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This Upper West Side appetizing shop stands apart by standing still
(New York Jewish Week) — Paul Klausner, a native Upper West Sider, has clear memories of shopping with his mother as a young boy at Murray’s Sturgeon Shop, a store on Broadway and 89th Street known for smoked fish. In Klausner’s family, when it came to buying lox and all the fixings, Murray’s was the place.
Now, some 60 years later, Klausner is still a devoted fan. Although he no longer lives in Manhattan, his beloved Murray’s remains very much the same as the Murray’s of his childhood — in fact, little has changed there since it first opened in 1946. As for Klausner, he and his wife, April Stewart Klausner, keep their freezer in Litchfield County, Connecticut, stocked with Murray’s sliced center-cut nova, which they pick up whenever they are in the city.
In the changing retail world now dominated by chain stores and online shopping, Murray’s is a unicorn. Even among other renowned, longstanding New York appetizing stores like Barney Greengrass, Zabar’s and Russ & Daughters, Murray’s stands apart by standing still. Except for one short move in the 1940s — half a block uptown to its present location — it has always occupied the same tiny piece of real estate. Throughout its 77 years of existence, Murray’s has never expanded its brick and mortar store, nor have its owners opened an adjacent restaurant or cafe. It is a small, narrow slip of a shop, more similar in size to a subway car than a food emporium.
“We are one of the oldest continually running stores on Broadway,” said 65-year-old Ira Goller, the third owner of the shop. “There is nothing else like this anywhere.”
Numerous aspects make Murray’s stand out — the lack of in-store seating, for one, as well as the care in which every customer’s order is hand-filled. Varieties of smoked fish are sliced with surgeon-like precision — so finely that each piece is practically transparent — and, perhaps most notably, said fish is wrapped, origami-like, in heavy white waxed paper, never plastic. Wax paper “absorbs any oils and grease,” said Goller. “If you put the appetizing in a little plastic bag, it is not fresh in a day or two.”
At Murray’s, the smoked fish is still sliced by hand and wrapped in wax paper. (Talia Siegel)
Stewart Klausner describes the shop as “stepping into a time machine where there’s a real connection between merchant and customer.” The countermen, who greet each customer warmly, have all been at Murray’s for at least 10 years. Ecuador-born, Yiddish-speaking Oscar Leon, whom Goller considers his right-hand man, is now in his 45th year. “It’s a family here,” Leon told the New York Jewish Week.
Even the decor is nearly the same as it always was: stainless-steel refrigerators and counters, mirrored side wall, tilework from the 1940s. Of course, over the years, there’s been some nods to modernity: A clock that hangs on the back wall was installed in the 1960s, and somewhere along the way, air conditioning was installed. These days, Murray’s has an online presence — and the store takes many phone orders, especially since the pandemic — but about half of its business is from people who walk in, Goller said.
One regular customer is 54-year old baker Jen Daniels. “Despite the fact that it is actually kind of old, it is immaculate,” Daniels told the New York Jewish Week. “You could eat off the floor there, it is so clean.”
Goller, who previously worked as a Wall Street commodities analyst, bought the store in 1990 from Artie Cutler, founder and owner of several popular Upper West Side eateries, including Artie’s Deli, Ollie’s Noodle Shop and Carmine’s Italian Restaurant. Cutler took over Murray’s in 1974 from the original owners and founders, brothers Sam and Murray Bernstein.
In passing the torch, Cutler stipulated that Goller would find a partner with experience in the food business. There was also an understanding that nothing would be changed in the first year.
After that 12-month learning period, Goller untethered himself from his partner and got to work making a few — just a few! — changes, with an eye on the bottom line. “I had notes to pay, mortgages to pay, mouths to feed,” Goller recalled. No longer would the store be closed on Mondays, as were so many of the stores on Broadway in the 1980s, when Monday was considered the slowest day of the week. Going forward, Murray’s would be open 363 days a year — the store closes only on the first day of Rosh Hashanah and on Yom Kippur.
Although previous owners shut the store during the eight days of Passover, Goller decided to keep it open, and even to sell bagels over the holiday, during which the consumption of bread is forbidden. Goller said he knew he made the right decision when a longstanding customer came in during Passover, wagged his finger at him for selling bagels — and then purchased a dozen.
