Ger is a Polish Hasidic dynasty originating from the town of Góra Kalwaria,Poland,where it was founded by Yitzchak Meir Alter (1798–1866),known as the "Chiddushei HaRim". Ger is a branch of Peshischa Hasidism,as Yitzchak Meir Alter was a leading disciple of Simcha Bunim of Peshischa (1765–1827). Before the Holocaust,followers of Ger were estimated to number in excess of 100,000,making it the largest and most influential Hasidic group in Poland. Today,the movement is based in Jerusalem,and its membership is estimated at 11,859 families,as of 2016,most of whom live in Israel,making Ger the largest Hasidic dynasty in Israel. However,there are also well-established Ger communities in the United States and in Europe. In 2019,some 300 families of followers led by Shaul Alter,split off from the dynasty led by his cousin Yaakov Aryeh Alter.
Crown Heights is a neighborhood in the central portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Crown Heights is bounded by Washington Avenue to the west,Atlantic Avenue to the north,Ralph Avenue to the east,and Empire Boulevard/East New York Avenue to the south. It is about one mile (1.6 km) wide and two miles (3.2 km) long. Neighborhoods bordering Crown Heights include Prospect Heights to the west,Flatbush and Prospect Lefferts Gardens to the south,Brownsville to the east,and Bedford–Stuyvesant to the north.
The Crown Heights riot was a race riot that took place from August 19 to August 21,1991,in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn,New York City. Black residents attacked Orthodox Jewish residents,damaged their homes,and looted businesses. The riots began on August 19,1991,after two 7 year-old children of Guyanese immigrants were unintentionally struck by a driver running a red light while following the motorcade of Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson,the leader of Chabad,a Jewish religious movement. One child died and the second was severely injured.
Lipa Schmeltzer is an American singer,entertainer,and composer. He is a headliner in Hasidic as well as modern Jewish communities worldwide. He has released 18 solo albums.
The number of women in the United States judiciary has increased as more women have entered law school,but women still face significant barriers in pursuing legal careers.
Jewish feminism is a movement that seeks to make the religious,legal,and social status of Jewish women equal to that of Jewish men in Judaism. Feminist movements,with varying approaches and successes,have opened up within all major branches of the Jewish religion.
Yossi Green is a Hasidic Jewish composer of contemporary Jewish religious music. As of 2013 he had written more than 700 melodies in the genres of pop music,classical music,liturgical music,Hasidic music,and show tunes. His songs have appeared on more than 120 albums and CDs. His clients include most of the superstars of the Orthodox Jewish music world. He has released four greatest hits albums titled Shades of Green,and a solo album,The 8th Note. He regularly performs at charity benefits accompanied by popular Jewish singers under the rubric "Yossi Green &Friends".
Noach Dear was an American attorney,politician,and jurist who served as a New York Supreme Court judge. Dear was elected in 2008 as a civil court judge,in 2010 as an Acting Supreme Court Justice,and in 2015 for a 15-year term as a Permanent Justice on the New York Supreme Court. Prior to his appointment,he served as a member of the New York City Council from 1983 to 2001. He died during the COVID-19 pandemic due to complications of COVID-19.
Willkie Farr &Gallagher LLP,commonly known as Willkie,is a white-shoe,international law firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1888,the firm specializes in corporate practice and employs approximately 1200 lawyers in 15 offices across six countries.
On July 11,2011,Leiby Kletzky,a Hasidic Jewish boy,was kidnapped as he walked home from his school day camp in the mainly Hasidic neighborhood of Borough Park,Brooklyn in New York City,New York. Kletzky's disappearance sparked an all-out search by New York City police and a block-by-block search by up to 5,000 Orthodox Jewish volunteers from New York and other states coordinated by the Brooklyn South Shomrim volunteer civilian patrol.
The response of the Haredi Jewish community in Brooklyn,New York City,to allegations of sexual abuse against its spiritual leaders has drawn scrutiny from inside and outside the Jewish community. When teachers,rabbis,and other leaders have been accused of sexual abuse,authorities in the Haredi community have often failed to report offenses to Brooklyn police,intimidated witnesses,and encouraged shunning against victims and those members of the community who speak out against cases of abuse,although work has been done within Jewish communities to begin to address the issue of sexual abuse.
Bulletproof Stockings was an American Hasidic alternative rock band based in Crown Heights,New York City. Formed in 2011 by lead singer Perl Wolfe and ex-Hopewell drummer Dalia Shusterman,the group independently released its debut EP,Down to the Top the following year. They were noted for their unique sound among Jewish music,as well as their adherence to the prohibition of kol isha by performing for female-only audiences.
Chabad hipsters are the cross-acculturated members of the Chabad Hasidic community and contemporary hipster subculture. Beginning from the late 2000s through the 2010s,a minor trend of cross acculturation of Chabad Hasidism and hipster subculture appeared within the New York Jewish community. The first printed reference to this trend was the 2007 New York Press cover story,"Hipster Hassids" by Alyssa Pinsker. Later,according to The Jewish Daily Forward,a significant number of members of the Chabad Hasidic community,mostly residing in Crown Heights,Brooklyn,appear to now have adopted various cultural affinities of the local hipster subculture.
Young Advocates for Fair Education is an advocacy group dedicated to improving secular education in Haredi Jewish schools. The group advocates for curricular changes within schools,in compliance with New York State law.
Linda Sarsour is an American political activist. She was co-chair of the 2017 Women's March,the 2017 Day Without a Woman,and the 2019 Women's March. She is also a former executive director of the Arab American Association of New York. She and her Women's March co-chairs were profiled in Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People" in 2017.
Abby Chava Stein is an Israeli-American transgender author,rabbi,activist,blogger,model,and speaker. She is the first openly transgender woman raised in a Hasidic community,and is a direct descendant of Hasidic Judaism's founder,the Baal Shem Tov. In 2015,she founded one of the first support groups nationwide for trans people with an Orthodox Jewish background who have left Orthodox Judaism.
93Queen is a 2018 documentary film on Hasidic women in Borough Park,Brooklyn who form Ezras Nashim,an all-female ambulance corps. The film follows Judge Rachel Freier,a Hasidic lawyer running for public office as a New York Judge,and mother of six who is determined to shake up the “boys club”in her Hasidic community by creating the first all-female ambulance corps in the United States,as she negotiates her community initiative within the context of a male-dominated Hasidic community.
Robby Hoffman is an American-Canadian writer,comedian,and talk show host. Born in Brooklyn,New York,she began her career as a writer and is known for her work on The Chris Gethard Show,Baroness Von Sketch Show,Workin' Moms,and Odd Squad,the latter of which won a Children's &Family Emmy Award for outstanding writing in 2019. Hoffman released her first stand-up special,I'm Nervous,in 2019. She was named one of Comedy Central's Up Next comedians in 2018,appeared on Conan O'Brien's Comics to Watch list,as well as on Vulture's The Comedians You Should and Will Know in 2020.
Ezras Nashim is an all-female Orthodox Jewish volunteer EMT ambulance service established with the goal of preserving women's modesty in emergency medical situations,especially childbirth.
