“Moshiach is Coming”

19Dec09

There is a young Hasidic Jewish man who weaves frenetically through the pedestrians on Broadway in the Garment District—I see him usually after 6 p.m.—with a stack of used paperback books forming a pilaster on his chest between his clenched hands at his waist and his neck.
He swivels his head from side to side, looking [...]

Filed under: Judaism, joy, midtown Manhattan   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: Hasidism

Feeding time

23Apr08

The Central Park Zoo yesterday was packed with families, like our own, who had small children off from school for the week.  The Hassidic families were out in their sartorial splendor, this being Passover week, the men in long black silk coats and robes and women dressed in sensible skirt suits, their children often dressed [...]

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Mrs. Spaghetti

21Mar08

Susie Scott was my pre-school girlfriend.  Except in the 1960s it was called “nursery school.”
This is her real name, since there is nothing in this post but admiration for her and because there are many Susie Scotts out there:  I Googled her, and – believe me – her anonymity is secure.
Susie and I attended Park Avenue [...]

Filed under: Buckley, Judaism, Park Avenue Christian, Trinity School, Upper East Side   |  Leave a Comment

Round trip to Alpha Centauri

01Oct07

China Fun’s fortune cookie’s fortune said, “Today brings out the performer and humanitarian in you.”  I doubt the first, and my success in relating that fact to you will determine the second.
Between getting up at 4:45 a.m. today to catch the 6:29 train from Boston’s Route 128 station to NYC for my third week at [...]

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נְשָׁמָה

13Aug07

There was a time when, as a five-year-old, I would make mud pies in Central Park for the two old Jewish men who used to sit on the rotting green park bench and kvetch and feed the pigeons with dried bread crumbs, and I made one once with pieces of colored glass sticking out of [...]

Filed under: Central Park, Fire Island, Friends, Jesus, Judaism, Manhattan, Massachusetts, Nevski Prospekt, Point O' Woods, Upper East Side, children, family, parenting, prom, surfing   |  2 Comments