The new Lifetime reality show Russian Dolls portrays the Russian-American Jews of Brighton Beach as celebrating neither America nor their Judaism but the freedom to be stereotypically Russian

Avrohom Mondrowitz, an accused serial pedophile who fled ultra-Orthodox Brooklyn for Israel, has never faced trial, thanks to extradition complications, a community that may have preferred to keep things quiet, and, critics charge, a D.A. who had political reasons not to pursue the case

Seduced by lower rents and edgy bars, a former Hasid moves to hipster Brooklyn. But what he gains in nightlife, he loses in camaraderie. What happened to nosy neighbors?

Shomrim—controversial Jewish neighborhood watch groups—patrol the Orthodox enclaves of Brooklyn, where safety’s battles are fought along exclusive ethnic and community lines

Plus, why Assad is still around, the most perfect Brooklyn trend piece, and more

How Commissioner Bud Selig can remake his legacy and cement his Jewishness

Composer and bassist Omer Avital joins American jazz with Israeli and Arab styles, especially Yemeni and Moroccan, to create music with a new and vital connection to a shared Middle Eastern past

I mean, what am I missing?

Plus Medvedev gets warm welcome in Jericho, and more in the news

I turned in my book’s manuscript almost a month ago, but my editor doesn’t seem to have read it yet. It makes a writer wonder what he’s doing instead.