Meah Shearim, Jerusalem
Prayer
Prayer
Minutes from the commercial center, Levites in black hats represent an era past--where customs based on the strict 613 commandments of the Torah (the Five Books of Moses) still persist.
Within the narrow streets, immigrants from Hungary and Poland live in tight knit groups. Men and women avoid contact with those outside their communities and in many times with each other; the children follow.
The Yeshivas provide study for classical Judaism for Torah study, the study of Talmud, Rabbinic literature and Responsa--mainly for boys. The Talmud discusses Jewish law, ethics, customs, and history. Examples of the strict code of conduct are clearly evident throughout the neighborhood.
The rigid dietary rules are the most commonly known. One can eat fish that only has fins and scales and never seafood; meat from ruminant animals (such as cattle) and never pork. When slaughtering, all the blood should be removed, with minimum harm to the animal.
On Friday afternoons, minutes before sunset, a siren sounds the start of the Jewish day of rest. Buses and other vehicles stop. Electricity use is often forbidden. Religious songs are heard throughout the neighborhood and the Shabbat ritual continues as it has centuries before.
Prayer The tools of prayer: the Torah (the primary holy scripture of Judiasm), a kippah (a cap), tzitzis (tassles), a tallit (a prayer shawl) and tefillin (a pair of black leather boxes containing bible verses). The hand-tefillin is worn around the arm, hand, and fingers, and the head-tefillin is placed on the forehead. These are in accordance to the Torah:
"You shall put these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall tie them for a sign upon your arm, and they shall be as totafot between your eyes"
— Deuteronomy 11:18
"Cover your head in order that the fear of heaven may be upon you."
— Shabbat (Talmud) 156b
Within the narrow streets, immigrants from Hungary and Poland live in tight knit groups. Men and women avoid contact with those outside their communities and in many times with each other; the children follow.
The Yeshivas provide study for classical Judaism for Torah study, the study of Talmud, Rabbinic literature and Responsa--mainly for boys. The Talmud discusses Jewish law, ethics, customs, and history. Examples of the strict code of conduct are clearly evident throughout the neighborhood.
The rigid dietary rules are the most commonly known. One can eat fish that only has fins and scales and never seafood; meat from ruminant animals (such as cattle) and never pork. When slaughtering, all the blood should be removed, with minimum harm to the animal.
On Friday afternoons, minutes before sunset, a siren sounds the start of the Jewish day of rest. Buses and other vehicles stop. Electricity use is often forbidden. Religious songs are heard throughout the neighborhood and the Shabbat ritual continues as it has centuries before.
Prayer The tools of prayer: the Torah (the primary holy scripture of Judiasm), a kippah (a cap), tzitzis (tassles), a tallit (a prayer shawl) and tefillin (a pair of black leather boxes containing bible verses). The hand-tefillin is worn around the arm, hand, and fingers, and the head-tefillin is placed on the forehead. These are in accordance to the Torah:
"You shall put these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall tie them for a sign upon your arm, and they shall be as totafot between your eyes"
— Deuteronomy 11:18
"Cover your head in order that the fear of heaven may be upon you."
— Shabbat (Talmud) 156b
