It wouldn't be a proper niche blog scene without some mutual tuchis-rubbing, hence I direct my non-"Jew blog" reading audience to the Jewish and Israel Blog Awards 2025 hosted by The Jerusalem Post and Israellycool.com. I waited until nominations were closed to mention this because I didn't want any of my friends jokingly (and undeservingly) submitting Young Israelite for anything. Unfortunately there isn't a category for Most Self-Indulgent Bar Mitzvah Vlog Post.

For those who asked, the heroin strap around my arm and bird feeder on my head in the video is called Tefillin.

Looks like I'll be coming back to New York the morning of December 25th as originally planned instead of extending my trip through mid-January which I had been trying to do for the past couple of days. Apparently the British Airways ticket I bought via Travelocity came with the restriction that my return date could be no more than 30 days from my departure. To stay longer now, I'd have to buy a new one-way ticket home which is prohibitively expensive. I need to start reading things more closely. I suppose my work is done here. Time to go home and shine the light in the faces of all those wandering dark souls on the Lower East Side. Don't worry, my battery is low.

Finally took a stroll through Jerusalem's ulta-ultra Orthodox neighboord Mea Shearim with Dan Jewschool and it's every bit a walk into the past of an 18th century Eastern European ghetto as described in travel brochures. Earlier, we met Harry for lunch near the Mahne Yehudah shuk where a Yemenite "etrog medicine man" sprayed our faces with citrus zest, made us snort a liquid not unlike cayenne pepper, and offered a ginger/honey remedy made with "all the love of the world."

War On Christmas! Die trendy Jews! Hindus worth a bucket of piss! Islamofascists = Twenty-First Century's Christ Killers! No wonder so many people are finding religion on a yoga mat. Suggested reading: Organized Religion and God CORRECTION [HuffPo]

Gary Shteyngart imagines bedding journalists on the Lower East Side in the debut issue of Guilt & Pleasure Quarterly.