The Essefficist apologizes for the unexcused absence last week, but we don't recall getting any threatening letters (or any lonely ones, for that matter), so we're over it already. If you are.

So here we are, a day late this week, just in time for Hanukah, and we've got a couple of doozies for you. One about Hasidic Jews in San Francisco, one about pretty leaves tied to a chain-link fence. Mmmm... leaves. So, first let's hear from our main man J:

The short answer is yes, J, there are Hasidic Jews in San Francisco, and yes, you just haven't seen them. The reason for that, basically, is that there aren't tons of them around and the ones that are here don't adhere to the same dress code in public that we all associate with Hasidim. They don't wear the coats and hats and ear-locks that you see in Brooklyn; rather they're more likely to be seen in business suits and yarmulkes with sideburns or beards not so unlike yours and ours. (Well, probably kinda unlike ours, since we've got a really sparse beard and can't even grow proper sideburns.)

I moved here from New York a few years ago. One of the things I love about SF is the mix of cultures in the city. In comparing the two cities with friends, I realized that I have yet to see any Hasidic Jews living in San Francisco. I lived in Brooklyn there was a sizable population living all around me. Is there a community of Hasidic Jews in San Francisco? Have I just not seen them, or are they just not here? (and if not, why?)