religion

Ivan Szendrö, a self-styled, modern-day shaman, says he can reveal your “legend” for $75. Knowing your legend – and subsequently, your “hero” – heals you and helps you solve problems, he contends. Szendrö, who lives in Palisades, N.Y., wants to bring his message to a larger audience.

Szendrö’s spiritual awakening came in 1970 in his Hungarian hometown of Nagygec. He was a young atheist actor living in Budapest, and was visiting Nagygec when a flood destroyed the village. The villagers connected the flood with ancient mythology – and Szendrö saw himself as part of the legend.

He started touring from town to town on his bike, spreading the story. Years later, he ended up married with two daughters in Palisades. There, Szendrö changed his approach and began offering personalized sessions. He says he wants to help people – and not be seen as a “freak.”

Besides his spiritual activities, he takes care of a senior citizen and a disabled person, and works part time as a hotel waiter. He has a dream: to rebuild a bridge in Nagygec that plays a major role in his personal legend. All the money Szendrö makes as a shaman is dedicated to this goal. So far, he’s saved $10,000.

Parishioners at the Church of St. Joseph will have extra reason to celebrate when they gather to mark the Feast of St. Joseph.

In one of his last acts as pope, Benedict XVI designated the Pacific Street church as co-cathedral of the Brooklyn Diocese – sharing responsibilities with the smaller St. James Cathedral Basilica in Downtown Brooklyn. The churches will house the chair of the bishop, and split duties hosting major diocesan events.

“The church is not a building, it is the people,” said Msgr. Kieran Harrington, the pastor of St. Joseph’s, as he informed the congregation of the church’s new status. “It is a great honor for you and me and this area.”

READ MORE

Abdulrauf Khan, 40, warns a group of volunteers to avoid stepping on errant nails in the kitchen of a small home on Brighton 8 Street in Brighton Beach. He’s surrounded by ripped up floorboards and industrial trash bags full of debris. His black felt hat is speckled with white dust.

During Hurricane Sandy, the basement and first floor of this home filled with water. Now the house is being gutted while the residents, a family of five, are in a shelter.

Khan is the assistant director of disaster relief for the Islamic Circle of North America Relief USA, a nonprofit relief and social services organization with headquarters in Jamaica, Queens. The responsibility to help those in need is informed by the Islamic faith, Khan says.

READ MORE

For decades, Russian has been the language most spoken in Brighton Beach. Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union found in the beachfront community of south Brooklyn – already populated by some 55,000 Holocaust survivors – a safe haven to start their new lives in America.

However, an influx of Pakistanis that started in the early 1990s is now poised to change the demographics of the neighborhood.

READ MORE