Recently, I completed the registration process for four of my children in a single school. The collective financial burden we’re expected to carry is simply not realistic. By any standard, it’s not normal. The emotions I felt as this reality set in were complex—and conflicting.
The simcha of Yom Tov doesn’t come from what is in the glass. It comes from the Torah in our arms. From the circles we make. From the joy we bring with our own voices and feet.
The question is simple: do we continue to allow chaos, or do we finally find the backbone to keep Crown Heights clean, respectful, and worthy of the name it carries?
The Op-Ed is right to sound the alarm. What happened on Rosh Hashanah — seats thrown into the street, a Rabbinic table upended, Rabonim ignored while chaos reigned — was intolerable. But responsibility without clear thinking will get us nowhere.
Who is hosting these individuals? We are. Where are they eating? In our homes, or In the lunchrooms of our mosdos. Where are they building their sukkahs? On our school grounds. Where are they sleeping? In trailers on land provided by our community members, and in our own homes.
I asked someone for advice on how to see if she’d want to join a Shabbos meal, and the answer was simple: “Just ask her. What does it hurt?”
I’m a Crown Heights single male pushing 40, and I aspire to be a Frum, Chasidishe person. I recently had a conversation with a non-observant colleague about our mutual dating lives. After describing how dating works in our community, he had an eye-opening observation: “You live on the planet with no women“.
The shocking murder of Charlie Kirk, carried out on ideological grounds, should set off alarm bells for all of us. This kind of violence is not confined to faraway streets. Right here, in 770, we are witnessing the same phenomenon – not in murder, but in raw violence, threats, and intimidation.
When receiving an invitation, the time to share major dietary or lifestyle restrictions is before saying yes — not after.
In today’s competitive business environment, Jewish local businesses often face a difficult choice: hire Jewish workers or opt for less expensive non-Jewish employees for competitive advantage or even employ remote workers. While the latter may seem financially beneficial, it poses significant ethical and communal issues.
A call to stop excusing underage drinking in our schools and homes.
Friends, this is an old problem. My mother A”H, born in 1924, was an 8-year-old orphan who couldn’t abide standing for Kaddish and Yizkor in shul, and being stared at. But there is a simple fix!
As we prepare for the upcoming Simchas Beis Hashoeva, I would like to propose some ideas to improve the event, ensuring it remains respectful, safe, and enjoyable, as befits the Rebbe’s shchuna.
Neighbors, please be on the lookout. The individual in the attached footage was caught on camera stealing a garbage can right here in our neighborhood. Several other residents have also reported missing cans, so it’s very possible this is the same thief making the rounds.
Year after year our community faces a situation at Simchas Beis Hashoeva which troubles us deeply. We get through it, try to forget, and then the following year it hits us even harder.
Jews have always lived in tension with the societies around them. At times welcomed, at times feared, too often scapegoated—history teaches that when things unravel, Jews are often the first to pay the price.
By Berke Chein, a former camper and current father who still remembers what mattered, and what hurt.
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