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u/Mendel_the_redditor

▲ 18 r/Judaism

I fondly recall a sneaky Shabbat rooftop cigarette... [Shameless self-promotion]

I grew up in the Chabad community in Crown Heights, and I recently put together a piece reflecting on the unique culture there. Everything from the "Jewish geography" to the specific vibe of a neighborhood Kiddush.

I wanted to share a few snippets and see if these experiences resonate with others here

>The Jewish version of “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” where two strangers aggressively interrogate each other about summer camps until they find a mutual cousin.

and

>I fondly recall a sneaky Shabbat rooftop cigarette with some ostensibly religious folk, during a kiddush I somehow found myself at.

I’d love to hear if anyone else has these kinds of "only in Crown Heights" (or similar religious enclaves) memories.

You can read the full "guided tour" here if you're interested:

https://medium.com/@mendelkeller/a-guided-tour-of-crown-heights-8c7cf272c349

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u/Mendel_the_redditor — 6 days ago
▲ 29 r/crownheights

A guided tour of (chabad) crown heights

I wrote a longform reflection on growing up in South Crown Heights and later returning to it after college. It wanders through Kingston Avenue, 770, Jewish geography, kiddushes, cholent nights, Simchas Beis Hashoeva, rooftop Shabbat cigarettes, town drunks, Raskin’s fish runoff, and the strange feeling of still knowing a place intimately after no longer fully belonging to it.

A lot of it was written as a kind of mirror for people who know the neighborhood well, but I tried to make it accessible to outsiders too.

Curious if any of this resonates with others who grew up around here.

https://medium.com/@mendelkeller/a-guided-tour-of-crown-heights-8c7cf272c349

u/Mendel_the_redditor — 6 days ago