I explained Borough Park

With a PowerPoint!

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I’m a fan of

Rob Stephenson

’s Substack,

The Neighborhoods

, where he recently did a piece on Borough Park, displaying his usual excellent research and photographs. I may be a Brooklyn expat, but I love my hometown, and Rob’s piece reminded me of my time in Borough Park and of one of the most fun things I did there.

For over twenty years, I was a software applications trainer. This often led people to think that I was a ‘computer guy,’ but I often had to explain it this way: I’m like a driving instructor — I can teach you to drive, but don’t ask me to fix your car.

For most of those twenty years, I taught Electronic Medical Records software to doctors, nurses, and hospital staff at facilities all over the United States. I was blessed to have a job I loved and to work with people I liked and generally respected.

In 2010, I was in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn as part of the core team for a large group of trainers at Maimonides Medical Center. I lived in New Hyde Park on Long Island, a relatively easy commute, so I didn’t have to live in a hotel. I knew the neighborhood fairly well.

As we prepared for training, writing learning materials and getting ready to train the trainers, it became obvious that most of the trainers were not ‘from around here,’ and Borough Park is not a typical neighborhood — most of the residents are Hasidic Jews, and many of their customs are unfamiliar to those who are not. I was tasked with creating a presentation for those strangers in a strange land, to keep them from getting into trouble or riling up the natives.

Borough Park hasn’t changed much, and it probably won’t change much in the future. Here’s what I shared with them, including the PowerPoint:

The all-important introductory Title Page.

This slide is fairly self-explanatory. It’s a diverse neighborhood, but when most Brooklynites hear “Borough Park” (or, as Rob tells us, “Boro Park, without the ‘ugh’”), they think Hasidic Jews.

The important things to note here are: All Hasidim are not the same, and Hasidic Jews are not being rude by ignoring you — they’re supposed to ignore you unless they have to communicate with you.

Also, the groups that live in Borough Park do not include the Lubavitcher (Chabad) sect. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, don’t worry — you don’t need to know.

Okay, first of all, if you’ve seen Hasidic boys, you’ve seen payesses: the curly forelocks in front of their ears. The men have them, too, but they blend in with the beard. Why the payess and the beard? Leviticus 19:27: Do not round the corners of your head. Fun fact: it’s the same Biblical injunction that inspires Rastafarians to wear dreadlocks.

Orthodox women do not show their hair in public after marriage. Instead, they wear a headscarf or a wig—called a sheitel—to maintain modesty and to show that they are married.

An ultra-orthodox Jew, whether Hasidic or not, does not enter an enclosed space alone with a member of the opposite sex. This is to thwart what is known as the “evil inclination.”

Also known as boys.

You can see the hats more clearly in some of these photos:

Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress

Photo courtesy of NYC Mayor’s Office

Most important to remember:

Okay, what’s a Sabbath Elevator? Orthodox Jews are not permitted to do any work on the Sabbath, including operating electrical switches. So, Maimonides Medical Center provides a Shabbos (or Sabbath) Elevator, which stops at every floor. There is no need to press the button (thus completing a circuit, which is forbidden). Get it? Good.

The cheeseburger thing? The hospital cafeteria is kosher; cheeseburgers are not. Neither is bacon. There’s a luncheonette around the corner called “3-In-One Kitchen” that is not kosher and has great food.

I wish I could say that this presentation prevented any cultural conflict during our year there, but it helped.

Another fun fact: Maimonides Medical Center delivers more babies than any other hospital in New York State, with over 8,500 babies born annually. My brothers and I weren’t born there, and neither was Lou Reed.

Feel free to ask questions in the comments!