Williamsburg and Crown Heights have nothing on Borough Park (sometimes written Boro Park), home to the largest Orthodox Jewish population outside of Israel, including a burgeoning enclave of Hasidim. With ever-expanding boundaries, the neighborhood keeps growing, as do the families, with an average of six children per household. It’s no wonder some have been calling it the "baby-boom of Brooklyn." These religious residents might garner attention on the subways for their wigs or their peyas, but in Borough Park, it's the non-Orthodox or Hasidic Jew that's the anomaly. You will certainly feel a little out of place here if you fall into that category; best to bring along that English-to-Yiddish dictionary. Yiddish, by the way, is everywhere. Along with Hebrew and Russian, it's widely spoken in the streets and shops, printed on signs, and an option on ATM menu screens.
Borough Park is a haven of family values and religious tradition. Some of the best times to visit are during the more festive holidays - - either Sukkot or Purim. But on any given day, it's not unusual to see crowds numbering in the thousands spilling into the streets as a wedding lets out at a nearby synagogue. In contrast, by sundown on Friday for the Sabbath, the shtetl is virtually empty - - no people, no lights, and no cars. One of the neighborhood's more important synagogues is the Congregation Anshei Lubawitz, a landmark neoclassical structure.
To move into this neighborhood, one would have better luck marrying into the community than finding something through a broker, but a few nights in The Avenue Plaza Hotel will give you a good dose of Borough Park culture. Catering mostly to Israelis who have come to visit relatives, attend weddings or conferences, it's one of the few luxury hotel options in Brooklyn and testament to Borough Park's importance as a hub of Orthodox and Hasidic practices.
But this is New York still, right? So where'd all the Starbucks go? Apart from banks, chain businesses are nearly non-existent, but you will find plenty of independently-run shops, many of which cater to the religious needs of the community. Wig shops, kosher delis, and Judaica bookstores abound. Be aware that in keeping with the Sabbath, most shops are closed from sundown on Friday until sundown on Saturday. Bustling Thirteenth Avenue is the main shopping drag, and a good base to start exploring the neighborhood - - it's the picture of wholesomeness and old world mercantilism with its shoe cobblers, furniture stores and bakeries. Borough Park boasts some fine discount shopping–and not just on the gefilte fish - - designer housewares, china, clothes (albeit, modest ones) and furniture are among the cheapest to be found in New York City.
Around Passover, watch the lines crowd around the Shmura Matzoh Factory, one of the few bakeries in the United States that makes shmura matzoh, which is matzoh that has been shepherded and blessed by a Rabbi during every stage of the process from grain to unleavened bread.
Nightlife
What were you expecting? Beyond the late-night discussions that go around at the falafel shops, there is little to be done here after dark. After all, six kids per household have to happen sometime. Your two choices are shooting pool at 60th Street Billiards or bowling at Maple Lanes. That's some action, we guess...
Restaurants
Nowhere, apart from maybe Israel, do you have so many kosher options.
Falafel does a mean, competitive business. Try Cheskel's Shwarma King
for some of the best. There are some international offerings here too, including China Glatt for sloppy Chinese that's been
blessed by a Rabbi.
Shopping
Apart from God, shopping is the main attraction in Borough Park and Eichler's is the spot to get your Borough Park souvenir. Then, do as the Borough Parkites do - - get a challah at Kaff's Bakery and a hat at Kova Quality. Otherwise, hit Trainworld if you're a model train buff or Bulletproof Comics if you're, well, a geek.
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Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Posted By:
Rebecca Katherine Hirsch
Photo:
Rebecca Katherine Hirsch
Eichler's
Every night since I've bought my mini blue Torah pillow has been a holy one. I've been able to sleep soundly and communicate with the Lord. Thank God. Let's talk about Eichler's' "the world's largest Judaica store." Eichler's sells a lot of piety-aiding appliances, from English/Yiddish pop-up books for toddlers (obey the Almighty, squash disobedience), picture cookbooks featuring bloodcurdlingly stereotypical Jewish spreads (lox, rugelach, omnipresent spectre of the Messiah), shelves and shelves of identical yarmulkes, pretty Torah pointers and vats of small, medium and large versions of my mini blue feather-stuffed Torah. In other words, pretty much everything you could ever hope for. Chussids, Modern Orthodox and ostentatiously Jewish atheists alike scour Eichler's aisles of wares: Hebrew cassettes, silver wine goblets and 'We Want MOSHIACH [Messiah] NOW!' key chains. Amen.
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