A typical day for Harvey the dog begins when he steps outside his Eastern Parkway home for his morning walk with his owner, Dale Kaplan. The two may vary their route, ambling down Crown Heights’ main drag, Kingston Avenue, detouring to a side street or taking the longer stroll to Brower Park. But wherever they go, droves of chasidic children appear.
Meet Harvey, Crown Heights’ Most Popular Canine
A typical day for Harvey the dog begins when he steps outside his Eastern Parkway home for his morning walk with his owner, Dale Kaplan. The two may vary their route, ambling down Crown Heights’ main drag, Kingston Avenue, detouring to a side street or taking the longer stroll to Brower Park. But wherever they go, droves of chasidic children appear.
On their way to their various yeshivas, the kids stop to take a moment for Harvey, who also answers to “Heshey,” “Heshele” and “Cha-Chi.” They will coo to him, shout to him or eagerly or hesitatingly pet him. A few will kiss him, full on Harvey’s dog lips.
Harvey and Kaplan pause to accept the tributes, Kaplan going slack on the leash, Harvey simply standing in place or stretching out comfortably on the sidewalk. If his small human friends are particularly rambunctious, Harvey will get obligingly frisky — barking, jumping on the kids’ shoulders, even wrestling with the spryer boys.
The scene repeats on the afternoon walk, when the Lubavitcher children are on their way home from school. The results are the same — the shouting, the stroking, the occasional smooching, as well as, frequently, the mom chiding, “Very nice. Now go home and wash your hands.”
The scenes are beguiling, as kid-loves-dog encounters always are. But then the spectator senses something more, a little different. Harvey’s admirers, at least compared to kids in other city settings, seem a little too plentiful, a little too avid. It’s as if they’ve never touched a dog before, which in fact many, if not most of them, haven’t.
At least a dog like Harvey.
“He’s the only dog on Kingston Avenue,” Kaplan relates, “He’s a big fish in a small pond. People respond to him with either love or terror.”
But, she adds, Harvey is truly one of a kind.
“He’s funny. He’s super-affectionate. I’ve never seen a dog like Harvey.”
He has even become the guest of honor at local birthday parties and at-home Shabbos dinners.
In less than a year, Harvey has become Crown Heights’ unofficial mascot.
Dogs are an uncommon sight in all of New York’s Orthodox neighborhoods. Not so in this dog’s previous home, Park Slope, where Harvey was just another mutt on the street.
Seeking a lower rent, Kaplan and Harvey found their present den last spring.
Referring to the spirit of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the late Lubavitcher rebbe, Kaplan, who though not Orthodox attends Chabad services and classes in Crown Heights, says, “I really can’t help feeling that the rebbe somehow played a part in bringing us here.”
Indeed there is something a little otherworldly in Harvey’s story, going back to his puppyhood. Animal rescue workers who were offering the very young Harvey for adoption at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge on the morning of 9/11 told Kaplan of how he licked the dust off the faces of refugees from the attacks on the Twin Towers as they made their way across the bridge.
“Harvey was a 9/11 therapy dog,” says Kaplan. Days later, recognizing a dog who stood apart from the pack, she took Harvey home from the animal shelter.
Harvey adapted slowly to his new surroundings, wailing nonstop and devouring chunks from Kaplan’s furniture and clothes.
“He was totally insane,” Kaplan says. His first true night of serenity came on Yom Kippur.
“It was like he knew,” muses Kaplan.
Menucha Soble, an early childhood therapist and Crown Heights native, sees a salutary effect in Harvey’s encounters with children. “Harvey can have a very beneficial calming effect on the kids,” she says. “He can help them overcome their fear of dogs and animals in general.”
Whatever lasting gifts Harvey bestows on local children, he certainly leaves them happy.
“I’d love to have a dog,” says 9-year-old Simcha Leah. “And two horses.”
The siblings Strauss, old friends, descend on Harvey, who gets a moment off the leash. Their attention to Harvey is as much a competition as a gesture of collective devotion.
“I love Harvey the most,” proclaims 7-year-old Dovey, wrapping arms around his object’s soft middle.
“No, I love him more,” counters Tzvi Yehuda, 9, and moves to prove it. Tzvi is an unabashed dog kisser, and Harvey reciprocates with quick, broad licks along Tzvi Yehuda’s face.
