On Sunday, October 17, 2010 we were in store for another exciting learning experience: using our Explorer Pass which gave us access to multiple attractions at one low reasonable price, we had booked a Jewish Tour of Brooklyn, hosted by Rabbi Beryl Epstein. Our tour would focus on Crown Heights, an area that is home to large number of Hasidic Jews. It is also the location of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic Jewish movement, whose name is derived from the Hebrew words for "Wisdom, Understanding and Knowledge".
Although Hasidic Jews are usually quite removed from modern Western society, Rabbi Epstein welcomed us openly and introduced us to several Hasidic institutions. We first got to go into a local synagogue where we were able to witness a Sunday morning prayer session. In accordance with strict Hassidic gender separation, men were praying in the main area of the synagogue while women could pray in their own areas on both sides of the synagogue which were separate from the main room by tinted glass.
Then we visited a "mikvah", a ritual bathhouse. Again, separated by gender, bath houses are important pillars of Hassidic Jewish tradition, and a young woman by the name of Esther educated us about Jewish laws of purity, dating and marriage. Then we visited a local store where highly trained scribes repair damaged scrolls of the Torah. In the next room we witnessed the production of "tefillin", small black cubic boxes of leather that contain small scrolls of parchment with verses from the Torah, an important religious accessory for all Hassidic Jewish males. After a brief overview of Hassidic culture, our fascinating visit ended with a nice kosher deli lunch next to the Jewish Children's Museum.
We then spent the afternoon strolling around Central Park, strolling around the Reservoir in the sun, making sure we didn't get run over by some of the avid joggers that were racing around this lake. At different points we stopped to take in the vibrant street life in this huge urban oasis before we headed back into the Times Square area for dinner. We had had another full day.