All of the fish is smoked according to Goller’s specifications in a local smokehouse; the soups and salads are made in house. The food emerges from the tiny kitchen at the rear of the long, narrow shop. It’s not much to speak of: There’s a walk-in refrigerator — for storing pickles; matjes, schmaltz and pickled herring, coleslaw and smoked fish — and a 36-inch electric Garland oven with four burners, used for making soups made from recipes passed on to Goller by his mother-in-law. The crumb cake, baked apples and dairy noodle pudding are baked in that single oven. You won’t even find a dishwasher — everything is hand washed.
While waiting for their orders, customers might overhear the sound of music — what’s perceived as a steady beat is actually the sound of onions being hand-chopped. What you won’t hear is the sound of a food processor: When making whitefish salad, the cooks use tweezers to pluck out the bones from the smoked fish, then crush it by (gloved) hands so that chunks of fish remain in the finished product.
All the salads at Murray’s are made in-house. (Talia Siegel)
Perhaps the biggest change Goller made was in 1995, when he decided to add sliced deli meats to Murray’s menu. “You would have thought I shot the pope,” he joked. “It was the first thing I did that caused an uproar.” The kerfuffle eventually died down, and now, alongside creamed herring, lox and Waldorf salad, items like sliced roast beef and turkey breast are available. All of the meat is kosher and sliced on a dedicated meat slicer so that, in deference to the laws of kosher food, there is no mixing of meat and dairy. (There is no ritual oversight in the store other than Goller, who takes the kashrut of the place seriously.)
But you don’t have to keep kosher — or even be Jewish — to love Murray’s. ”When I first came here, 95% of the customers were Jewish,” Goller told the New York Jewish Week. “Now it’s probably 70%.”
He credits Russ & Daughters, in part, for this expansion of Ashkenazi appetizing foods into the general, and younger, population. “Russ & Daughters has introduced people to bagels, lox and cream cheese,” he said. “Exposure of this type is good for everybody.”
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The post This Upper West Side appetizing shop stands apart by standing still appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Are Jews Fools to Consider Forgiving Kanye West?
Ye, formerly known as Kanye West. Photo: BANG Showbiz via Reuters Connect
Kanye West’s advertisement apologizing to Jews in The Wall Street Journal, which was not a good choice of publication, as it plays into stereotypes of Jews controlling money, has raised an important question at a time when many Jews feel desperate in the wake of rising antisemitism:
Should Jews forgive Kanye?
The conventional wisdom would be not to. In October 2022, he tweeted that he was going to go “death con 3 on Jewish people” and sadly opened a Pandora’s box, where it was cool to be antisemitic. This, of course, was before the attacks of October 7, 2023, and set up a prelude to podcasters blaming Israel for all the world’s ills, and saying that “it shouldn’t be forbidden to criticize Israel” (which, of course, it isn’t).
West is addicted to attention, and his outspoken hatred of Jews clearly gave him that. There are also people who claimed that West hated Jews because he blamed them for his break-up with Kim Kardashian.
But Jews cannot react out of fear or appeasement, and I am embarrassed for some Jewish influencers online who posted that Kanye should be forgiven. Mental illness or not, Kanye West has done incredible damage to the Jewish community.
His song “Heil Hitler” was one of the worst things I’ve seen. He also offended the Black community by psychotically saying that “slavery was a choice.”
Would his followers who say that Hitler was right suddenly flip if Kanye did? It’s hard to say. They might claim that Jews or Israel paid West to change his position.
I’ve also seen some people say that they believe West is sincere. But in life, one shows sincerity by actions, not by words. The question of forgiveness should not even be addressed until West takes some actions that show he means business.
Here are a few things he could do to show contrition:
1. Tell Candace Owens to Chill
Owens has fallen off the deep end, obsessing over Israel, possibly due to her anger of being fired by The Daily Wire. West should call for her to apologize, and stop blaming Israel for everything from the Charlie Kirk murder to the assassination of JFK. West would be helping to stop antisemitism, and also helping Owens, who he says is a friend.