Eight-year-old Schneur picks up the leash and leads Harvey on a short sprint a few yards down the street and back again.
“Harvey is the king of the community,” he pronounces. “He’s the king of the world.”
Chavi Strauss, the children’s mom, notes that the gulf between Orthodox Jews and dogs isn’t always the rule outside New York.
“I grew up ‘black hat’ frum in Miami and Denver,” she says, “and we always had dogs.”
Her husband, she adds, grew up in Seattle and had a dog.
“Around here,” she says, “people think dogs are unclean.”
Swinging down Lincoln Terrace, on the West Indian side of Eastern Parkway, Dale and Harvey run into 14-year-old Yojany, who crouches to bestow a tender frisking on the dog.
“He’s just so much nicer and friendlier than the other dogs,” Yojany says.
A bridge between the races in a 50-pound package, Harvey occasionally draws both Jewish and black Crown Heights kids for impromptu petting sprees.
After the kids, Harvey’s keenest fans are the alms seekers clustered on benches in front of 770 Eastern Parkway, the headquarters of the Lubavitcher movement. He nestles his muzzle into the lap of Miles Rappaport.
“He’s like a human, not like a dog,” says Rappaport, gratefully stroking Harvey’s fur.
Back on Kingston Avenue, Harvey barks as he passes a bakery. Reading her cue, Kaplan ducks inside and returns with a cheese danish, Harvey’s favorite, which he promptly wolfs down.
“That’s a lovely dog.”
The compliment issues from a clean-shaved middle-aged man, in a non-chasidic coat and hat, sitting on the bench outside Sweet Expressions, a kosher candy store. He introduces himself as A. Engler Anderson, an editor at the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent visiting Crown Heights.
Treating the supplicating Harvey to a thorough petting, he says, “The Lubavitch don’t know dogs. And what you don’t know you fear. The idea that dogs are unclean animals is more stressed here. It’s mystically based.”
R.W.
I think Harvey should run for a seat on the community coucil.
Rebbetzen
you are tomay
wash negel vasser
Akiva
Emes
What a good boy.
Hey Rebbetzen,
We’re all Tomay. Build the Beis HaMikdash.
Don’t tell Blueberry about this article, she’ll get jealous, she thought SHE was the most popular dog in Crown Heights.
dog
theres another dog down my block he lives next to the JCM
ZidYid
Im waiting for all the “Concerned Crown Heights Mother(s)” and self righteous commenters to begin their…
“Assur” “Not Around My Kids” “Why is this news” “A hoont?! Oy gevalt not in my schuna!!!”
thank you for listening
hi my mother was from the alte heim, she always said you are not allowed to touch a cat or a dog.
confused!
why do we care about a dog?
what is this article doing on CH.info?
Kelev Tov
Unbelievable silly ridiculous nonsense fearful myths about dogs being expressed here. Really sad that so many Lubavitchers buy into that nonsense.
Dogs contribute to our health and well-being immensely. They are, in many ways, good for us. Frankly, time spent with my dog outside in a park connects me with HaShem more than spending the same time rushing through my davening being pushed and shoved at 770.
Hooray for Harvey – perhaps he can help rid our community of its unfounded fear of dogs.
some perspective
You have to realize that many jews who came from Eastern Europe to settle in Brooklyn came from poor backgrounds or had difficult war related living conditions for many years, where people barely had enough to eat, never mind having a pet around too. Also, for some people , dogs were associated with nazis, KGB, police etc. so they were instinctively afraid of dogs when they came here. Two or three generations later, the American grandkids can have some fun with “mans best friend”
yanover
the rebbetzin had a dog.
a litvak hoont
think hes a gilgl of a misnagid
Nice to see you all
Hi to the Strausses
the reason we don-t have dogs as pets
is because they are treife animals and as such have certain tumah
not because we think that they are dirty
Chaim Tovim
Come to Jerusalem and you can pet our Great Dane
I LOVE DOGS!
lovely ! :))
remind
Remind your children to be aware not to play wild or tease the dog (any animal) as they can bite strangers.
enjoy the dog from a distance
noach
The reality is that a cat and dog and horse and donkey ARE tamay. see Tanya chapter 7 it explains it all.
