hood. I am taking about Katamon HaYeshana. There are all different kinds of religious including Haradim and really we all manage just fine! Why is that so difficult for you to believe?

Are you trying to convince me that you're Jewish? That you're married? Did I ever question either one? I am explaining to you the reason the Orthodox Jews do not go to Reform weddings. It is done in accordance with a belief system that THEY subsribe to (and you obviously do not, I get it.) and not done for malicious or prejudicial reasons. (Man, whatever's in the water up in the boondocks, I hope gets filtered out by the time it reaches Queens)

Love %'s. I always ask how many were asked and even more important, how were the questions worded. When I see articles based on numbers, I immediately think of election polls. So many people actually respond in a manner to decieve the pollsters. Have a saying here, the only truthful response is the one in the voting booth that only YOU SEE. In addition, when a response indicates 49%, it fails to indicate just how many were asked. Are the percentages really indicative of a meaningful number of people? Were those asked, equally secular or orthodox? Where was the poll taken? All of those things could hugely skew the results. You have heard the old adage, numbers don't lie. On the other hand, they are quite cpable of deception. I remember vividly, the election of President Truman. All the polls taken showed "conclusively" his opponent Thomas Dewey would win with a huge plurality. As a matter of fact, a Chicago newspaper printed the evening of the election "Dewey Wins". Well, the polls were wrong, the newspaper was wrong; President Truman won overwhelmingly. Numbers lie.

to be reminded what idiotic self haters we've become! A jew is a jew, and we should be appreciative about living in Jewishville, no matter if my neighbour is Orthodox Secular Ashkenazi Sephardic Ethiopian or whatever. I understand not liking a neighbourhood known for its criminal components but come on!

Even the "writer" who can't even read this article .

what vision do you have of a neighborhood of where you want to live? Do you want an all secular one? A Haredi one? A mixed one? Where one lives is a very personal question that touches upon who one really is. For one, I am all right with living with Haredim in the neighborhood-they too need a place to live. I respect that they have their way of observance, and I do hope that they can come to terms with mine. I believe that Jew living in separate neighborhoods has contributed to the divide more than helping it. I believe it important to stay in contact between the differing elements within our society for the sake of unity.

Did I say one word about a reform wedding? All I said was that the orthodox do not control all of Jewry. Yet we still remain Jews whether they agree or not. Of course it means you must read what was written, not what you think was written. I repeat, the orthodox have a right to practice Judaism as they see fit. I do not subscribe to their practice, nor do I condemn it. BTW, since my daughter had an orthodox wedding in Israel where she spoke not one word during the ceremony; it once again pointed out the inequities of the sexes in orthodox practice. Kew Gardens was a most beautiful section in Queens. You notice was. Now notice the smell off the East river seems to have settled there.

ynet, the relentless anti-Jew propagandist website.

I said that if one substitutes the word 'negro' for 'haredi' in such an article, it would read as a racist tract.

nice one thanks.

Fine people don't drive near the stiebelech , That's a concession to the religious/charidi . What's their concession ?

His opinions and believes at you. I have a synagogue about 500 m from my home and every Friday at 6pm they put this horrible prayer on loud speakers for the entire neighborhood to hear! It drives me crazy!! I can't even hear myself think because it is so loud!!!!!

Although in Israel we have come to expect bigotry at the root of most intra-community disputes, choice of neighbours need not necessarily be the result of such. It can be that the two lifestyles simply don't live comfortably side by side even though at a personal level no grudges are held. For example not everyone wants the smell of curry wafting incessantly from the Indian neighbour, or the sound of a Caribbean party going on till all hours, however nice those individuals may be. That is why communities tend to separate naturally and stick together. This is also something city planners are only too aware of and regularly manipulate to their own ends. However, the question about attending weddings is out of place and out of context - unless it was assumed that answers would be the result of bigotry - just as it would not occur to ask who would/not attend a non-Jewish neighbour's church wedding. This is a case of belief and principles, no matter how friendly one may be with the celebrants. Likewise, the Reform have invented many ceremonies that have no traditional significance in which religious people would not participate, simply because they view them as a distortion of their religion. This is not bigotry, but a wish to keep their own religion unadulterated.

they are not goyim I am a very versed person in Reform law. When a Jew converts they do mitvah and haf a dam Brit just like the orthodox. Our people are just as much Jewish are your people. Our leaders worked very hard to come to a consensus about a halalic conversion in the end it wasn't us were not about to accept it was them. We did everything their way, but if it is not done by them it is not valid in their eyes.

The haredim don't HAVE to force their ideas on anyone. Unfortunately this assertion (to put it mildly) has recently (within the past few decades) become a style that many analysts believe to have developed under the influence of zionism. Traditional haredim decry this trend as much as you do.