Mazel! Austin's Jewish 'Hood Becomes Official !! (Center, West: best neighborhoods, how much, neighborhoods)

[G Grasshopper]

I have nothing against this. I wonder, however, if it would be considered if there were similar needs for a Muslim, Hindu or other religious community. Just idle wondering. I have no conclusion.

[BevoLJ]

Originally Posted by JimBaker488

Jews compose only about 2% of the national population and it's highly concentrated in the NorthEast with
fully about a third of it in the NYC metro area, so Austin Jewish population is probably negligible, possibly not even 10 K. However their wealth and influence are remarkable given their small number: > 10 % of the US Senate is Jewish, 1/3 of the Supreme Court is Jewish, and probably a third or more of this countrys billionaires are Jews. Pretty impressive, huh ?

Jewish population in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos area is 18,373.

Here is the breakdown:

Non-Religious: 962,483
Catholic Church: 275,186
Southern Baptist: 141,589
Non-Denominational: 77,747
United Methodist: 55,228
Muslim: 20,836
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: 19,822
Jewish: 18,373
Episcopal: 18,044
Evangelical Lutheran Church of America: 15,617
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod: 15,075
National Baptist Convention of America: 15,001
Presbyterian: 14,013
Church of Christ: 12,166
Assemblies of God: 8,369
Hindu: 8,218
Buddhism: 6,236
African Methodist Episcopal Church: 3,568
Seventh-day Aventist: 3,493

....

And then a bunch of less than 3,000 an so on...

[ImOnFiya]

Originally Posted by BevoLJ

Jewish population in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos area is 18,373.

Is there a link for this information? I have seen those same similar numbers posted for years.

[brattpowered]

Originally Posted by balor123

I'd like to try to explain. During the Jewish Sabbath (Shabbat), which is from sundown on Friday night until sundown on Saturday night, observant Jews are not supposed to do anything that would be considered work.

So walking around suburban Austin in the middle of the summer is more work than driving?

[woodinvilleguy]

Originally Posted by brattpowered

So walking around suburban Austin in the middle of the summer is more work than driving?

The issue is mechanical work. Technically you aren't allowed to flip a light switch if you follow the laws in this very orthodox view. Probably very similar to other very orthodox religious views of Amish for example.

[Trainwreck20]

The quick description that I found said that the law is often referred to as the 'carrying' law, and it had to do with transporting from one domain to another.

[OpenD]

At various times I've lived in several cities that had Orthodox Jewish communities which established eruvs. These eruvs are typically very unobtrusive, and the average person would not notice their boundaries unless they were pointed out. I've seen them marked with a thin wire, or with fishing line, and typically are hung atop utility poles. In this case they are using existing utility wires as the boundaries, and simply adding a few dummy wires in places where there are gaps.

The advantage of an eruv to the observant Orthodox Jew is that it makes life much easier on Shabbat, the Sabbath they observe on Saturdays. In an eruv they can carry house keys outside their house, carry a tallit (prayer shawl) when they walk to temple, push a stroller or a wheel chair. Without the eruv they can do none of these things. Although these prohibitions against "carrying" may seem odd to outsiders, they are traditional rules that are thousands of years old, and one of the cornerstones of Orthodox faith is to carefully follow the old traditions.

Here's a fuller explanation from a rabbi: The Jewish Outlook

One sidebar that may not have occurred to anyone reading this board... over time it is not unusual for houses inside an eruv to become more valuable than those outside the eruv, because they are more desirable to the Orthodox Jews for whom they are meaningful. In one city a good friend lives in, where residential turn-over inside the eruv is low, houses inside the eruv can be worth hundreds of thousands more than identical houses across the street and out of the eruv.

So this is a good thing for real estate agents to learn about.

[ScoPro]

Guess we will see TexasHorseLady tackin' up wires around NW Hills pretty soon (if she's got some listings up there).

[TexasHorseLady]

Hey, whatever it takes to make my sellers happy! I've done weirder things!

[testmo]

I live inside an area in Houston and you would never know any difference other than a higher than usual concentration of Jewish owned stores, Kosher shops inside large chain grocery stores, and like people stated more Orthodox and people walking in dress clothes on Saturday. The area I live in, more so the immediate area just north of me, where the concentration of the Houston Jewish community lives is one of the nicer more expensive areas in the city. I think that just is because more people want to live in the area if they are Jewish so demand is high, they tend to be good neighbors, they tend to parent their children and support local education so the schools are better, and keep their homes renovated and clean. Add all those bonuses to a large residential neighborhood in the shadow of a major city just makes the community stronger

hey maybe those are stereotypes, but they are good ones =)

I personally never noticed any wiring, but when I go out today I'll take a look