[brasscitybluenwhite]

Originally Posted by 7 Wishes

You are thinking about the Hasidim, who also dress in the black jackets and hats. I have read how they have created a significant community in part of Waterbury much like they have in New Square (a town in Rockland County, NY) and Kiryas Joel (a town in Orange County, NY), mostly to move away from the larger community in Brooklyn. I have seen them walking around West Hartford as well, but I think they are greater in number in Waterbury now.

But I believe most of the Jewish population of Waterbury is Hasidim (I know there was a small but noteworthy "ethnic" community in the past (for example, photographer Annie Liebovitz is from Waterbury), though nowhere as big as as other such communities there like Italians), whereas in West Hartford you also have large populations of Modern Orthodox (wear the yarmulke but otherwise dress in "regular" clothes) and more secular Jews (which you also see in Farmington/Avon/Simsbury in significant numbers as well as in suburbs of New Haven and many parts of Fairfield County).

Thanks for the correction. I never really got into the heritage but my roommate was jewish last year and he taught me alot. I try to tolerate other cultures as much as I possible can. waterbury would be a much nicer city if every culture respected and tolerated the other cultures as much as their own....

[Lowerdeck]

Originally Posted by iypoon

Are there any Chinese neighborhoods? I Find it interesting that i see lots of Indians here, but not many Chinese.

Norwich?

[mlassoff]

Originally Posted by brasscitybluenwhite

and I'm talking about "real" (Orthodox) Jewish people,)

Brass,

Many Jews would find this HIGHLY offensive. Hasidic Jews are no less or more "Jewish" than I am. The Hasidic sect of Judaism is a highly observant group but to call them more "real" Jews as opposed to the many Reform, Conservative or even Orthodox Jews is incorrect and offensive. I'm sure Hasidic Jews in Waterbury stand out more than the other Jews who dress like everyone else, however there are large numbers of Jews in Fairfield County, New Haven County and especially around the West Hartford area.

I know the Hasidic Jewish population in Waterbury is growing, but it still is small in comparison to West Hartford and even Fairfield County. Just cause we don't have tse-tse and wear long black coats doesn't mean we aren't there.

[DawnMTL]

Originally Posted by mlassoff

Brass,

Many Jews would find this HIGHLY offensive. Hasidic Jews are no less or more "Jewish" than I am. The Hasidic sect of Judaism is a highly observant group but to call them more "real" Jews as opposed to the many Reform, Conservative or even Orthodox Jews is incorrect and offensive. I'm sure Hasidic Jews in Waterbury stand out more than the other Jews who dress like everyone else, however there are large numbers of Jews in Fairfield County, New Haven County and especially around the West Hartford area.

I know the Hasidic Jewish population in Waterbury is growing, but it still is small in comparison to West Hartford and even Fairfield County. Just cause we don't have tse-tse and wear long black coats doesn't mean we aren't there.

This is such an interesting conversation. While I totally agree with you, that you (and I) are just as Jewish as a Hasidic Jew, I've actually been told that many Hasidic Jews themselves do not consider a Secular Jew (me) a "real" Jew. I guess the word "real" has different meanings.

Granted, I don't go to shul or observe many traditions, but I'm as much a Jew in my heart as they are. That said, I do call them "better" Jews for following traditions, but that's just my own shtick.

[mlassoff]

DandJ-

This is a huge bone of contention between mainstream modern Jews and Hasidim/ Chabad Jews. They don't consider us Jews and actually look at us with very suspicious eyes-- as if we are bastardizing the religion because we don't practice they way they do. However, more secular style of Judaism is growing nationwide as people join the humanistic and reconstructionist movements that allow for the inclusion of all sorts of views.

I kind of look at the Hasidic Jewish movement the way that mainstream Christians would look at David Koresh. But, I still consider them Jewish.

[DawnMTL]

Originally Posted by mlassoff

DandJ-

This is a huge bone of contention between mainstream modern Jews and Hasidim/ Chabad Jews. They don't consider us Jews and actually look at us with very suspicious eyes-- as if we are bastardizing the religion because we don't practice they way they do. However, more secular style of Judaism is growing nationwide as people join the humanistic and reconstructionist movements that allow for the inclusion of all sorts of views.

I kind of look at the Hasidic Jewish movement the way that mainstream Christians would look at David Koresh. But, I still consider them Jewish.

Exactly!

