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Frequently Asked Questions

Grave of Linitzer Sokolivker RebbeJewish Discovery Center - Hopkins Road, Amherst

We get lots of questions!  Here are the most common.

General Questions

Q.  I am visiting Buffalo.  Where is there an Orthodox synagogue with hotels within walking distance?

A.  The Orthodox synagogue most convenient to hotels is Young Israel on Maple Road in Amherst.  The Residence Inn at the Marriott is directly across the street.  There are several other hotels about a ten minute walk away at Maple Road near Millersport Highway, notably the Marriott, the Red Roof Inn and the Super 8.  For more information see the Young Israel website.

 

Q.  Where is the grave of the Linitzer Sokolivker Rebbe?

A.  It is at the Jefferson Avenue shul cemetery on the corner of Pine Ridge Road and Maryvale Drive in Cheektowaga.  If you're coming from west to east on Route 33 (the Kensington Expressway), take the Pine Ridge Road exit and take a right on Pine Ridge Road.  It's the first cemetery on your left.  If you're coming from the 290 in Amherst take the 290 east to the 90 west to the 33 west to the Harlem Road exit.  At the bottom of the exit ramp take a left, go under the highway, & take a quick right on Maryvale Drive.  The cemetery is a couple of minutes up on your left, on the corner of Pine Ridge Road.  The rebbe's grave is in a small brick building adjacent to the cemetery fence nearest Pine Ridge Road.  For more information see the cemeteries page.

 

Q.  Do you have any information on my relative who lived in Buffalo many years ago?

A.  Contact Mrs. Muriel Selling of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Buffalo by email or at (716)691-4828.

 

Q.  Why don't you Jews worship {enter non-Jewish deity of your choice}?  Don't you know it says in {enter non-Jewish reference of your choice} that Truth demands that the Jews {incomprehensible instruction}?

A.  Beats me.

 

Q.  Israel terrible Palestina fight win Jews bad.

A.  Alrighty then.

 

Q.  Where can I find single Jews in Buffalo?

A.  Toronto.  In particular, you might want to subscribe to the Canadian Jewish News, which posts singles events and has a substantial number of singles ads.  And as everyone knows, Canadians are unusually fine people.  The best Toronto singles events, incidentally, occur on three dates.  The Sunday night before Victoria Day (often, but not always, coincides with Memorial Day), the Sunday night before Labour Day (often, but not always, coincides with Labor Day), and the evening of December 24.  

Locally, there is always a gathering in Amherst on December 24 at the bar of the Marriott Hotel on Maple & Millersport as well.  And, of course, we encourage you to visit the singles page on this site.

The Jewish Singles Network is local.  See the social organizations page for more information.

 

Q.  Dear friend, I ask you to read this letter till the end! Don't treat to my words with indifferens. On Your understanding it will depend my fate and the fate of my child!  {followed by a treatise on how the Israeli authorities are letting me & little Schmulie starve, & this is my address in Haifa where you may send your donation}

A.  What a sad story!  Here's my credit card number.

 

Site Questions

 

Q.  The opinions contained in the commentary are incorrect.  Correct the opinions contained therein immediately.

A.  No can do, but you are welcome to post your contrary opinion on the forum.

 

Q.  How long does it take you to update the site every week?

A.  An hour.  Plus, of course, Dr. Falk's commentary & Rabbi Spero's Dafs are written on a voluntary basis, as are forum postings.  A good guess would be that the net to maintain it is one full time man day per week.  And, it should be added, thanks to all who contribute their efforts.

 

Q.  I love your Jewish Buffalo picture.  How did you make it?

A.  Part of it is a self portrait.  No, not that part; the part showing the yarmulke.  As to the question you didn't ask, since no one would think it's anything but whimsical, the fact is that whimsy was not (entirely) the idea.  The picture was inspired by the well-known Bird's Head Haggadah, a seven century old manuscript from southern Germany that depicts animals in human form, presumably to conform with the prohibition against graven images.  The buffalo head, aside from being a Jewish Buffalo, is therefore also a tribute to your webmaster's ancestors, who lived in Württemberg for too many generations to find a beginning until moving to blessed America under the worst of circumstances in 1939.

Q.  My rabbi & my cantor should be in the Jewish Buffalo Hall of Fame.  Will you please put them there?

A.  We put neither cantors, living or in the next world, nor living rabbis, in the Hall of Fame.  It's not that there aren't many, if not most, if not all, of the members of these categories who have made a lasting contribution to our community, nor is it a matter of unwieldy numbers.  It's just that we don't need trouble from congregants whose rabbi, or the cantor with whom they grew up, have been left out.  Dr. Selig Adler, of blessed memory, used to say that he regretted writing From Ararat to Suburbia, his outstanding scholarly book on the history of the Buffalo Jewish community, because he was continually berated by those whose relatives were not mentioned.  He was a most intelligent man & we have every intention of learning from him.

Feel free to nominate anyone else you wish.

 

Q.  How many hits do you get?

A.  The short answer is a 5,203 per day during November 2006.  "Hits", however, is not much of a measure of anything, despite its common usage, due to the fact that a "hit" consists of an access of any file on the site, whether it's a page, a picture, or a video.  "Requests for pages" is a more telling measure.  We got 1,672 requests for pages per day in November 2006.  The usage has steadily increased since the site's inception in December 1998.  About 85% of the users are from the United States; the other countries with a substantial amount of usage are Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and Israel.   Jbuff.com note:  If you're faculty or staff at the University at Buffalo, any site you access knows EXACTLY who's looking at it.  You guys should talk to your system administrator, particularly if you're paranoid, intend to post defamatory messages, wish to threaten the president, etc.  By the way, you've got something between your teeth.

 

Q.  How do I contact someone who posted something on the forum?

A.  If they didn't include an email reply address, you don't.  You can post a reply on the forum yourself, though.

 

Q.  I've sent you posts for the forum every other day for the past two weeks, but you've never posted any of them.  Are you afraid to post something that disagrees with your commentary or another forum poster?  P.S.  The commentator this week is a liar, the last forum poster is a pig, and death to America and Israel.

A.  We have no problem with reasonable disagreements, but we get five or six irrational name calling proposed forum commentaries for every rational one that we post.  We must have somehow confused yours with some of the former.

 

Q.  May I use a {photo/essay} from your website for my {website/exhibition/master's thesis}?

A.  Sure.  It's always appreciated, however, if you credit, or post a link to, jbuff.com when you use it.  If you want to use a daf yomi, Dvar Torah, or a word however, please email Rabbi Spero or Rabbi Taub directly for permission.

Congregation B'rith Sholom l(1951)

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