Conference taveng::bagels

    Candles are light at 4:34 on Friday October 20th.  Note that Simchat
    Torah starts Saturday night, the 21st.
    

    Sam's calendar doesn't take Daylight Savings (summer) time into account.
    In the U.S., we don't change to winter time until the last Sunday in
    October.  So candle lighting on Friday is an hour later than Sam said.

    Sam, Gerald
    
    Thanks for your indications. finally I have cancelled  my flight to
    France (Paris) on saturday evening . I have reported  it on sunday
    evening.
    Now , I'm looking for a synagogue in boston (inside). 
    
    Some address ?
    
    Chanah tovah,                                        
    Albert

    The Jewish areas of Boston are Brookline and Brighton.  I'll list the
    Orthodox synagogues.  I'm sure others will list Conservative and
    Reform.

	Young Israel of Brookline -- 62 Green St., Brookline

		If you're staying in a hotel in Boston, this is the
		easiest to walk to.  There's a Sephardic minyan as
		well as the main Ashkenazic minyan.


	Cong. Beth Pinchas -- 1710 Beacon St., Brookline

		The Bostoner Rebbe's shul.


	Cong. Chai Odom -- 77 Englewood Ave., Brighton

		Lithuanian origins.


	The Talner Rebbe's shul -- Corner of Corey Rd. and Cummings St.

		Rabbi Twersky's shul


	Cong. Kadimah-Toras Moshe -- 113 Washington St., Brighton


	Lubavitch -- Chestnut Hill Ave. between Commonwealth Ave.
			and South St.

    In (almost) downtown Boston, there is the Charles River Park Synagogue
    at 55 Martha Rd, 617-523-0453.  According to "Guide to Jewish Boston",
    it is "Traditional", Orthodox in most ways but with a mixed seating
    section in addition to separate sections for men and women.
    
    Since Boston has a compact downtown area, this is easily walkable from
    the major hotels.
    

    Sam , you ask me about the "Guide to Jewish Boston". Where can I
    buy it ? I suppose that you have Jewish Library in Boston area.
    Some address ?
    
    Thanks again for your help.
    
    Albert

Shalom Albert,

You can frequently find _A_Guide_to_Jewish_Boston_ in regular book stores
in areas in and near Boston which have a high concentration of Jews.  You
can certainly get it from:
	Israel Book Shop
	410 Harvard St.
	Brookline, MA 02146
	phone: 617-566-7113
	toll free phone number from outside Massachusetts: 800-323-7723

They own another store also:
	Davidson's Hebrew Book Store
	1106 North Main St.
	Randolph, MA 02368
	phone: 617-961-4989

L'hit,
Gavriel

    
    Maybe I did not describe the book well enough but the
    people in the Israel Book Shop told be that the 
    Guide to Jewish Boston is out of print and they do not
    have it anymore.

    I ended up getting it from my Rabbi.

    I could also be that the people in the store were snubbing 
    me.  I have never had a 'good' reception there.  When my 
    fiance and I went there for my mother to buy him a
    Tallis I felt like the only reason we got any attention was
    because we brought a family friend with us who knew the people 
    there. Does anyone else get this feeling?  (the friend on the
    family is Mrs. Liebenson, does anyone know her? Her son
    is going to officiate at my wedding)

    Amy

    As a former contributor, I can vouch for the fact that the Guide
    is out of print.  It was originally published by Genesis 2 a Boston
    Jewish  Newspaper that is now transplanted to Upstate New York.
    I do not know where any remaining copies are housed.  You will have
    to peruse a copy in someone's home, the Hebrew Jewish Library, and/
    or call some local religious leaders.  ....Or you could really search
    the shelves of the Israeli Book Store...sometimes they are not aware
    of their stock and frequently we have found things on the shelves
    that they say they don't have.
    
    And yes, they seem to only be comfortable talking to people that
    they know....unless you have an orthodox rabbi that you can say
    sent you there.
    
