I’m caught up in how religions around the world are stoking turmoil, even though the teachings of those religions say “love your neighbor,” and all of them have the “do unto others…” Golden Rule. And I’ve decided that fundamentalism is the problem. I think the rainbow of religions on this planet is a delight — except for the fundamentalists in each. Perhaps there are “different strokes for different folks” fundamentalists, but it seems to me that, in a nutshell, a fundamentalist (Christian, Jew, or Muslim) believes, “I am correct in my understanding of God, and you are wrong”… and then proceeds to intrude into the lives of people who see their relation with God differently.
Roughly 8 percent of Israeli Jews are ultra-Orthodox — very religious and living lives that require them to be apart in many ways. Entire districts of Jerusalem — such as Mea Shearim — are known as ultra-Orthodox. In Mea Shearim, people are dressed very conservatively. Women’s stores have a huge selection of wigs, hats, and scarves, because after marriage, Orthodox women must cover their hair in public. (If someone can explain to me the Jewish notion that a woman can’t show her hair in public for reasons of modesty, but she can wear a wig and still look great, I’m all ears.)Among ultra-Orthodox Jews, there are many groups who follow different teachers or rabbis. Many rabbis are charismatic and have huge followings. (One died the day we arrived in Jerusalem, and the streets of the city were at a standstill as thousands came out to mourn.) In the ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods of Jerusalem, storefronts are lined with posters and paintings of the top rabbis; a quick survey tells you which rabbis are the most popular. (Just as Baptists love the “Behold, I stand at the door and knock” painting, people here display paintings of The Second Temple before its destruction.) It got me thinking about other charismatic religious leaders, and how many Evangelical Christians are also more likely to be caught up in the teachings of a particular dynamic minister. Meanwhile, in both Christianity and Judaism, mainline worshippers have a spiritual keel provided not by an individual, but by a steady liturgy or theology that doesn’t flex with the comings and goings of various leaders.Leading rabbis or teachers have their own styles and set the standards of orthodoxy for their followers. You can identify who follows whom by which bit of the Torah they embrace with the most abandon. This rabbi on the right takes literally the Old Testament command to wear the Holy Scripture on your forehead, proclaiming your love of God — and so, then, do his followers, when they come for morning services.The diversity of Israel — both ethnic and religious — shows itself in the way people dress and wear their hair. This is especially evident in places of worship and in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods. With the help of a local guide, simply people-watching comes with fun cultural insights. To illustrate and better understand this, we filmed a montage of people with different clothing and hairstyles. Then we got our guide to take us on a fascinating tour of religious fashion in Jerusalem, with commentary like this: “The yarmulke is a constant reminder that God is always above us. The ear locks are because some embrace the scripture that says don’t cut the hair on the side of your face. Men wear black as a symbol of mourning of the destruction of The Temple nearly two thousand years ago. The black top hats come in many varieties, and from them, you can guess which specific brand of Orthodoxy they profess….and, in some cases, which country they emigrated from.”Religions traditions reach well into the colorful markets of Israel. While the casual tourist (who doesn’t read Hebrew) would likely be oblivious to the fine points, shops like this attract a certain market segment by posting seals of approval certifying that the goods here are not just kosher, but perfectly in line with the standards of one specific rabbi’s supervision. Other posters brag that a popular rabbi endorses that particular shop (much like how, in Britain, you’ll see the royal coat of arms at places patronized by the Queen).
Comments
7 Replies to “Ultra-Orthodox — Every Religion’s Got ‘Em”
RICK: As you said The Fundamentalists are usually in the middle of controversies…whatever they may be. In Israel The Orthodox keep the faith but they did NOT build the country. Judaism unlike other faiths is a culture as well as a religion…you can be very Jewish and agnostic or even an atheist. In Israel it’s “mostly” the secular Jews who are responsible for the running and protecting the country. In fact there is at this time a contention among a lot of people that Jews are in fact a separate race due to the fact that their DNA can be traced back so many thousands of years.
NG
Is it just me or do Orthodox men seem to have a particularly high rate of myopia (literally, not figuratively)? Perhaps its just a matter of perception bias or maybe there’s some religious diction against contact lenses, but it seems that in any group photograph of Orthodox men, only a minority do not wear eyeglasses.
