Harvard of the Chareidim. On Mea She'arim street in Jerusalem you can buy a baseball cap with an inscription that is meant as a subversive comment on the current yeshiva reality: “I got accepted to Brisk… but I learn in the Mir.” The "Brisk" that the cap is referring to - headed by Rav Avraham Yehoshua Soloveitchik - is the most exclusive yeshiva in the world. American Chareidim are desperate "to get into Brisk." But unlike the ivy-covered buildings of Harvard or Yale, Brisk has few outward signs of prestige. And yet “reputations, careers—and, most significantly, marriages—hang on whether a young man is accepted there.” One American student recalled: “The day they announced who got in and who didn’t, a thousand young men were crying.” Another put it bluntly: “If you want to get a top job, or marry the daughter of a wealthy man who will support you while you learn Torah, you have to get into Brisk.” Over the last few decades, the path of an American ultra-Orthodox male has included studies in an American yeshiva until around age 21, and than a year or two in Israel, preferably at Brisk. Afterward, the young men return to America for marriage and another few years of study, often at the huge Lakewood (BMG) Yeshiva in New Jersey. The reputation of the "feeder" yeshivas depends on their ability to gain their talented students' admission into Brisk. The Brisk mystique comes from the Soloveitchik lineage and the unpublished notebooks of the Brisker Rav (Rabbi Yitzchak Zev “Velvel” Soloveitchik). These “samizdat” Xeroxed commentaries carry the warning, “It is forbidden to copy these pages or to take them outside the study hall.” The Brisker Rav refused to meet Ben-Gurion or take Israeli government money, and taught only a small circle. That exclusivity and purism—refusing state funds remains a “major cornerstone of the Brisk mystique”—still define the place. Whereas formerly, being a yeshiva student meant being part of a small, scholarly elite, the last quarter-century has seen yeshivas grow into the center of a fully formed society, with tens of thousands of members. Within this world, studying Torah full-time into one's twenties has become a norm. But if everyone is a scholar, a thorny problem arises. How is society to honor the particularly talented or well-connected? The need arose to demarcate an elite within the elite, a new and privileged caste. Brisk today fulfills this function. "If a prospective bridegroom is a top guy, he should have gone to Brisk," says Rabbi Shimon Meller, author of eight volumes of Brisk history, authorized by the family. "And if he didn't, then the question is why not?" The intellectual foundation is the Brisker method pioneered by Reb Chaim Soloveitchik—analytical, conceptual, and revolutionary—which spread through Lithuanian yeshivas. Later leaders are less innovative; one scholar joked that when Rav Avraham Yehoshua coughs in shiur, “he explains that he is coughing because ‘Grandfather used to cough here, too.’” (Credit: Micha Odenheimer, Haaretz, Jan. 28, 2005)

A father blessed his daughter before the Chuppah.

An update from the young Orthodox Jewish couple that travel the world: "Hollywood, Florida is officially HOME for us!" they posted on Instagram. "We wanted a place to call home without giving up our love for adventure, and Florida feels like the perfect mix of both! From the beaches to all the hidden gems and new places to explore, we’re so excited for this next chapter!" 🎥: only.glanz

Jeff George, the self-proclaimed "Jersey Goy", went to the new Hasidic community of Lakefront Estates in Florida.

Our favorite Lakewood FedEx driver is back on his route singing RTVT by Hershy Weinberger. 🎥: Lakewood Scoop

Culture Shock: A Modern Orthodox woman who married into a Satmar Hasidic family reveals things that shocked her about Chasidim. Part 2. 🎥: callhermeitar

You grew up on Uncle Moishy and the Marvelous Middos Machine. Your kids are growing up watching Pollan and Tuchus_offan_tish on Instagram.

A report from the Shore News Network about the growing Orthodox Jewish community in Jackson Township, NJ. xitter.cf/ShoreNewsNJ/status/211…

🚨 Breaking Update: Hershy Weinberger meets Troi, the viral FedEx driver in Lakewood that enjoys listening to Hasidic music as he drives around the Orthodox Jewish neighborhood delivering packages. And yes, they sing Hershy's song RTVT together. What a beautiful and heartwarming story. 💙

A non-Jewish FedEx driver in Lakewood is going viral after a clip of him playing Hasidic music was posted on social media. He learned Hershy Weinberger and other Hasidic songs just to make the Jewish kids on his route smile. "The music is so positive. How can you not like it?"

United Torah Judaism released it's new election jingle ahead of the Israeli elections. Regardless of your opinion on how they govern, their jingles are always spot on and seem to work very well in rallying the Chareidim to vote UTJ. Having a Litvish and Chasidish singer both headlining this track is done on purpose to unite both segments to vote UTJ. When you put together the emotional pull of the jingle together with the Gedolim rallies, and all the Rabbonim/Yeshivos encouraging everyone to vote UTJ, it makes it very hard for Chareidim to vote for any other party on election day.