Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Set Apart for God and Torah

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Photo of Haredi Jewis courtesy of the BBC

BBC: The BBC's Erica Chernofsky in Jerusalem gets a rare insight into the lives of members of Israel's Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community.

Sitting on a park bench in the late afternoon, Michal Greenwald watches her children run around the playground with dozens of other kids as she takes a few minutes rest from her hectic day.

A full-time property lawyer, Mrs Greenwald is the sole breadwinner and also takes care of her four young children and tends to the housework. Her husband, Shmuel, spends his days studying in a religious seminary for men. She says she cannot imagine life any other way.

''Girls are raised this way from a young age, and such are the lives of Haredim in Israel,'' she says of the Ultra-Orthodox Jews who choose to live separately from mainstream Israeli society.

It is difficult to walk the streets of Jerusalem without running into Haredim, but their community can seem isolated and closed.

The men are distinct in their long black wool coats and trousers, stark white button-down shirts and black hats, even in the heat of the Middle Eastern summer. Set Apart for God and Torah >>> | August 19, 2008

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