KOSHER meat is widely available. One tour agency arranges for travel on Emirates, Etihad, Kuwait, Qatar and Gulf airlines.
There is a mosque, too. And there is a “yeshivah” (Orthodox Jewish school), just a five-minute walk away.
Nearby, a sign outside a barbershop proclaims: “We speak English, Russian, Urdu and Yiddish.”
Welcome to Flatbush, a neighbourhood in Brooklyn presenting a New York City seldom seen on celluloid.
In a way, they are worlds apart yet there is no clash of civilisations here. Muslim men in “kurta” and Orthodox Jews in their distinctive long, black suits and large hats co-exist in Flatbush without any problems.
One fruit stall on the street populated by Orthodox Jews says “Golan Dry Fruit” and carries a Star of David. Another shop sells religious articles such as yarmulke (knitted skullcaps worn by the Jews).
“I have so many friends who are Orthodox Jews,” said Mohammad Razvi, a Pakistani-born American who has lived here for 30 years.
According to him, most of the 130,000 Muslims in Flatbush are Pakistanis.
Mohammad formed a coalition organisation with the local Jews after the Sept 11 tragedy to address issues on discrimination.
“We want to ensure that whatever happened outside of the United States would not happen to us here,” he said.
Almost half of the estimated 972,000 Jews in New York City reside in Brooklyn, and about 240,000 are Orthodox Jews.
“Theirs is an insular community,” said David M. Pollock, associate executive director of Jewish Community Relations Council of New York. They have their own school system where Yiddish is the first language.
In the Flatbush neighbourhood, believers from the two faiths live side-by-side partly because of their similarities, he said.
“They have similar food restrictions, they place great importance on the family, and their dressing is modest.”
Orthodox Jews, he said, pray three times a day. Theirs is a fast growing community due to their views on birth control.
“In a 2000 census, the average household in Williamsburg (another Brooklyn neighbourhood populated by Orthodox Jews) has about six children. It is common to see triple bunk beds there,” he said.
The New York Times, quoting the US Census Bureau, reported that the population in an Orthodox Jewish village in Orange County, New York state, went up by 51% in the past six years.
This rate was faster than any community in the state because of their ban on birth control and because women there tend to marry early.
Pollock also noted the Jews also continue with the tradition of circumcision. A baby is circumcised eight days after birth.
A large number of the community in Brooklyn are known as Hasidic Jews.
“The basic theological difference between them and the centrists is that the Hasidics follow a charismatic leader, someone who leads a very holy life and who comes from a holy lineage,” Pollock said.
Think Dalai Lama, if a parallel is to be drawn here.
Inter-marriages are discouraged by orthodox believers.
“The non-Jewish partner is expected to convert,” Pollock said.
Noah Feldman, a Harvard University law professor, wrote in the July 22 issue of The New York Times Magazine that he went to his high-school reunion with his girlfriend, who later became his wife.
A group picture was taken but he saw in the alumni newsletter later that both his and his girlfriend’s images were omitted.
“My fiancée was Korean-American. Her presence implied the prospect of something that, from the standpoint of Orthodox Jewish law, could not be recognised: marriage to someone who was not Jewish,” he wrote in the article titled The Orthodox Paradox.
“The 12 years I spent at a yeshiva day school made me who I am. Now the school doesn’t acknowledge who I’ve become.”
The 31-year-old Jewish Community Relations Council of New York is an umbrella body of at least 60 other organisations.
Pollock, who has worked there for 27 years, said the council would deal with issues related to religious liberty and hate crimes against Jews.
“The Jewish community embraces a diverse mix of cultures, each with its particular concerns and priorities,” said its website.
