Yitta Halberstam Mandelbaum

The chutzpah  – to disregard, to defy with such carelessness and contempt, the stringent dress code clearly spelled out in crude block letters for all to see. Her dewy innocence failed to soften the suspicious looks from, those who warily  watched her from the windows and doorways of shabby buildings, from the street corners where they stood enveloped in the shadows of the encroaching night. She walked blithely, light-hearted and carefree, intent upon her adventure, unaware of its cost.

Photo Credit: wikimedia Sharpton and cronies marching on Crown Heights I felt compelled to attend a conversation on anti-Semitism that Rabbi Shmuley Boteach was hosting Monday night because I still don’t understand the sudden eruption of black Jew hatred in the tri-state area. I was hoping Rabbi Boteach could offer the fresh insights for which he’s famous. Brett Stephens, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, was present, and he was magnificent.