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Only in New York

I was hanging out with one of my old roommates recently, reminiscing on old times. I was fee...

I was hanging out with one of my old roommates recently, reminiscing on old times. I was feeling very nostalgic, and starting going through old photos, looking at all the different apartments and people I’d lived with. In 10 years, I’ve lived in numerous neighborhoods and apartments, with a countless number of roommates – many of whom remain my closest friends today. Never once was it difficult for me to find an apartment with Kosher/Shabbat observant people in a great location. Between Facebook, websites, synagogue postings, and word of mouth, there are so many dedicated spaces for Jewish people to find whatever they’re looking for here in NY. Here’s a photo of Sammi the Snowwoman that I made with my roommates in apartment number ... 3? 5? Who knows! Great memories :)

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Only in New York

Those 15 minutes of fame? Mine didn’t happen on camera. They happened on 4th Ave in Brookly...

Those 15 minutes of fame? Mine didn’t happen on camera. They happened on 4th Ave in Brooklyn during the TCS New York City Marathon on Nov 5. From Sunset Park to Fort Green, I was carried by the deafening chants of dear friends, acquaintances and perfect strangers, shouting my name like I was the mayor —my ‘mom friends,’ my friends' moms, my kids' teachers, their friend’s parents, our neighbors, the butcher, my favorite barista, UJA colleagues cheering their hearts out, and every acquaintance in between. Four miles of euphoria converging in a 'this is your life' meets Sesame Street moment. Marathon Sunday. The one day a year when the Big Apple feels like a small village. Definitely worth the schvitz.

Mirm Kriegel
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Only in New York

My name is Everyday Ray, and I've got a story to tell you about kosher food ...

My name is Everyday Ray, and I've got a story to tell you about kosher food ...

Everyday Ray
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Only in New York

I am a lifetime New Yorker, born and raised on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. What I love...

I am a lifetime New Yorker, born and raised on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. What I love about being Jewish in New York City is the fact that Jews have always lived in very diverse neighborhoods...

Vanessa Hidary
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Only in New York

This weekend, I celebrated my parent's anniversary at Sammy's Roumanian Steakhouse. From the schmaltz to the Yiddish tunes to the festive atmosphere, the whole meal was like a bar mitzvah! Only in New York....

This weekend, I celebrated my parent's anniversary at Sammy's Roumanian Steakhouse. From the schmaltz to the Yiddish tunes to the festive atmosphere, the whole meal was like a bar mitzvah! Only in New York....

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Only in New York

New York has a strong future for Jews because New York, in its best aspects, is attractive t...

New York has a strong future for Jews because New York, in its best aspects, is attractive to the vitality that characterizes Jews; to the ambition, to the striving, to the intelligence. All the good things that I see in our people are exemplified in a city rather than a bucolic life; and so, I think that there will be Jews in New York for some time to come. It will be a magnet for bright people, Jews as well as others. They all don’t have to be engineers, doctors, lawyers, and nuclear physicists; but for that reason, New York will be attractive to them, and there will be a strong Jewish community, and we’ve got to support that Jewish community. *Comments taken from Oral History, recorded on November 3, 1981

Frederick Rose, President of Federation, 1974-1977
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Chance Encounters

Standing in the waters of a beach in Belize, I hear a woman speaking a foreign language while approaching me. I was wearing my Chai, which can be seen on a cloudy day form half a mile away. I thought ...

Standing in the waters of a beach in Belize, I hear a woman speaking a foreign language while approaching me. I was wearing my Chai, which can be seen on a cloudy day form half a mile away. I thought she was speaking Farsi. She came nearer as she spoke louder and louder. I thought I was in for it and going to get a tough time from her. As she faced me she started to talk English and asked why didn't I answer her? It turned out she was speaking modern Hebrew which I never learned nor spoke. She was an Israeli Brit which made her spoken Hebrew, to my Ashkenazi ear, even harder to understand. She asked me why I wasn't afraid to wear my Chai. My simple response: I'm a New Yorker.

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Only in New York

I think the magic, for me, of this city is that you never fully meet a Jewish stranger here....

