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BACKGROUND

Mack Hat Invasion
:hanging Jerusalem

The process has accelerated to
such an extent that the ultra-
IUDY 'SIEGEL and
Orthodox now constitute about
;HARLEY J. LEVINE
one-quarter of Jerusalem's popu-
pecial to The Jewish News
lation of 425,000, with another
third — those in East Jerusalem
— Arabs. The secular Jews are
isitors to Jerusalem who
moving out in many instances to
have not been to the
new suburbs within and beyond
city for a decade or so
the city's official limits, including
Inevitably take a second look
Ma'ale Adumim and Pisgat Ze'ev.
around them, struck by the de-
Other relatively new develop-
mographic changes that have
ments originally intended for a
loccurred. Wherever one looks,
secular majority are showing in-
but especially in the northern
creasingly larger contingents of
sections fo the capital, ultra-
ultra-Orthodox residents who buy
_..rthodox men in flowing black
up apartment buildings en bloc.
coats and a variety of headgear,
What is distressing to many
and modestly dressed women
Jerusalemites is that the ultra-
usually leading a trial of chil-
Orthodox, while passionately
dren are very visible.
connected to the land, are apathe-
tic or even hostile to the state.
Many seek to avoid military serv-
ice or paying taxes to a "Zionist"
The ultra-Orthodox
state, believing that the only state
are coming on
deserving of their allegiance
would be one ruled by strict
aliyah to Israel in
Jewish law or one whose kingdom
much larger
was the home of the Messiah.
numbers than the
Agents sent to some "black"
neighborhoods
by the tax
secular Diaspora
authorities recently found them-
Jews or even the
selves under physical attack from
residents who want nothing to do
modern Orthodox.
with their investigations. While
the violence is committed by a
The young women, many of tiny minority of the residents,
them immigrants from the U.S., many others — fearing retalia-
Belgium, Canada and other coun- tion themselves — simply "don't
get involved."
tries, are often high-style
The modern Orthodox who fully
fashion-plates, which contrasts
identify with the nation's goals,
with
male counterparts
who even though they might prefer a
dress their
in Chassidic
garb copied
country more religious, also feel-
from the Polish gentile aristoc- threatened by the extreme Or-
racy
the 17th Century
— or and
the thodox. In some areas, they have
less of
flamboyant
long coats
ironically joined with the secular
black felt hats of the Lithuanian
to fight the closing of roads on the
yeshivah student of yesteryear.
The reasons for the metamor- Sabbath or pressure to prevent
the building of mixed-sex swim-
phosis are simple. The ultra- ming pools. With their philosophy
Orthodox, motivated by pure reli-
of live-and-let-live, the unswerv-
ing an
d autocratic position of the
• gious reasons, are coming on
aliyah to Israel in much larger
numbers than the secular Dias- ultras frightens and disturbs
th em.
pora Jews or even the modern Or-
We have no simple solution
\ thodox Jew who combines reli-
save to preach tolerance. What
gious
observance
with
a complete
immersion
in 20th
Century
life. will become of the holy city, 20 or
In addition, the ultra-Orthodox 30 years hence, depends on who
have large families — eight or ten will come to live and who will bear
the most children.
children are commonplace —
making them a growing populace.
As a result, bastions like Mea
> Shearim and the Geula Quarter of
Jerusalem became too crowded to
accommodate all the offspring.
Neighborhoods adjacent to exist-
New York (JTA) — The 11th
ing sections soon become ultra-
annual
Conference on Alterna-
Orthodox, with secular or
mainstream Orthodox residents - tives in Jewish Education is ex-
pected to draw over* 2,000
moving out, either to secure bet-
Jewish educators from every
ter housing elsewhere or due to
state and ten other countries to
psychological and sometimes
the University of Maryland
physical pressures which made
campus Aug. 3-7.
them feel uncomfortable in their
This year's conference, cen-
established neighborhood.
tered around the theme of "The
As the balance begins to tilt
American Jewish Community —
towards the ultras, the new resi-
Past, Present and Future" —
dents start demanding streets
will feature nearly 500 concur-
closed to vehicular traffic on
rent sessions, including work-
Shabbat. Women and girls dres-
shops with noted Judaica schol-
sed "immodestly" are harangued
ars.
and the non-observant begin to
The conference is sponsored
assess their residential future in
by the Coalition for Alternatives
such an environment. Yeshivot
in Jewish Education, and co-
moving in is the next step in the
sponsored with the boards of
changing of the area, and addi-
Jewish education of the com-
tional religious institutions
munities of Baltimore and
naturally help attract more
Washington, D.C.
ultra-Orthodox residents.

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