Fundamentalism is now a problem in America too. I started to notice this when Bush I became president. He was backed by the Christian right. And this many years later it is what seems to be the big battle in this country. I thought that this country was founded with church and state separate? What has happened? There seems to be little respect to other religions. Trying to make too many laws that are religion based. The fight goes on and it takes away from the work of the people in this country. ALL the people.
“I thought that this country was founded with church and state separate?” You thought wrong. (Your punctuation is wrong, too; use a period when you’re not asking a question.) The First Amendment says nothing about the separation of church and state. It prohibits Congress from passing laws establishing an official religion or interfering with religious practice. States, such as Massachusetts, established official churches. It wasn’t until the 1940s that the Supreme Court ruled that the constitution required separation of church and state. The vote was five to four. Hugo Black cast the decisive vote and wrote the majority opinion. He was a former KKK member, probably joining that organization because he hated Catholicism. The First Amendment is a restriction on government, not religion.
It is true that Thomas Jefferson advocated a “wall of separation” between church and state. However, this was in a private letter. Two days after writing it, Jefferson went to a prayer service – in the House of Representatives.
It is malicious to group Orthodox Jews and fundamentalist Christians with radical Islam. Say what you will about Jerry Falwell, he never advocated stoning homosexuals to death or gang raping young rape victims. Orthodox Jews don’t fly jetliners into skyscrapers. Rick Steves is wise to avoid going to Gaza. There’s no area dominated by fundamentalist Christians or Orthodox Jews that I would be afraid to visit.
America’s worst religious fanatics are leftists. Jim Jones got over 900 of his congregation members killed. Before the Guyana tragedy, Jones received help from prominent liberals like Rosalind Carter, Jerry Brown, and Walter Mondale. Mondale wrote that the Jim Jones congregation was an “inspiration” to him. Please spare us the sanctimony.
While you define religious fundamentalism as “I am right and you are wrong” it is more important to emphasize how that is expressed. In our time the ultra-Orthodox of Israel are non-violent, don’t serve in the armed forces by and large, and want to be left alone. Islamic fundamentalists feel that all others are non-believers, heretics, and deserve nothing less than death, and indeed, they act upon this belief on a near daily basis. In addtion, your comments contain a thinly vieled mockery of some of the ultra-Orthodox customs, such as women wearing wigs, the Tefilin in the picture of the Rabbi,. These are sacred customs, and had you done a little more research you would have gained a better understanding of these, and been perhaps a bit more respectful in your comments. As a long time RS fan and traveler with your company, I’m deeply disturbed by these comments and the overall strongly biased pro-Palastenian, anti-Israel blog. Next time we travel to Europe, we will spend our money elsewhere.
I think you could figure out why Orthodox women wear wigs pretty easily if you wanted to know by simply googling it, rather than making a sarcastic comment about it. Likewise, I’m not Orthodox, but on occasion I too wear tephillin, in compliance with the Biblical command to do so. Am I a fanatic for doing that?
Come on, Rick; what happened to the guy who is so accepting of other’s cultures? Is that only in Europe? Or where is the sarcasm when you visit monasteries and like filled with devote Christian priests who also dress abit oddly compared to the average Joe?
Rick,
“Ultra Orthodox – Every Religion’s Got’em” So we have several old serious-faced orthodox Jews and one young exurburant happy-faced orthodox Imam in your fair and balanced report. Interesting when the only religion that doesn’t “Coexist” (as the famous bumper sticker states) is the religion of peace. ALL other major religions do coexist peacefully because they have reformed at least 500 years ago. So once again the West makes excuses for their “behavior” out of fear or …. who knows what. In the last “5 years of peace” more than 6000 rockets and mortars have struck Israel (with virtually no retaliation!), but if they build a settlement (meaning apartments for young adults just getting started in life) IN the capital of Israel, East Jerusalem, Hillary and the President practically call it a “crime against humanity” railing and ranting for weeks on end. Man I love your books but why do media/Hollywood types pander to 18 year old mentalities and why would you think that you understand how to deal with thug regimes?!
RICK: As you said The Fundamentalists are usually in the middle of controversies…whatever they may be. In Israel The Orthodox keep the faith but they did NOT build the country. Judaism unlike other faiths is a culture as well as a religion…you can be very Jewish and agnostic or even an atheist. In Israel it’s “mostly” the secular Jews who are responsible for the running and protecting the country. In fact there is at this time a contention among a lot of people that Jews are in fact a separate race due to the fact that their DNA can be traced back so many thousands of years.
