The biggest problem I have with yesterday’s events is that I’m not surprised. I have watched over the years as the Chassidic movement has shrunk from it’s holy stature in my mind, to a bunch of zealots who place more…
Tag: chassidim
The butler did it with the havdallah candle in the beis medrish
Actually the Skverer Rebbe’s butler did it with an incendiary device and a container of gasoline on someone’s porch, but nevertheless this is the worst case of shul politics I’ve ever seen. San Jose even has a failed breakaway minyan…
Chassidic newpaper Der Zeiting: “Hilary Clinton too sexy for publication”
It has happened dozens of times before, but never has it reached such a huge audience. I am talking about the infamous photo-shopping of the very untznius picture of Hilary Clinton watching the Osama Bin Laden raid. In statement released…
10 perks of being in an arranged marriage
I always find it super cool when I realize that chassidim are reading my blog, I know they are because it’s quite rare for me to walk around Williamsburg or New Square without being recognized, but I don’t think I…
Vizhnitzer Rebbe bans contact lenses
The article reads like satire, but unfortunately it is not… Rabbi, how do you like my glasses? Vizhnitz Hasidism decides spectacles must meet modesty rules too. Yeshiva students urged to give up on metal glasses andcontact lenses. Ari Galahar •…
Have religious differences torn your family apart?
Religion is one of those things that can tear people apart or bring them closer, it’s a wild animal that knows some taming, but much of the tame it runs around and we really don’t know what to do with…
Words cannot describe this
Thanks goes to Jack for sending this hilarious shot! I have decided to take it down because none of my chassidic rebel sources can confirm that the person is off the derech and out of the closet or just seriously…
If you saw your best friend getting raped, what would you do?
The answer seems pretty obvious, but in Hush (reviewed last week by Eliyahu Fink, because I hadn’t gotten my copy yet) it is anything but. Hush is the memoir-novel written for young adults about two best friends who grow up…
Dvar Torah Vayeshev II: Teeth, legs and Yahoo.com
In apology for my somewhat lame Vayeshev Dvar Torah, I’d like to provide an explanation: I had been suddenly worried that my original post was too racy (get that) and at the last minute, I substituted a quickly- but perhaps…
Skverer Rebbe’s estate auctioned off on eBay
With the success of last week’s eBay auction of the Skverer Rebbe’s matzo, many in the community have expressed hope that other items owned and used by the Skverer Rebbe can get a pretty penny at auction to help raise…
Hush – Book Review
My copy hasn’t come from the publisher yet, so here is Eliyahu Fink‘s review of Hush. This is a review of the book Hush by Eishes Chayil (pseudonym). I paid for the book and received no compensation for this review.…
Proof that orthodox Jews in the shtetl were smarter than today
I have proof that the frum Jews of yore were smarter than they are today, of course my proof is faulty, because things were different back then. Back then, there was no internet or secular society to pollute the minds…
Woodbourne: Fond memories of chassidic hitchhikers and frummy rebels
Over the years I have written a lot about the Catskills phenomina, this is the first post I ever wrote on the subject and it was originally posted on June 25, 2006. I am grinding up a steady hill under…
Chassidic groups decide to kick out non-Chassidish sounding members
Many people are shocked at a group of Chassidic communities in the New York metropolitan area that has decided to pass a proclamation that will attempt to rid the communities of American sounding members. The law, which allows Chassidic men…
Why do Chassidic women shave their heads?
Whenever people begin to talk about hair covering post marriage, the conversation always ends up in chassidish territory and someone is always wondering why they shave their heads if they are covering them anyway. Interesting enough, no one ever wonders…
Stuff Chassidim Like
This post was going originally going to be Stuff Charedim Like. Miss Frum n’ Flippin convinced me that Charedim and Chassidim are two very different animals – I knew this and decided to change the article to plain old Chassidim.…
Stuff Chabad Likes
Most of you realize I love Chabad. It’s not just the beautiful girls, good food and free places to stay – I love their passion, their skill and their ability to be both modern and traditional. Before all of you…
I love chabad
There I said it, and I think the hate is crap, so they believe the rebbe is moshiach and they have the cult thing going on. I am pretty sure that if other Chassidic groups had as much public attention…
Unpious Blog: Chassidic Rebels with a cause
If you take a tour around the Jewish Blogging world you will find countless blogs written by the chassidic fringe about their experience of being stuck in a Charedi world while they are non-believers. There are some great sites out…
San Francisco is gay
I have come to realize that the gay community at large is a curiosity to me. No, I am not gay nor do I have any interest in being gay, but just like the Chassidic community intrigues me so does…
Why I think chassidim are cool
Just because we love to hate on Chassidim doesn’t mean there can’t be a little loving once in a while. It seems that most of the negativity many non-Chassidic orthodox Jews feel for Chassidim comes from the media itself and…
I love my mechanic
Unlike most men who peer longingly under the hood at what makes their cars move, I kind of know what I’m looking at, I can pick out the engine, the air intake, alternator and radiator, but like most men I…
The first Peyos transplant
This was sent to me by Rabbi Eliyahu Fink, who told me that the person who did this is a Chassidic artist, who wants to be known simply as Skvetch…
Elke Reva Sudin illustrator extraordinaire
I met Elke Reva Sudin while spending shabbos in the East Village a few shabbosim ago, she told me she was an illustrator and naturally as a guy who grew up frum I had no idea what this actually was
Am I the only one who finds group mikvahs disgusting?
Just because its the thing to do, I went to the Ari’s Mikvah in Tzfat on Friday. This was the first time I was naked in a room full of men, I have been to many JCC locker rooms in…