This is why you’L see the poilishe chassidim take their children to petting zoos where the animals are Tohor, for example a shepsele, a tzigele, and a katchkele. But not a hoont! nor a ketzale or a ferd.
And if you think the Torah is being unfair by not treating all animals with equal rights, FYI the only animal you’r permitted to feed on shabbos is – the stray dog.
And on the topic of Animals in Crown Heights, there is a little known Pet shop right here in the neighborhood, right next to the Museum
Besides, the neighborhood was a always a zoo anyway….
Shoshana
My Irish Non-Jewish neighbors dog bit me. I was bleeding. I did not tell the owner.
yitzchok crawford
Nice story. I am a dog lover and former crown heights resident and dog owner. I think this is a very heartwarming story. I am so happy c”h kids are learning to love and be kind to animals and not to fear or chas vsholom be cruel to them. zid yid unfortunately there are a lot of ignorant morons out there. iyh you will teach ur kids good midos of how to treat animals and people correctly. lol to your comment.
TO #8
I LOVE YOU!!!!!
@ #13
i know few ppl IN CH “they are treife animals and as such have certain tumah”!!
I LOVE DOGS!!! :)))))) A dog is a man’s best friend.Period.
Sam
My neighbor is a Dog!
T0#17
Not correct, they are NOT tomay. The Alter Rebbe states you should wash your hands for cleanliness and states clearly in the Shulchan Aruch that they are NOT tomay. How do you think all the Avos, Tanaiim, Rebbeim traveled. The Mitteler Rebbe, and the Tzemach Tzedek were expert horse riders, and the Mitteler Rebbe even had a group of special horsemen that performed for everyone. The Rebbe even told a Chassid to train horses. We all know the story about the ‘Baal HaAgalah’, the Rav that the Alter Rebbe told to work with horses. Not correct, they are NOT tomay.
to#8
to #8
I need to meet you!!!!!!
You are the first smart person I see in this community.
to #10
the Rebbetzin’s dog was not a pet. it was there for protection.
To comment 23
Can you not see a difference between a dog and a horse? In TaNaCh you can find quotes where calling someone a dog is a curse! And nowadays too, as comment 22 wrote (sadly)!
combat veteran leslie
dogs are Hashem creatures, i personally have a service dog which helps me with my various disabilities i incurred during my deployment to afganistan as a frum yid. we have bigger issues in our community than dogs/pets. what about how our boys and girls dress and talk. being a mentch and tzinus is more important issue to fix in our hearts and neshamas.
Fe!
Palestiniens are also Hashem’s creatures
Also, Leslie, animal lovers were always human haters. They take innocent victems like you and your angel that assists you to promote their cause of treating humans as if we were rats.
Those who have respect for humans have the utmost respect for you and your little helper. But unfortunatly it is the very animal lovers who don’t care about dogs that lead the blind since they are more concerned with equal rights for lab mice and sewer rats.
One more thing: Dogs that help lead a blind person, or those for protection are a gift from God, but you still need to wash negel vasser if you want to daven after petting it!!! even if you got a horoeh from a rebbe to train the thing!
Someone mentioned that a traifa is a tmaiah. Not true. A cow that is found to be traif has nothing to do with Tumah. Its hide can still be used for tefilin and mizuzos and sifrei torah.
rebetzin?
Who is the rebetzin anyway?
Bal Teshuva Florida
I grew up having dogs. I have two small dogs now. I will not be giving them up because I am becoming frum. Dogs are one of the best blessings you can have (if your unmarried and have no children). Get over it.
Thank You #8!!!!
Finally, ONE normal person in this world! All my cousins are deathly afraid of dogs and cross the street when they see a puppy. I tell them there’s nothing to be afraid of and they just remain scared. Maybe they should meet Harvey…
pere odom
Yeh we whimps are afraid of dogs, but you grub frayaks are afreid of vodka
get rid of your big fat egos and don’t walk in on another culter and tell them they shouldn’t be scared of dogs.
when your 6 year old clings to you in fear, will you shove him into his monster’s face? will you yell at him that he’s a baby for being a chicken?
Have some respect.