    Good luck
    
    rr

    re: the Israel Bookstore
    The first time I went in there, the place was full of Hassidic men, who
    ducked in and out of the rows to avoid coming into contact with me (an
    obviously non-Hassidic woman) - I felt *VERY* out of place, and would
    have taken my business elsewhere if there had been anywhere else that
    had what I was looking for.  I have since discovered that the lady in
    there is quite nice, so I try to buy from her or one of the younger men
    - the older men do not seem to want my business much, especially if I
    ask them for some "liberal" book or other, which they of course have --
    buried out in the back room someplace so none of their "regular"
    customers will find it!  They really make me feel like they do not
    really want me as a customer - except if I go in there to buy my lulav
    and etrog!  For some reason, everyone in the place is in a great mood
    for Sukkot, and it is kind of fun to watch them construct the lulav for
    you.  Now, if I was smart, I guess I would plan ahead on buying books
    and bat mitzvah presents in the fall, to take advantage of the mood of
    the place at that time.  Normally, I end up standing around looking
    uncomfortable and letting Paul, whose Yiddish accent is better than
    mine since he lived in New York for a while as a child, and of course
    he is of the "acceptable" sex, do the buying, if the nice lady isn't in
    evidence.
    
    /Charlotte

    
    Isn't that funny; I've gone into the Israel Bookstore wearing not very
    modest clothing, and never had a problem.  In fact, we just picked out
    wedding invitations there, and the owner was really nice to us (even
    though my fiance was *not* wearing a kipah) and has called several
    times since to check on this or that detail, or tell us the proofs were
    ready; he's been very pleasant.  Maybe it depends on how busy they are
    at the moment.

    Well, I wasn't really wearing very risque clothing (I don't wear that
    kind of stuff anyhow - it would look kind of silly on someone of my
    age and size), but I was wearing short sleeves, and did not have my
    hair covered - I was even wearing a skirt, since I knew what kind of
    store it was already (I very seldom wear a skirt except when protocol
    requires it).  It is not usually that bad there.  I think the old
    fellow behind the counter didn't like me towering over my husband and
    him, as well (you get this one when you're six feet tall).  Maybe we
    arrived just as the local Hassidic yeshiva was letting their classes
    out, or something: I was one of the few women in the place anyhow, and
    the only one whose hair, ankles, and wrists were showing.
              
    I really felt *extremely* uncomfortable!  Especially with the men
    customers ducking around to avoid touching me in case I hadn't been to
    the mikveh recently (which would have been true - haven't been there
    since before my wedding except to witness a couple of women's
    conversions).
    
    I guess I really get uncomfortable when I am stared at.
    
    /Charlotte

    Orthodox men do not duck behind bookcases to avoid touching women.
    Orthodox people who live in the Boston area do not live in ghettos. 
    They live and work among all kinds of people.  They are not concerned
    with your use or non use of the mikveh.
    
    If you don't like the service, tell them...don't "read their minds" and
    attribute anti-woman and ethnocentric reasons to their actions. They do
    not "hide" books in back so as not to offend their religious customers. 
    The majority of their customers and the majority of the Jews in
    metro-Boston are not orthodox.  They would be stupid businessmen if
    they didn't stock all sorts of products/books and purposely offended
    customers because they were not orthodox. 
    
    Your subtle anti-religious statements about the "kind of store" and
    your concern about your clothing sound alot like projection . They
    offend me.
    

    re: .12
    
    Although the Israel Book Shop is not my favourite business in terms
    of service, I'd have to say that your description of your visit
    seems somewhat exaggerated and sounds as though you've projected
    many of your own prejudices.  Just because you are not Orthodox
    doesn't automatically set Hasidic men off on all sorts of tangents
    because your bare arm is showing.
    
    David  

	Maybe they were staring at you because you're so tall.  I know
	the people who run the book store (they go to my shul), and
	they're good people.  The lady you referred to is Ina Sheer (sp?)
	and she's the most friendly of the bunch.

    Sorry, I did not mean to offend anyone.  Please accept my apologies.
    
