First there was Matisyahu, the Hasidic hip hop and dancehall phenomenon. Now, DNAinfo reports, Crown Heights has Streimel Viking — death metal by way of Orthodox Judaism.

As Occupy Wall Street protesters take to the soggy streets this morning for the May Day General Strike, we took in this City Limits piece that explores a strain of religious activism within the protest movement, and a Mexican priest whose religious path has included immigration advocacy, as well as preaching.

The popularity of a kosher diet among non-Jewish inmates in prisons across the country is costing taxpayers millions of dollars, The Jewish Daily Forward reports. Only a sixth of the 24,000 inmates who eat kosher are Jewish, and kosher meals cost more than double the normal prison meal.

Columnist Nancy Bruni was surprised to find her Brooklyn neighbors slightly uneasy at the idea of her taking in a Muslim foreign exchange student. And that apprehension, she learned, was mutual. Here is her interview with the student, 17-year-old Muhammad Fauzan Omar.

Even as a Crown Heights girls high school associated with the Chabad-Lubavitch movement has banned the use of Facebook among its students, the Orthodox Jewish group has itself been extremely active online and on social media, The Jewish Daily Forward reported.

As he prepared to turn 90 yesterday, Kew Gardens resident Fred Friedman finally opened up about his daring adventures to save Jews during World War II by disguising himself as a non-Jew, and as a member of the Gestapo.

Both Christians and Jews will be celebrating important holidays this weekend, and there was plenty of coverage of both Easter and Passover in the ethnic and community press. Here are two articles that caught our attention.

In the shopping frenzy before Passover begins, cheap or free matzo is one of the ways that supermarkets draw in customers. But the rush to undercut each other on matzo givaways has led many retailers to cheap Israeli products, which has hurt American matzo manufacturers. Meanwhile, Jewish Food has a moment in high-end NYC kitchens.

The Tibetan protesters who finished a 30-day hunger strike outside the United Nations on March 22 were honored this weekend, after the United Nations promised to investigate the situation in Tibet.

With an historic election set for April, all eyes are on Burma to see what direction the country will take. In Brooklyn, the Burmese monks at the American Burma Buddhist Association watch with trepidation and do what they can to help.

Chabad Houses in Harlem and on The Bowery are harbingers of Jewish gentrification, The Jewish Week argues. The paper called the Chabad-Lubavitch movement a “American Jewry’s canary in the coal mine, sensing the stirrings of an emerging Jewish community and moving in.”

A pilot program in South Brooklyn helps build Jewish identity among Russian Jews by offering free Jewish children’s books.

A decades-long investigation into allegations of child molesting against an Orthodox rabbi has also ignited a battle over New York’s Freedom of Information laws that may have ripple effects nationwide.

Feet in Two Worlds brought us this audio slide show portrait of Gadadhara Pandit Dasa, the first Hindu Chaplain of Columbia University, and now also of New York University.

Here’s a decidedly unromantic wedding story for Valentines day: A kosher caterer stands accused of passing off non-kosher food at around 200 upscale Jewish weddings on Long Island.