From the Files of CLM

Walking through Bnei Brak in the summer is like enjoying quality time in the sauna, while trying to go about everyday life. Nowadays, most places are air-conditioned, but back then, it was just boiling, with nowhere to go for relief. The streets were alive with a mélange of aromas. A falafel store at the corner did brisk business, and the smell of frying chickpeas combined with the smoke [...]

I stay in hotels. It’s not that I enjoy them. It’s just something that I have to do a lot for business reasons. I mean, after a while, even the fanciest hotel becomes kind of stale. Like the first time you stay at the Ritz in Paris, you stand at the window and smile to yourself because you’re staying at the Ritz. But after a few visits to [...]

Five Towns Jewish Times Anna Preisand was a single woman from Atlanta, Georgia. For many years, Anna devotedly cared for her ill sister, tending to her every need. When the day finally came that her sister passed on from this world, Anna sought to provide her with one final gift: the gift of merit for the soul in the Hereafter. Anna approached the principal of her local day [...]

Hamodia The drive from Lakewood to Teaneck is a long one, and yungeleit usually only attempt it—often somewhat reluctantly—for family get-togethers. What, then, could have motivated more than a minyan of worthy yungeleit to make the trip for a simchah, in which they were unrelated to and barely even acquainted with the hosts? An unusual occurrence, perhaps—but not any more unusual than the nature of the simchah itself. The R. family, originally of El Paso, Texas, today [...]