Lakewood NJ , Jewish community (apartments, motels, townhouses)

[LawrencevilleGA]

Originally Posted by shyone

you know, whats interesting is that u sound like u have a lot of hate and resentment in you for whatever reason be it valid or not against the jewish orthodox community.

You really have to just let ppl be and let them practice whatever religion they want to. in the end, its whats gonna make you a better happier person.
and just so you know, if Lakewood's wallmart and shopright are so dirty, how come Lakewood's shopright gets a reward every year for being the nicest shopright around? why wouldn't Manhattan or any other "nice" place get noticed? think about it.
Oh, and also, Lakewood is EXTREAMLY over crowded. Do your research before you post.

My issue is not with the Jewish religion. My issue is with the people that wear black suits, black hats and have beards.Or the women with 5 and 6 children barreling through stores, without one excuse me.
For the most part, they are rude and obnoxious.
I never said Shoprite is dirty. It is very nice there, on a Saturday of course! Very clean and well stocked.
The Walmart in Howell. Not even worth talking about anymore. Disgusting.
Did I say Lakewood wasn't overcrowded? Not sure. I lived there, IT IS busting at the seams with people that wear black suits, black hats and have beards and illegal people from latin american countries.
I'm not Jewish, and I do not care about a person's choice of faith. If their culture is un-American, yes, I have issues with that.

[LawrencevilleGA]

Originally Posted by christina0001

rotflmao!!!

Better whip out those lynching ropes now! First it was Negros, then the Gays, and now the orthodox Jews of Lakewood!!! Darn those awful minorities!!!

I wouldn't want to live in a town where the bulk of the population had very different cultural beliefs than I... I think most people feel more comfortable around people with similar beliefs. But to harass them while they follow the law (to their advantage), and then complain and accuse them of being scary when they don't cower under your threats and harassment, is wrong. They are as entitled to live there as anyone else...this is America, remember? If you don't like your neighbors, then move.

The problem is with the post about an Over 55 community. They have very strict laws and are agreed to when moving into these types of communities.
The people that wear black suits, black hats and have beards in Lakewood are ignoring those that they agreed to. If this community allows one to get away with it, then that community is finished.
Lakewood is embattled in corruption. Ticket fixing, harrasment of the lone Gentile council member. It's pretty ugly there.

[NewHomeHappy]

Originally Posted by Lepke

Again I reiterate that if you are gentile or other then Haredi (secular, reform or conservative) don’t move to Lakewood.
Even most modern orthodox would be uncomfortable here.

Is there Reverse discrimination going on in Lakewood? Wow is this the year 2007 ?

[nsa162]

The bottom line here is, when someone jewish bumps into you at the store, in your mind you may say " those orthodox jews" and " i hate them" but thats only because you can look at at orthodox jews and know right away that they are orthodox. If a random non jewish person bumps into you are you going to say in your mind "that dirty catholic" or "that dirty protestant"? If you stop with your hate and open your eyes you would realize that everyone bumps into you at one point in timeModerator cut: personal attack

[Lepke]

As I have stated previously I’m Jewish and attended orthodox Jewish day school (yeshiva) as a child. As an adolescent and young adult I was a member of the Jewish defense league (JDL) and spent time in Israel. Over the past few years I’ve studied in Lakewood.

I think this gives me a unique insight into the community.

Yes there are problems with rudeness and arrogance that seems to permeate the Haredi or Charedi community. I’ve had the opportunity and pleasure of speaking to a rabbi who is responsible for reaching out to secular Jews in an attempt to increase their level of observance and teach Judaism. He is a very nice man running a great organization. Even he admits there is a problem and he has heard this from many people making his job much more difficult. He has no answers and wishes people would be friendlier. He says he would like to believe that people are just preoccupied with their lives and this behavior is unintentional. Well that’s what he’d like to believe anyway.

Some people would argue that the Haredim who put this shul (synagogue) in a retirement community are oblivious to the fact that it freaks out the residents and chalk the opposition up to ant-Semitism. I however attribute this action to arrogance.

When we are in the local stores and people are rude (even to my 4 year old) I believe its arrogance.

When we take our child to pine park and none of the Haredi children will play with him and even ignore him when talks to them, I know in my heart this is bigotry and arrogance learned in the home and community.

Not all Haredim are like this, many are lovely humble people who wouldn’t intentionally be rude or abrupt to anyone. Unfortunately there seems to be a high percentage that are just unpleasant. More then in other ethnic groups. (At least that’s how it seems to me)

When a Jew dresses to outwardly appear Jewish to the world, they take on a responsibility to show Judaism in the best possible light. In fact they/we are supposed to act as a light to the nations of the world. Unfortunately this is rarely the case with the Haredi Jews of Lakewood.

Even in Israel there are problems with the Haredi community.

I could go on and on but I wont.

If anyone has any questions feel free to ask.

By the way I can tell an anti-Semite when I read one.

[Lepke]

Originally Posted by NewHomeHappy

Is there Reverse discrimination going on in Lakewood? Wow is this the year 2007 ?

I don’t know if there is reverse discrimination but there is discrimination that I as a conservative Jew have experienced while searching for a rental in Lakewood.

[AnthonyB]

[quote=LawrencevilleGA;987604 My issue is with the people that wear black suits, black hats and have beards.Or the women with 5 and 6 children barreling through stores, without one excuse me....
If their culture is un-American, yes, I have issues with that.[/QUOTE]

I'm curious, what exactly would you define as un-American culture? Or what specifically is American culture that you expect people to follow?

[LawrencevilleGA]

The American way is to adapt to our culture, not change it. America separates church and state. Whether that is good or bad, that's up for another debate.(A big one at that).
Becoming a legal American citizen means, when asked "What nationality are you?" Your answer is "American" . Speak English as a 1st language. Obey our laws. Motor Vehicle ones need the most attention in my opinion.
I believe (you may agree or disagree, as is your right) the American Way is to respect your neighbors, treat them with courtesy. I believe the majority of people that live in Lakewood, that wear black suits, black hats and have beards, do not respect any other, than themselves. They are not courteous to any other, than themselves. Of course this is not all, but in my opinion, the majority.

[jay08701]

Amazing. When people have the comfort of anonymity (such as on this forum), it is truly disturbing to see the level of prejudice that is thinly masked in many of these comments. The bottom line is this- America, like it or not, is a free country. That freedom includes the right to not assimilate. It includes the right to have many people come together and buy out a neighborhood. It includes the right to not say "please" or "thank you". It includes the right to offend peoples delicate sensibilities. It includes the right to live as one pleases. We may not like it, but that's how it is. Complaining about Orthodox people's rudeness and saying "they must be stopped", is not a legitimate position. A senior saying "These people are ruining my retirement; they are so different and they don't respect me, we must get rid of them", is not a legitimate position. In the USA, the only way to deal with people in your proximity whom you don't like is to either summon the inner self-esteem to ignore them, or to move.

[cyntmac]

That is nice but the issue in this community runs much deeper. It is a systemic problem at this point in time and not just about "they're just different and need to adapt to our ways or go back to where they came from". There are other communities with a large number of Orthodox that do not seem to exhibit this level of disharmony. The problems in this community are unique. The reasons for this are hardly mentioned here. The posters are just having a good flame at this point.