They come, they clean, they leave. Occasionally they’ll be given a few Ostreicher’s chocolate chip cookies and some apple juice in a plastic cup. (“Chas v’shulem, not from my dishes!”) But here’s the human side (and a bit …

He kisses her possessively and she dutifully moans. He seems to like that. She wishes she could feel it too.
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It’s five-thirty. The last of the other girls and their little handbags have sidled out already. She faces the bathroom door--towards East--as she begins to pray Mincha, swaying gently, a woman's shuckle.
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Some loudmouth dude by the name of Rabbi Yehudah Levin has some strong message for congress: “Don’t you dare, don’t you dare include baby-killing funds in health care or any other legislation,” he said at a pro-life rally gathered …

The strange power of peanut chew candies, and the one time it did not work.
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Chaim Mayer's mother usually calls in on Thursdays to remind him to pick up the lokshen kugel for Shabbos, or of a family member's shulem zucher, which s'volt gepast that he attend.
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The Bedford Avenue bike lane debate at Pete’s Candy Store last night brought a standing room only crowd – unfortunately, consisting mostly of bike lane supporters. There seems to have been no truce, and from the short clip presented, it’s...
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Now it has an official name: the Great Williamsburg Bike Wars. (Although without a Wikipedia entry its status as a real war is somewhat suspect.) And tonight at 7:30 pm the debate is on at Pete’s Candy Store on Lorimer …

He reminded me of myself, back when I’d never been inside a bar, hardly even to a restaurant...
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The phone is ringing again. I glance at the cordless resting on the night table. The caller is indicated on the lit screen, but I am reluctant to get up and look at it. I want to sleep. Another Monday …

I wish Y. had long ago decided that God would be more than satisfied with even just a handful of children...
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Three journalists discuss Orthodox matters at the Chulent; a former Satmar girl loses her gun and badge; KJ businessmen pump $140,000 into Gov. Patterson's coffers; and more.
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I crossed Bedford, Lee, and came to Division. As the clicking of my boots echoed against buses and buildings, I felt sickeningly insecure. The streets were too quiet.
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For want of a nail the baby was lost,

For want of the baby the tzaddik was lost,

For want of the tzaddik the generation was lost,

For want of the generation the Messiah was lost,

For want of the …

The man came to her bed and kissed her passionately. She liked him a lot. And yet, not the way he loved her. ‘‘I don’t mind if you love other girls," she said.
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Yeshiva boys turning into druglords; a new book advises that attacks on non-Jews will "curb their evil inclination;" a $3 million lawsuit over a beard; and a tefillin bomb-scare causes an emergency landing.
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Overheard at Shomrei Shabbos after last minyan ma’ariv:

Man in oversized yarmulke without a hat: “Gleib nisht ales vus men farkoift dir; di vest noch veren an apikoires.”

(Trans. Don’t believe everything you’re told. You might yet end up a …

Every Yeshiva boy learns about Nafkeh Mineh L’kedushin at some point. Nafkeh Mineh L’kedushin is used to justify a perpetual Talmudic argument that has no practical implications. For example, if two guys are arguing as to what was the reasoning …

It’s Rosa Parks and the Freedom Rides all over again. Women in Israel are finally standing up and saying no to the forced segregation. A new hotline has been set up for women to report abuse on public buses, and …

An all-consuming fire was sweeping across our land, and we stood in its dangerous path. It was up to us to rise to the challenge and prevent further destruction.
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The Leib Tropper story simply won’t go away, and Tablet Magazine has a piece outlining the whole sordid business of Tropper’s “Cadillac Conversions” along with some of his other shady enterprises. Why do I care about all this? I don’t. …

I had recently come back from a European spring break trip that left me distraught and, on certain days, inconsolable. Let’s blame it on a boy.
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