I recently stood in line with more than a thousand Russian Jews, waiting for sushi — the highlight of Saturday night’s dinner at the Limmud FSU conference, which is the largest gathering of Russian-speaking Jews in North America. It was kosher sushi, of course. The other meals at the event, held at a Hilton Hotel…
Ted Cruz is a passionate evangelical Christian, and seems to sincerely share the evangelical love of Israel and its people. So maybe it wasn’t so surprising that Cruz made a last-minute visit to a Brooklyn matzo factory yesterday, just weeks before Passover begins later this month. The entire experience was awkward and fast-paced, so politics…
An 82-year-old Jewish woman from Brighton Beach, Brooklyn was forced to swear on a Jewish bible that she wouldn’t call the police on her alleged rapist and physical attacker, Asa Robert, the . Over the course of four hours, he punched her, slammed her into a wall, chocked her, and raped her. On his way…
On a bright, sunny day in 2007, Alina and Jeff Bliumis stood on the Brighton Beach boardwalk, asking strangers to choose an identity. Volunteers could pick from three options — “Jewish,” “American” and “Russian” — and then pose in front of the sign or signs bearing that designation. By the end of the day, 52…
New York beachgoers were stunned over the weekend when a plane flew overhead trailing a banner bearing a swastika. The Raelian group, an organization who believes that the swastika should be reintegrated as a symbol for peace, commissioned the fly-by, which was visible from heavily Jewish beach neighborhoods like Brighton Beach and Coney Island. The…
Russians don’t speak highly of Brighton Beach, the enclave in Southern Brooklyn where I spent many of my formative years. The neighborhood’s critics disparage it with a degree of shame or superiority, or even irony, as was the case in my family. Moscow-born author Lara Vapnyar encapsulated this widespread sentiment when she titled her contribution…
Pinny Dembitzer bounced his SUV past the “For Sale” signs lining Sea Gate’s Atlantic Avenue, slamming his way through potholes in this gated community on the western tip of Coney Island. Dembitzer apologized for the rough ride. His car, like most cars in the neighborhood, replaced one that was destroyed in October 2012, when Hurricane…
On a warm Saturday in early October, Emily Axelrod subtly smiled as she surveyed the calm ocean off Brighton Beach, a heavily Jewish neighborhood in south Brooklyn. “Now it’s gorgeous,” the 66-year-old Ukrainian immigrant said as she strolled down Riegelmann Boardwalk. But life was dramatically different a year ago, when Hurricane Sandy hit. The Oct….
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