Two simple stories. Two small acts of kindness performed by Orthodox Jews that wouldn’t be newsworthy if we didn’t bother to tell them. The first story happened earlier this week when a man was collecting charity for the wedding fund of a poor bride. The man was going from door to door in the “ultra-Orthodox” neighborhood […]

Sometimes, life comes full circle in the most unexpected ways. The circle in this story began almost thirty years ago at Mt. Sinai hospital in the city where my father was training to become a doctor. While there, my father – a very secular Jew – treated many Satmar Chasidim. He couldn’t stand them, and […]

If a person relied only on recent headlines to judge the Satmar community as a whole – which I’d venture to say that most people do – they’d have a pretty negative view of it. And that’s because those who do daily acts of kindness and possess refined character traits are almost never reported on. That […]

Looking around this room, I am awed by this THING Jew in the City has become. By the enchanted road that brought us here – a modern day Chanukah miracle — and the magical path that we are now embarking on. It is bigger than all of us, and is powered by Something greater than […]