2. Tell Tucker Carlson to Start Acting Like an American
Carlson is head over heels in love with Qatar and Russia, and hates Israel. Perhaps West could also remind Carlson that Winston Churchill was a good guy, not a villain, and that Carlson should stop demonizing Israel.
3. Rebuke Nick Fuentes
Fuentes, a young antisemite growing in popularity, wants to be West’s friend. West should tell Fuentes that he should be a man and stop blaming all the world’s problems on Israel, as if the Jewish State controls the universe — which it does not.
4. Go to Israel and Have Discussions with Jews of Color
Due to the myth of Israel being the “white colonizer,” many are unaware there are Jews of color. When you count Arabic Jews in the fold, more than half of Israel would be considered “diverse” by US standards. Unfortunately, these Jews are not given enough screen time on news shows and debates, and it would be educational for the world to see the truth.
5. Create a Music Video Where He Mocks Antisemitism
In a video with Jewish artists, West can show that antisemitism is neither cool nor strong, and the sign of a weak person who seeks to scapegoat a small minority in order to feel powerful.
6. West Should Study Judaism with a Group of Rabbis for a Set Period of Time
This would show the beginnings of contrition.
All in all, it is foolish to immediately say that West should be forgiven, and it is a sign of people who live in fear or simply want attention or hope that West actually is sincere. But as the automated New York City subway message reminds us, we need to see something before we say something.
The author is a writer based in New York.
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Prominent British LGBTQ activist arrested for carrying ‘globalize the intifada’ sign in London
(JTA) — British LGBTQ activist Peter Tatchell was arrested for holding a sign with the phrase “globalize the intifada” at a pro-Palestinian march in London on Saturday.
Tatchell’s arrest comes weeks after the police in London announced that they would arrest pro-Palestinian protesters who chant “globalize the intifada.” While the common pro-Palestinian phrase is defended by its supporters as a rallying call to expand international pressure on Israel, critics say it amounts to a call for violence against Jews.
The policy change came in the wake of the attack on a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney that killed 15. It followed other efforts by the British government to tighten limits on what pro-Palestinian protesters can say and do, including a ban on the activist group Palestine Action that has made any show of support illegal.
Tatchell, 74, who is known as one of England’s most prominent gay rights activists, wrote in a post on X that he had “opposed Hamas since it was formed & opposed ALL Islamists (Iran, Hezbollah etc).” But he said the Metropolitan Police’s new policy was an overreach.
“Police are fabricating new laws. There is no legal statute that criminalises ‘intifada,’” wrote Tatchell in a post on X decrying his arrest. “By arresting me, police seem to be reacting to pressure from a foreign regime – Israel – & Netanyahu apologists, to silence public support for Palestinians’ right to resist Israeli occupation.”
The full text of Tatchell’s sign at the rally read “Globalise the intifada: Non-violent resistance. End Israel’s occupation of Gaza & West Bank.” Tatchell said he was detained for 12 hours.
Last May, Tatchell was arrested at another pro-Palestinian protest in London for carrying a sign that read “STOP Israel GENOCIDE! STOP Hamas executions!” He said police had accused him of breaching the peace and that pro-Palestinian protesters had accused him of being a pro-Israel plant because he called out Hamas in addition to Israel.
Thirteen people were arrested on Saturday during the Palestine Coalition protest and one person was arrested from the Stop The Hate UK counter protest, according to London’s Metropolitan Police.
The London protest was not the only pro-Palestinian demonstration this weekend to feature calls for an “intifada.”
A coalition of Jewish groups denounced a rally in Philadelphia on Sunday in which marchers chanted calls for an intifada. According to the groups, one speaker said, “Martyrdom is a commitment, a principle. It gives life to the movement and carries it forward…our task is to identify tangible, precise ways to attack the genocidal Zionist enemy and actually f—ing attack.”
The rally was organized by the Philly Palestine Coalition, which has previously targeted Jewish-owned restaurants in the city.
“This was not a metaphor or abstract political speech,” said the statement from the groups, Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, Anti-Defamation League Philadelphia and American Jewish Committee Philadelphia/Southern NJ. “It was explicit incitement for violence. Such language and imagery are dangerous, antisemitic and unacceptable.”
