Rabbi Capers C. Funnye, leader of the Beth Shalom B’nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation, shapes a faith.
Author Archive for Josh Kovensky
In Search of Yak
by Josh Kovensky •
Chicago, for all its huffing and puffing about being a “global” city, has long lacked contact with the good denizens of the Himalayas and their tasty cuisine. Nepal House aims to change that, currying flavor one meal at a time.
El Hajji El Shabazz
by Josh Kovensky •
El Hajji El Shabazz has been cutting hair on the South Side throughout some of the city’s, and nation’s, most turbulent changes. Born Thomas Anthony Williams Jr., El Shabazz has manned the shears at his 87th Street Truth & Soul…
Africa in America
by Josh Kovensky •
It was late on a frigid Wednesday night, and I was stranded miles from home. Immersed in a sea of unfamiliar faces, I was at a loss to ask someone for a ride home. My company was warm, but…
Batting 300 Million
by Josh Kovensky •
They say it takes a village to raise a child. But what does the child say about the village? What if the village happens to be a testosterone-fueled 300 million dollar megalopolis of athletics conceived by a boisterous alderman…
Dog Eat Dog World
by Josh Kovensky •
On the way to the Twilight Zone, it’s possible that you’ll find two identical hot dog stands adjacent to one another, each offering the exact same meals for the exact same prices.
Driven Back into the Past
by Josh Kovensky •
The Don of Diesel, the Maharaja of Motor, the Shogun of shot brakes. Patrick Lay—owner of Hyde Park’s Foreign car hospital—is a man whose career and devotion to foreign automobiles has spanned over half a century, from the OPEC embargo…
Annual jazz
by Josh Kovensky •
It began with a rumble, and then a screech, and then a bang. A thumping baseline saddled up beside vocals preaching the gospel of love, while drums echoed against gothic stonework. At Union Church on 56th and Woodlawn, the Hyde…