NG
Is it just me or do Orthodox men seem to have a particularly high rate of myopia (literally, not figuratively)? Perhaps its just a matter of perception bias or maybe there’s some religious diction against contact lenses, but it seems that in any group photograph of Orthodox men, only a minority do not wear eyeglasses.
Fundamentalism is now a problem in America too. I started to notice this when Bush I became president. He was backed by the Christian right. And this many years later it is what seems to be the big battle in this country. I thought that this country was founded with church and state separate? What has happened? There seems to be little respect to other religions. Trying to make too many laws that are religion based. The fight goes on and it takes away from the work of the people in this country. ALL the people.
“I thought that this country was founded with church and state separate?” You thought wrong. (Your punctuation is wrong, too; use a period when you’re not asking a question.) The First Amendment says nothing about the separation of church and state. It prohibits Congress from passing laws establishing an official religion or interfering with religious practice. States, such as Massachusetts, established official churches. It wasn’t until the 1940s that the Supreme Court ruled that the constitution required separation of church and state. The vote was five to four. Hugo Black cast the decisive vote and wrote the majority opinion. He was a former KKK member, probably joining that organization because he hated Catholicism. The First Amendment is a restriction on government, not religion.
It is true that Thomas Jefferson advocated a “wall of separation” between church and state. However, this was in a private letter. Two days after writing it, Jefferson went to a prayer service – in the House of Representatives.
It is malicious to group Orthodox Jews and fundamentalist Christians with radical Islam. Say what you will about Jerry Falwell, he never advocated stoning homosexuals to death or gang raping young rape victims. Orthodox Jews don’t fly jetliners into skyscrapers. Rick Steves is wise to avoid going to Gaza. There’s no area dominated by fundamentalist Christians or Orthodox Jews that I would be afraid to visit.
America’s worst religious fanatics are leftists. Jim Jones got over 900 of his congregation members killed. Before the Guyana tragedy, Jones received help from prominent liberals like Rosalind Carter, Jerry Brown, and Walter Mondale. Mondale wrote that the Jim Jones congregation was an “inspiration” to him. Please spare us the sanctimony.
While you define religious fundamentalism as “I am right and you are wrong” it is more important to emphasize how that is expressed. In our time the ultra-Orthodox of Israel are non-violent, don’t serve in the armed forces by and large, and want to be left alone. Islamic fundamentalists feel that all others are non-believers, heretics, and deserve nothing less than death, and indeed, they act upon this belief on a near daily basis. In addtion, your comments contain a thinly vieled mockery of some of the ultra-Orthodox customs, such as women wearing wigs, the Tefilin in the picture of the Rabbi,. These are sacred customs, and had you done a little more research you would have gained a better understanding of these, and been perhaps a bit more respectful in your comments. As a long time RS fan and traveler with your company, I’m deeply disturbed by these comments and the overall strongly biased pro-Palastenian, anti-Israel blog. Next time we travel to Europe, we will spend our money elsewhere.
I think you could figure out why Orthodox women wear wigs pretty easily if you wanted to know by simply googling it, rather than making a sarcastic comment about it. Likewise, I’m not Orthodox, but on occasion I too wear tephillin, in compliance with the Biblical command to do so. Am I a fanatic for doing that?
Come on, Rick; what happened to the guy who is so accepting of other’s cultures? Is that only in Europe? Or where is the sarcasm when you visit monasteries and like filled with devote Christian priests who also dress abit oddly compared to the average Joe?
Rick,
“Ultra Orthodox – Every Religion’s Got’em” So we have several old serious-faced orthodox Jews and one young exurburant happy-faced orthodox Imam in your fair and balanced report. Interesting when the only religion that doesn’t “Coexist” (as the famous bumper sticker states) is the religion of peace. ALL other major religions do coexist peacefully because they have reformed at least 500 years ago. So once again the West makes excuses for their “behavior” out of fear or …. who knows what. In the last “5 years of peace” more than 6000 rockets and mortars have struck Israel (with virtually no retaliation!), but if they build a settlement (meaning apartments for young adults just getting started in life) IN the capital of Israel, East Jerusalem, Hillary and the President practically call it a “crime against humanity” railing and ranting for weeks on end. Man I love your books but why do media/Hollywood types pander to 18 year old mentalities and why would you think that you understand how to deal with thug regimes?!