The post Prominent British LGBTQ activist arrested for carrying ‘globalize the intifada’ sign in London appeared first on The Forward.
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Tu B’Shvat, Conscious Eating, and the Jewish Call to Return
Orange trees in Israel’s northern Galilee region. Photo: פואד מועדי / Wikimedia Commons
Tu B’Shvat, the Jewish New Year for the Trees, is often celebrated simply: fruit on the table, blessings over figs and dates, and a nod to nature in the middle of winter. For those who do things a bit more lavishly, a ceremony or seder is conducted.
But at its core, the holiday of Tu B’Shvat is far more than a seasonal celebration. It is a day that offers a profound Jewish teaching about food, responsibility, and the possibility of return.
To understand that teaching, we have to go back to the very first act of eating in the Torah.
In the Garden of Eden, God gives Adam and Eve permission to eat freely from nearly everything around them. Only one boundary is set: there is one tree that is off limits. When Adam and Eve cross that boundary, the result is a rupture of faith between humans and God, which results in a series of other ruptures between humans and the earth — and humans and themselves.
One of the great Chassidic masters, Rabbi Tzadok HaKohen (1823-1900), suggested that the problem was not simply what they ate, but how they ate: without awareness, without restraint, and without consciousness. They consumed, rather than received.
Five hundred years ago, the kabbalists of Tzfat transformed Tu B’Shvat from a technical agricultural date into a spiritual opportunity. They taught that the world is filled with sparks of holiness, and that our everyday actions, especially eating, can either elevate those sparks or bury them further. This lesson has recently been discussed by the Jerusalem-based educator Sarah Yehuit Schneider.
Eating, in Jewish thought, is never neutral.
When we eat with intention and gratitude, we participate in tikkun olam, repairing the world. When we eat mindlessly, we reenact the mistake of Eve and Adam from the Garden of Eden.
The holiday of Tu B’Shvat invites us to try again.
There is another detail worth noting. The Torah’s first description of the human diet is explicitly plant-based: “I have given you every seed-bearing plant and every fruit-bearing tree; it shall be yours for food.” That diet, which was given in Eden, does not end with humanity’s exile from paradise. For generations to come, until after the great flood in the time of Noah, that diet continued in a world already marked by moral compromise.
On Tu B’Shvat, when Jews sit down to a table of fruit, we are quietly returning to that original vision of eating plant-based food that sustains life without taking it, nourishment that reflects restraint rather than domination.
That idea feels especially urgent today.
Our food choices now affect far more than our own bodies. They shape the treatment of animals, the health of the planet, and the sustainability of our food systems. Eating “without knowing” is something that carries grave consequences, which are all too visible in our society.
To observe conscious eating today means asking hard questions: Who is harmed by this choice? What systems does it support? What kind of world does it help create?
In my work as a rabbi and educator with Jewish Vegan Life, I encounter many Jews grappling with these questions, most of whom possess a desire to align their daily choices with enduring Jewish values of compassion, responsibility, and reverence for life.
Tu B’Shvat reminds us that Judaism does not demand perfection, but it does demand awareness. It teaches that repair is possible, not only through grand gestures, but through daily choices repeated with intention.
Redemption begins when a person makes a choice to eat their meal consciously. This is what the seder on Passover is for and what it reminds us of, and the same holds true for the seder on Tu B’Shvat.
The custom to eat fruits on Tu B’Shvat, the choice to have a seder or ceremony, reminds us of the consciousness that we must approach all of our meals with. On Tu B’Shvat, we are being asked to reconsider how we eat, how we live, and how we might take one small step closer to the world as it was meant to be. It is, after all, according to the Mishna in tractate Rosh Hashanah, one of the four New Years of the Jewish calendar.
Rabbi Akiva Gersh, originally from New York, has been working in the field of Jewish and Israel education for more than 20 years. He lives with his wife, Tamar, and their four kids in Pardes Hanna. He is the Senior Rabbinic Educator at Jewish Vegan Life. https://jewishveganlife.