I think the magic, for me, of this city is that you never fully meet a Jewish stranger here. It's always somebody that you knew - you just didn't know you knew!

Dahlia Lithwick
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Only in New York

My New York story is Jewish and gay and one of parenting on the Upper West Side. It's meetin...

My New York story is Jewish and gay and one of parenting on the Upper West Side. It's meeting my partner in a Hebrew course in college, and as dorm captains for UJA (that was actually a thing). It's a commitment ceremony in Central Park at the boat house, and eloping with our kids - now 23 and 18 - on an Amtrak train to Toronto. And just this year, adding a US marriage ceremony downtown at City Hall. After 32 years together, with an anniversary that's only on the Hebrew calendar, our younger daughter just graduated from Jewish day school, and here we are, about to write a new chapter ...

Melanie Schneider
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Only in New York

Many summers ago, I was a counselor at the 92Y Passport NYC Sleepaway Camp. Because it was a...

Many summers ago, I was a counselor at the 92Y Passport NYC Sleepaway Camp. Because it was a sleepaway camp, we didn't have a lot of free time. But there were a few nights when the counselors were able to get together and hang out around the Upper East Side. So one night, some of my fellow counselors convinced us all to go to a gay bar. And it was my first gay bar experience. And I must say: it was very fun, very entertaining, and very enjoyable to watch a lot of good looking men dancing on tables!

Rachelle Butt
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Only in New York

I'm from France but I'm currently living on Roosevelt Island. I don't really have any family...

I'm from France but I'm currently living on Roosevelt Island. I don't really have any family here and my cousins live on Long Island, but I'm involved with the Chabad on Roosevelt Island. The Rabbi and his wife are the sweetest people and being involved makes me feel like I'm with family. Just last month, we had a huge Shabbat dinner and celebrated Lag b'omer in the grassy areas on the Island.

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Only in New York

Only in New York City could you eat a bagel with lox, walk by an old, beautiful synagogue, engulf a gigantic Reuben, visit a museum to learn about how my ancestors lived at the turn of the 20th century.... all ...

Only in New York City could you eat a bagel with lox, walk by an old, beautiful synagogue, engulf a gigantic Reuben, visit a museum to learn about how my ancestors lived at the turn of the 20th century.... all within a few blocks. So much Jewish history.

Ally Dommu
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Arts/Pop Culture

Who can believe on Mothers Day, I am performing with the Yiddish Theater with all my family ...

Who can believe on Mothers Day, I am performing with the Yiddish Theater with all my family in the audience! I am a Red Hot Yiddishe Mama!!!! Only in NEW YORK, only in NEW York!!!

Carol Levin
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Only in New York

The time I had a Chavruta with a stranger on the subway. yehudi and I just met 5 minutes before and we had the deepest Chavruta on tha Parasha. Never met him before,never saw him afterwards but we both knew ...

The time I had a Chavruta with a stranger on the subway. yehudi and I just met 5 minutes before and we had the deepest Chavruta on tha Parasha. Never met him before,never saw him afterwards but we both knew we have the Jewish connection.

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Only in New York

My Uncle Tommy converted from Catholicism to Judaism for love, before he married his wife, Yvonne, who descended from Dutch Jews. I must be one of the few New York African-American Catholics who had Jewish godparents. Their children, David and ...

My Uncle Tommy converted from Catholicism to Judaism for love, before he married his wife, Yvonne, who descended from Dutch Jews. I must be one of the few New York African-American Catholics who had Jewish godparents. Their children, David and Robin, went to Yeshivas and spoke Hebrew fluently. I went to my cousins' bar mitzvah and bat mitzvah. They were extremely devout. Sometimes I would telephone my level-headed godmother for advice. When she died young, it seemed like losing my mother again. When Robin and David died in their 40s, I was in shock. Tommy, whom I remember for his sense of humor, passed away recently. I remember Robin for being fun-loving and tenacious-- She introduced me to disco roller skating in the 1980s, though she was an amputee. David's widow is Catholic, as are their children. During a holiday I spent at their house just before David passed away, I remember how David prayed quietly and sang softly in Hebrew.

Laura Anne Walker