    As I said, that only happened the very first time I went into that
    store, and I was made to feel very uncomfortable (no one likes being
    stared at, or discovering that their clothing is wildly inappropriate
    for the occasion; I couldn't very well go home and change into
    something more modest and return to the store, since I live an hour's
    drive out).  I didn't have such problems in Israel, even in Meah Sheahrim
    shopping for religious articles, but I knew that in Meah Sheahrim I was
    to cover my hair and wear a long-sleeved jacket, so I did, and no one
    seemed to be offended by me otherwise (I did not even bring a pair of
    slacks along on that trip - didn't think that anywhere I was going to
    be I could safely wear such clothing).  I didn't mean to imply that
    there is anything inappropriate about making improperly-dressed people
    feel uncomfortable (even though I was taught not to; my family is quite
    liberal) and out-of-place, just that I didn't expect to be caught in
    such a situation so close to home.  I should have known better, but
    I didn't.  Don't be offended by my prejudices; I understand that to the
    people I offended, my clothing was offensive.  It is a failing of mine,
    not yours, that I tend to think this is pretty silly sometimes and so
    do not always manage to be polite about concealing how I feel.  (Chalk
    it up to my family environment.)  If I had worn the same clothing in
    Meah Sheahrim, I would have been *stoned*, not stared at; in that
    culture, women's "modesty" (by the local definition; I don't think I
    even own any clothing I would call "immodest") is extremely important.
    I don't happen to agree, but I respect the people who live there, and I
    go by their rules when I visit their community.  I just didn't expect
    it in Brookline!
    
    If you don't think that liberal books are stuck out in the back room,
    try asking for a copy of "Gates of Prayer" (the reform siddur) or
    volumes of reform responsa.  The frown you get will impress you, but
    they do carry these things.
    
    Yes, that is the woman, I think.  She really is very nice, and helpful. 
    She spent a long time one day when the store was very busy digging out
    the very last copy of "Holy Days" for me (it's a good book, too).
           

RE: .16

Not only is _Gates_of_Prayer_ there, it is with the other Siddurim.  So, while
they propietors may not like your choice, in good business fashion they allow
you to make it  8^{).

Gavriel

    I should also admit that the business about mikveh usage might also be
    a fabrication - I believe that came up (as I said, this was several
    years ago, and my more recent shopping expeditions to that store
    haven't been that bad by far) when we were discussing with my
    sister-in-law (quite Orthodox) and her husband, who at that time lived
    in the area, why all the men customers dropped the items they were
    examining and ducked around into a different aisle than whichever one
    I was in, no matter what aisle I was in (you have no idea how
    disconcerting this was!).  I think Kenny (Paul's brother-in-law, a nice
    fellow from a very observant family) suggested that maybe the concern
    was that since I was not dressed appropriately (short sleeves, bare
    head, ankles showing but not knees), I was being avoided because I
    probably had not visited the mikveh after my last period (which, as I
    said, was of course true) and so was ritually impure.  Maybe he was
    pulling my leg, but it sounded reasonable enough at the time - I was
    still sort of smarting from the experience of being stared at so much
    anyhow.  I sort of flet like everyone in the store was running away
    from me!
    
    Kenny doesn't avoid me himself, by the way (and he surely knows that I
    don't usually go to the mikveh).  Of course he will only eat food that
    I prepare if I've kashered everything (we do keep kosher during
    Passover), but that is my choice, after all.

    We've been buying all kinds of things at the Israel Book Store for years
    and had no problems.  They have changed over time; they once refused to
    carry books by Mordecai Kaplan but now they try to cater to the whole
    community.  As far as what is on display, I think that is a function of
    what seems to be selling.  Since they expanded the store a few years
    ago, a lot more prayerbooks (and other books) of all kinds are on
    display; I ask if I don't see what I want.

    Ina is always nice.  Eli varies (he's never been unpleasant to me, but
    sometimes he seems to have his mind on other things).

    One factor that I think has made a difference is that Kolbo (across the
    street) now carries books as well as art objects.  Competition has a
    tendency to increase sensitivity to customer needs :^)

I'll have to agree with this last comment...I have been going there for
YEARS and never have had an uncomfortable experience.  I am the librarian at
one of the local shulls and so have to get into Brookline once a month or so
to purchase books.  I do not particularly dress in any different manner there
than I would at any other store (shirts and shoes required...); i.e. I wear
jeans/sweatshirt in winter and shorts/t-shirt in summer and I've never felt like
I was being stared at in any way.  The staff at IBS can be short with folks if
it is a crazy pre-holiday Sunday afternoon, but I've found them VERY helpful
in finding me anything I need on any topic.  What can I say?