Daily Archives: February 13, 2006

Weather Causes A Three Car Pile-Up On Eastern Pkwy.

After yesterday’s blizzard the city is still struggling to get all the streets plowed and salted, so what we are left with is a lot of wet, slippery and slushy roads. At around 8:45 a small car apparently spun out and got hit on the drivers side by a SUV who then went plowing into another vehicle traveling in the lane over, the small car had its airbags deploy and the driver who suffered from minor injuries was taken by EMS to KCH. The incident took place on Eastern Parkway between Albany & Kingston.

We would like to take the moment to warn all of you that are driving today to be extra cautious the roads are really treacherous.

The Customs of Tu B’Shevat

On the 15th of Shevat on the Jewish calendar we celebrate Rosh HaShonah L’Ilonot,the “New Year for the Trees.” Some customs for this day:

• It is customary to increase in the amount of fruits one eats on the 15th of Shevat, in order to praise G-d who created all these species of fruits.

Bochur Assaulted and Mugged

Yesterday in the early morning a Bochur was walking home from a Farbrengen and was confronted by 3 black teenagers at the intersection of President St. & Schenectady Ave. who demanded money from him. The Bochur produced his pocket contents which consisted of a single dollar coin and handed it to the teens who took it and threw it back at him. One of them then pulled out a black pistol pointing it at the Bochur demanding more money but the Bochur didn’t have any, so one of them punched him in the face knocking him out.

A few moments later the Bochur came back to himself and noticed that they had taken an expensive watch off his wrist and fled. Later that day the Bochur went and filed a police report, the police took him to the hospital where they determined he had suffered a minor injury to his head and will be ok.

This incident happened late at night (or early in the morning, depends how you look at it) which isn’t a smart time to be walking alone in the street. Please be sensible. If you are C”V a victim of a mugging don’t wait to report it to the police, do it immediately. And please remember to call Shomrim at (718) 774-3333 24/7.

Taking Back Tu B’Shevat

Some holidays, like fine wine, seem to improve with age: The more I celebrate them, the more meaning I find in the customs and rituals, as the older and (I hope) wiser me finds different ways to relate to the same events.

Then there are those holidays that loom large in childhood but fade in importance over time. It’s not that I don’t care about them; I just don’t have school projects and assemblies to remind me of a holiday’s imminent arrival, so it’s not until my niece or nephew brings home flowers made of fruit leather that the bell chimes in my head and I find myself saying, “Hmm, Tu B’Shevat again? Where does the time go?”

When I was growing up, Tu B’Shevat was a day I looked forward to, if for no other reason than that it meant snack bags of exotic fruits like carob and figs. I vaguely understood that it was a new year for the trees and had something to do with nature, but I didn’t really dig too deep into the meaning of the day. All I knew was that it was a time to indulge in rare fruit, and I was more than happy to oblige.