West Side Judaica

It was a Chanukkah emergency! No joke. We were having a Chanukkah party and the host of the party had forgotten to buy more oil for the chanukiah (menorah). So, with one of the candle holders in hand we rushed over to West Side Judaica. The owner was closing up for the night. Actually, he WAS closed. But we knocked, held up the candle holder and explained we had an emergency. He buzzed us in anyway.
«You know we’re closed,» He said when we entered the store. «We know, but we need oil!» Showing him our candle holder. «Do you know the size?» Upon which we presented him with the candle holder. He pulled out a box, and starting fitting different sized oils in our candle holder until we found the perfect one. «Would you like plain or colored?» So many choices! We went with plain because I personally like classic.
As we were checking out, we decided last second to grab some chocolate coins for décor on our tables. He nicely re-​added everything up. We were only in the store for less then ten minutes, and obviously the owner wanted to go home and spend his holiday with his family, but he was super nice and accommodating to us. Would totally go back here for any of my holiday needs.

I love this place. Helpful staff and great selection. It’s the best Judaica store in the city.

I don’t live in NYC or even in NY state, but I would like to shop here online. Do they have a website? Please support this store. A hate crime took place there today, as reported in the news. A store keeper was attacked and punched by an assailant who hurled antisemitic and racial slurs. Please rally around this store and your local Kosher and Judaica stores.

Great store! Bought my very first yarmulke and/​or kippah here!

West Side Judaica is an amazing resource. Great selection of books, art, kippot, mezuzot, and even cookware. The best part is their staff — very friendly and knowledgeable.
In the past year, I’ve purchased a few dozen kosher mezuzot, cases, some knit kippot, a few books and siddurim, and a wonderful hot-​water urn with a Shabbat mode. I even bought my travel sukkah from them. Everything you need, all in one place.

Knowledgeable, pleasant, and helpful. Excellent selection of religious articles, judaica, and books. Highly recommend them for all your cultural and religious needs.

Big selection. Full price for everything. Even older stuff you could buy on line for a third or less. Staff seems friendly.

Came here in search of a new tallis for my fiancé.
Biggest plus — their hours are great! For being closed on Shabbat, they are open late most nights of the week, so it’s easy to drop by after work.
Disappointed in selection — We didn’t know what to expect, so it’s perhaps unfair that we were disappointed in the selection. Honey wanted a tallis with colored-​stripes (the big kind, more like a shawl than just the neck kind for Bar Mitzvah boys). They only had one they recommended, which seems to me that perhaps they were holding back and trying to sell or get rid of certain inventory. We didn’t know enough to argue, so we went with the one they showed us, black stripes instead of colored. They also pushed us to get a monogrammed velvet case, which neither of us felt particularly interested in — velvet isn’t exactly our style, and it’s the only fabric they said they had. We got — and are perfectly happy with the maroon case and all — and it meets our expectations. Just still wish we had more options to «build» the tallis and case we would’ve envisioned for ourselves. That might require a trip to Israel or some digging around on the Internet…
Patient teacher — I appreciated that they spent time showing Honey how to properly put on his new «big-​boy» tallis, since he definitely needed the pointers. It took several attempts, and they were patient with him until he got it right.
Pushy — I didn’t like how pushy they were trying to sell other products. We didn’t need anything else, but they kept trying to recommend other Judaica items we might want for our wedding.

I am always impressed by the number of times customers come into the store to tell the staff how central a role it has played in their lives. West Side Judaica has a lot of loyal customers. The guys working there are knowledgeable, but the place really doesn’t need so many of them. The place is overstaffed.
One of the minuses is that some of the books are up at impossible heights. I am tall, but I would need a ladder to reach the upper shelves.
The lighting in the store is good, and the place is well organized. I’d like to seem them provide a few chairs here and there for people trying to decide which book to purchase.
There are a few out-​of-​print books in the store. These are often priced substantially higher than you might see them for through online booksellers.
West Side Judaica tries to be all things to all people, but I always notice a few things missing there that I would expect a store of its size to have.

I have shopped here A LOT! Not only for my everyday judaica needs, but I also shopped there extra frequently while I was planning my wedding and placing large orders of benchers, kippot, etc. I also purchased our ketubah and my husband’s tallis & personalized tallis bag here.
This place gets 5 stars for their excellent customer service. I also appreciate them keeping their prices reasonable even though they are in Manhattan. I really love this store and appreciate what it brings to the neighborhood.

This is my first review on Unilocal.I do not go to West Side Judaica often, but when I do, I always find what I need. They have a wide variety of options at different price points and the staff is friendly and they give good advice and explain things. They are experts. I am not an a religious Jew so I really need help! I really appreciate that they are totally non-​judgmental about my ignorance.

Five stars for the only Judaica store I’ve ever seen that stocks a full complement of liberal movement (Reform, Conservative, etc.) books. Kudos

Nice guys. They really they know their stuff. Prices are really high compared to ordering online, but its easier to walk in for a last minute gift as opposed to waiting for a delivery.

Not cheap but handy for relevant items, like those mentioned in the other reveiws.
Some kids’ books and a lot of serious adult ones (not THAT kind of adult).

When you wake up and its 3 days until your first Law School final (the first one of your whole life) and you also realize it is the day before Chanukah and you have no candles, it can make for a bad morning.
So, my little Californian self put on 35 layers of clothes and ventured on my journey from Newark, NJ to West Side Judaica in Manhattan. Talk about a wandering Jew! (It’s a long story but it is impossible to get anywhere but NYC from Newark without a car)
Anyway, after my trip on the PATH (see previous review) and the subway I arrived at the store as they were about to close. I walked in, saw a ton of Orthodox people and worried they would give me dirty looks due to my very fashionable but not so Orthodox kippah.
So, I darted for the candles (there were oh so many!) and I grabbed a box. Just as I was about to buy a black leather kippah to throw on my head immediately and camouflage my liberal head, one of the men came and asked if I needed help and was OH so nice! So, then I bought everything in sight and left.
They were very helpful, even when they were about to close and although they seem to be very Orthodox, they were nice to everyone, leather kippah or rainbow kippah.
So, in short — just like the wandering Jews were eventually rewarded — I too was rewarded for my extraordinary trip all the way to West Side Judaica. Rewarded with candles. For 5 bucks.

So I recently realized that upon moving to my place, I had not yet acquired or put up a mezuzah! Wow. Bad Jew, Irene! Unprotected, unblessed home? No wonder my room is messy and my bed frame broke! What was I thinking?
So while wandering around shopping I noticed West Side Judaica. An excellent spot for a mezuzah, I thought. In I went. The staff was very pleasant, and even though I was in pants and they were Orthodox, were very friendly and helpful (this may seem an odd observation, but if you are a Jewish female who has been in pants around Orthodox men, you may well understand what I mean).
So I got my mezuzah, a simple wooden one, and a Kosher scroll for it. And should I need anything else I think this will be the best place to go. Tefillin and all sorts of good stuff straight from Israel? Very nice. Or maybe I’ll just go to Israel myself soon! Til then, West Side Judaica will satisfy!