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A generous rebate program has Lakewood-area homeowners insulating their homes and upgrading their heating and cooling systems—with remarkable results Life costs money. We’ve all made peace with it. There’s the mortgage, tuition, insurance, the car, camp, clothing, groceries, and an ever-growing list of expenses that always seem just beyond our means. And yet, for some […]

Elisheva Braun Western Wall on Friday night, his first time ever there, Strapped into his knapsack with his long and curly hair… MBD’s transcendent voice paints the image of a backpacking youth on a search. Just one Shabbos was all it took to grow a drop of interest into a streaming river of connection. What […]

Rabbi Yitzchak Finkel Brings the Past to Life M. Brejt The knock on the door was startling. Deep in the middle of their Seder, the Finkels glanced at each other. Who could be at their door on Leil Pesach? “Is it Eliyahu Hanavi?” one of the children asked, wide-eyed. Their neighbor stood there. “Is Rabbi […]

My Chosen Life Your day is not yours. Those waking hours? Sorry, but they don’t belong to you. You know what I mean. You feel it. You feel the stress, the pull of those hours that are not your own. Put in those hours. Get the job done. Check it off the list. Daytime is […]

“If you help them, you are helping me!” So declaresRav Gamliel Rabinowitz regarding the chashuve families who are helped by Kupas Zichron Moshe. What is this kupah that has the full support of Rav Gamliel Rabinowitz? Who are the recipients he so worries and cares for? Hidden diamonds They are R’ Gamliel’s personal friends and […]

Changing the Story for Couples Sarah Massry One of 10,000: the story of one Bonei Olam baby Sori Engel shares: After several years in shidduchim, I was looking forward to joining the ranks of my married friends who were raising families in Lakewood. I eagerly anticipated the next stage of life—building my own family. But […]

From Class Clown to Entertainer of Thousands A. Weiss I meet Yoel Ferber in the Voice’s office at the end of a long day teaching, but for him, he’s just getting started. He’s come to record for the Loop as their mascot—the one and only Sir Conference. Ari Berkowitz, publisher of the Voice, pokes his […]

The People Who Power Lakewood’s Landmark Tzedakah Elisheva Braun Snow was falling and the ground was frozen. The car’s tiny clock read 2 a.m. as Mrs. Shanik stepped out of her van to distribute reading material for families to enjoy. A high school girl crossed the street, murmuring into the cell phone tucked against her […]

The Not-So-Tiny World of Eim Leah A mother holding her newborn baby. Is there any moment more magical? Any bond more transcendent? Any image more iconic to our nation’s essence? Granted—there’s the magic. And the gratitude. But as anyone blessed to have been there knows, there’s also perpetual exhaustion, staggering overwhelm, and breathless disbelief that […]

The present, the prospects, and the projections Elisheva Braun While throngs of eager buyers are snapping up local homes, thousands more are cramped into too-small spaces, trapped between pricey real estate, a historic mortgage rate jump, and a tight supply-demand tug-of-war. What does the housing market look like today? Where is it heading? And how […]