Scranton, PA

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  • #1722007
    Lightbrite
    Participant

    What is there to do in or near l Scranton, PA?

    Based off online information, Scranton has a large observant Jewish population.

    Are there any good sightseeing places that you know of firsthand?

    Thank you 🙂

    #1722173
    zahavasdad
    Participant

    Its not that large a community.

    There is a coal mine to visit and a railroad yard . Its not exactly the most exciting place.

    I dont know why the frum community really hasnt taken off there, housing is really cheap (under $100,000) and its pretty close to NYC (about 3 hours) so things can get gotten pretty easily and families can see each other frequently

    #1722225
    Redleg
    Participant

    Yeah! be sure to check out the coal mine that’s been on fire since 1962 in nearby Centralia PA.

    #1722262
    Joseph
    Participant

    Scranton, many decades ago, had a significant Orthodox Jewish community.

    #1722268
    yudel
    Participant

    It has the Dave Elliot poultry Shechita, nice place to visit.

    #1722273
    The little I know
    Participant

    I have met several talmidim of the yeshiva there. I am impressed. They tell me the community is extremely supportive of the yeshiva, and integrated well with it.

    #1722282
    1
    Participant

    Nothing

    #1722283
    TGIShabbos
    Participant

    zahava, I’d guess that Scranton never took off because 1. It’s not a robust job market or roaring economy 2. From what I heard the winter in Scranton can make NYC seem balmy

    #1722276
    klugeryid
    Participant

    In terms of sightseeing not much
    Bob mellow state park is gorgeous
    (they may have changed the name) but it’s not sightseeing.
    Rabbi fine is a sight to see.
    Massive Talmud Chacham down to earth and as sweet as you can get
    Fink poultry farm
    Go to national bakery on ash street
    Cheap delicious and PAs yisroel too!! (some stuff is dairy, pizza I believe is dairy cholov yisroel)
    If your coming from new York and you have little kids, check out apple blossom farm on the PA border
    Enjoy

    #1722311
    Yserbius123
    Participant

    Say hi to all the Horowitz’s (if there’s any left living there). You probably know a few, pretty much any nussach sefard Horowitz who is a Levi can trace their lineage back to Scranton.

    #1722359
    klugeryid
    Participant

    And a son in law is rosh yeshiva of chafetz Chaim yeshiva

    #1722452
    Little Froggie
    Participant

    Anyone from Scranton?

    Hmm…

    #1722386
    DovidBT
    Participant

    No offense meant, but “Scranton” sounds like a place where you would dispose of waste material.

    They should change the name to something more uplifting, like “Pleasantville” or “Happytown”.

    #1722579
    ilovetora
    Participant

    Be sure to visit the regional branch of the famous Dunder Mifflin paper company in Scranton. Also fun is schrute farms where they grow beets.

    #1722575
    zahavasdad
    Participant

    A place thats a little bland and dull is perfect for a Makom torah. Gateshead was chosen because it was more industrial and not so nice., Otherwise there might be distractions from learning.

    While there is a Kollel in Las Vegas, I can still see the neon lights on the strip drawing people away from learning to it. In scranton there is less districation

    #1722936
    charliehall
    Participant

    Scranton was the name of the family that founded the city, developing iron, steel, and coal in the area.

    A direct descendent of one of the founders, William Scranton, served as a Republican Congressman and Governor of Pennsylvania. Scranton was and is a hugely Democratic city; Republicans tried to get Scranton to run for higher office because of his ability to get Democratic votes but he always declined. This is probably good because he worked in the State Department under Eisenhower and was UN Ambassador under Ford where he had a record of hostility to Israel.

    #1722935
    CTLAWYER
    Participant

    30 Thousand pounds of bananas

    #1722949
    👑RebYidd23
    Participant

    The Scranton family should have changed their name to Pleasantsky or Happystein.

    #1722948
    klugeryid
    Participant

    ?
    CT lawyer
    Am I missing something?

    #1722952
    yashrus
    Participant

    Harry Houdini Museum and magic shows

    #1723174
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    I think I heard that there was an office there.

    The Wolf

    #1723195
    ☕️coffee addict
    Participant

    It’s not that far from camp bonim (naarim)

    #1723246
    Gadolhadorah
    Participant

    If you are looking for an OoT relocation option, I wouldn’t consider a town where the two top tourist options are an abandoned burning coal mine spewing tons of CO2 into the atmosphere or a schlachthois. Consider some of the more vibrant frum communities that advertise here on YWN (Rochester, Norfolk etc.) . If you happen to be in Scranton for some other reason and want a place to go for a few hours of sightseeing, consider the childhood home of the 46th President if you’ve already seen the coal mine and Schlachthois.

    #1723253
    Neville ChaimBerlin
    Participant

    “Be sure to visit the regional branch of the famous Dunder Mifflin paper company in Scranton. Also fun is schrute farms where they grow beets.”

    And Poor Richards, which is the only thing that’s actually real and there. Not that I would know, because I obviously don’t understand any of these references 😉

    #1723322
    CTLAWYER
    Participant

    @klugeryid
    I was wondering how long it would take for someone to pick on the reference to a Harry Chapin folk song form the 1970s.
    It’s about a truck driver with a load of 30,000 pounds of Bananas who loses his brakes while coming down hill entering Scranton, PA.

    For those who have driven the interstate to Scranton, as I have done a number of times, it is in a valley with a long and steep descent to enter

    #1723352
    klugeryid
    Participant

    Which approach you referring to?
    The 81? 84? 380-local road?

    #1723354
    yehudayona
    Participant

    The coal mine tour is really interesting. We took out daughter there when she was 9 or 10. While we were waiting for the tour to begin, we watched a video. I remember the look on her face when someone started singing “It’s dark as a dungeon.” She had thought it was a song that I had made up.

    #1723386
    YonasonR
    Participant

    A new Kollel also recently opened up, as well as a couple new families. For activities, there’s laser tag in Dickson city, Railrider’s games in the spring (baseball), a co-op, 2 Kosher certified Rita’s ices, an aquarium, escape the room, and some other stuff as well.

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