neighborhood fixture, known for their heimishe cuisine and popular for Shabbos […]

When Hasidic men on airplanes are in the news, it’s generally not for a good reason. But what about all the polite and positive interactions that go on everyday, unreported? Or the heroic ones, like what happened on a flight this week from Tel Aviv to JFK, when two Satmar Hasidic men saved the day? […]