Short Takes

Finding Kinship At ‘Kinus’

02/21/2012 | Julie Wiener | Associate Editor

New Orleans has Mardi Gras, Park City has Sundance and Newport has its jazz festival.

Crown Heights has Kinus.

Sure, the Brooklyn neighborhood’s annual West Indian Day Parade may get more press and draw larger crowds — but how many of those visitors stay for Shabbos?

Last week, almost 3,000 women — traveling from more than 60 countries — poured into Crown Heights last week for the community’s 24th annual International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Shluchos.

Where Oxtail And Confit Meet Cholent And Chicken Fingers

02/21/2012 | Amy Spiro | Special To The Jewish Week

While Royal Wine Corp. may have wanted the evening to be about the alcohol, it was the tables of food that garnered the long lines, crowds and elbowing at the Kosher Food and Wine Experience last week.

More than 1,200 people attended the sixth annual event, which was held at Chelsea Piers and sold out in advance for the second year in a row.

In addition to the selection of 200 wines, eager diners chowed down on offerings from dozens of restaurants and caterers, enjoying everything from upscale fare to heaping plates of cholent.

A Russian Storybook Romance

02/14/2012 | Helen Chernikoff | Staff Writer

It’s the Saturday ritual of Vladimir Kozlov and his granddaughter, Nomi, to snuggle up with a book, but only after Kozlov has gone through it with a dictionary close at hand. That’s because while the two love to read together, they are also study partners.

He is a Russian émigré, and 4-year-old Nomi speaks Russian at home. With picture books, they are helping each other learn English.

Recognizing Synagogue Inclusion

02/14/2012 | Hannah Dreyfus | Special To The Jewish Week

With a specially designed, handicapped-accessible bima, sign-language services for the deaf and alternative holiday programs aimed at those with disabilities, Congregation Rodeph Sholom is at the forefront of the inclusion movement.

Now, the Reform synagogue on the Upper West Side is being formally recognized for its effort to bring people with disabilities — who have long been on the sidelines — more fully into Jewish life. It took first place in The Synagogue Inclusion Award, sponsored by UJA-Federation of New York’s Caring Commission.

PresenTense Joins JDC In Russia

02/07/2012 | Helen Chernikoff | Staff Writer

Russia has long been known for its musicians — and for the grueling conservatories in which those musicians are trained. The notion of learning and playing an instrument for pleasure is a foreign one, but with the support of PresenTense, the Jewish social entrepreneurship incubator, Sergey Novikov is trying to change that.

To Daven At Downton?

02/07/2012 | Helen Chernikoff | Staff Writer

Not since the news that Princess Kate Middleton’s mother’s maiden name was “Goldsmith” launched a million Google searches have the masses gotten so excited.