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Heidi of Princeton

JL;DR SUMMARY In "Heidi of Princeton," Moshe Koppel reflects on his transformative experience at Princeton's kosher dining hall in the 1980s, where he encountered Heidi, a graduate student, who challenged his Orthodox Jewish beliefs. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

HolocaustOrthodox JudaismYiddishkeitTraditionJewish BeliefsPrincetonModernitySkepticismHeidiShimen

Places mentioned

Princeton, New Jersey, United States
"It was in the kosher dining hall at Princeton where, in the 1980s, I lost my innocence."
Manhattan, New York, United States
"My first lessons in the matter had been learned in the small shtiebel (prayer hall) on the Upper West Side of Manhattan where my grandfather prayed along with his fellow Gerer Hasidim."
Łódź, Poland
"a Nazi officer in the Lodz ghetto demanded that he hand over either his son or his daughter within 48 hours."
Jerusalem, Israel
"With Gods direct help, the nascent nation conquered the Land of Israel, as had been promised to its forefathers, established the Davidic line of kings, and built the Temple in Jerusalem."
Poland
"as a boy in eder (religious elementary school) in Poland long before the war."

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Cairo Item ID 66237
Cairo Source ID 10
Retrieved 2025-11-09 05:31:42 UTC
Curated 2025-11-09 08:30:53 UTC