[brasscitybluenwhite]

Originally Posted by mlassoff

Brass,

Many Jews would find this HIGHLY offensive. Hasidic Jews are no less or more "Jewish" than I am. The Hasidic sect of Judaism is a highly observant group but to call them more "real" Jews as opposed to the many Reform, Conservative or even Orthodox Jews is incorrect and offensive. I'm sure Hasidic Jews in Waterbury stand out more than the other Jews who dress like everyone else, however there are large numbers of Jews in Fairfield County, New Haven County and especially around the West Hartford area.

I know the Hasidic Jewish population in Waterbury is growing, but it still is small in comparison to West Hartford and even Fairfield County. Just cause we don't have tse-tse and wear long black coats doesn't mean we aren't there.

Didnt mean to offend.

[JViello]

Originally Posted by brasscitybluenwhite

Wikipedia says that Waterbury has the largest Italian influence of the large cities in CT. It has a very large neighborhood of Italians who still speak italian in Town Plot. They have their own restaurants, churches, and bakeries along Highland Ave.

An absolute SHADOW of what it used to be...I can promise you. I know because I'm one of them. I can remember the days of the old school sitting on the corner playing games, reading Italian newspapers - there was a time I could walk into just about any deli in TP and order in Italian. Not anymore. Much like you'll find the Puerto Rican guys hanging out playing dominoes and whatnot.

As an interesting aside, there are more "mainland" Italian in Waterbury that any other place I can find in CT perhaps New Haven may be more or slightly less. Most of the Italian immigrants are from Sicily...and frankly, most of us mainlanders don't consider them "Italian". In fact, they call themselves Sicilian for a reason! I don't say I'm "Calabrese" or "Basilicattan" or "Tuscan". It's an interesting dynamic and one of the things here in the Hartford region I just have to deal with as most of them are Sicilian

[7 Wishes]

Originally Posted by mlassoff

Brass,

Many Jews would find this HIGHLY offensive. Hasidic Jews are no less or more "Jewish" than I am. The Hasidic sect of Judaism is a highly observant group but to call them more "real" Jews as opposed to the many Reform, Conservative or even Orthodox Jews is incorrect and offensive. I'm sure Hasidic Jews in Waterbury stand out more than the other Jews who dress like everyone else, however there are large numbers of Jews in Fairfield County, New Haven County and especially around the West Hartford area.

I know the Hasidic Jewish population in Waterbury is growing, but it still is small in comparison to West Hartford and even Fairfield County. Just cause we don't have tse-tse and wear long black coats doesn't mean we aren't there.

I agree with all you say here (and in a later post) except about Hasidic population figures. Hasidim tend to live in very specific areas, and I have very rarely seen them anywhere in Fairfield County. The only places driving around CT that I have ever seen them on the streets are in West Hartford and in Waterbury, and in that specific neighborhood of Waterbury for a very short stretch they are as common to see as if you were in Brooklyn's Williamsburg, the two NY State towns I mentioned earlier or the Diamond District of Manhattan. In West Hartford it was more of a scatter, like when you're walking around midtown Manhattan or on the subway and occasionally see a couple of them.

So in that sense I side with brass (and brass, you've been quite gracious in otherwise standing corrected and apologizing for any offending), but otherwise great posts!

Originally Posted by JViello

As an interesting aside, there are more "mainland" Italian in Waterbury that any other place I can find in CT perhaps New Haven may be more or slightly less. Most of the Italian immigrants are from Sicily...and frankly, most of us mainlanders don't consider them "Italian". In fact, they call themselves Sicilian for a reason! I don't say I'm "Calabrese" or "Basilicattan" or "Tuscan". It's an interesting dynamic and one of the things here in the Hartford region I just have to deal with as most of them are Sicilian

Though I am not Italian, I grew up in an area just north of NYC that was heavily so in the day so I knew a lot from my school friends and neighbors, yet the first time I ate at a "northern Italian" restaurant I was astounded that I didn't know how different the food was from what I (and most people) considered "Italian" since the dishes most Americans are familiar with are really the foods of southern Italy and Sicily.

An interesting thing about both Italians and Jews is that in America we mostly see just one "cultural group" of each because that particular sub-group is what dominates in this country and when people learn about the "other" group, they are amazed at the contrast. Besides the whole northern vs. southern Italian vs. Sicilian dynamic, among Jews there's Ashkenazim (Jews from northern/central/eastern Europe where the immigrants to the US spoke Yiddish, probably 80% of Jews worldwide and 95+% of American Jews, though only 50% of Jews in Israel) and Sephardim (some of whom lived in Spain, Greece and Italy in the Middle Ages and others whom lived in the Middle East.....both "subgroups" of Sephardim has very different foods from each other and the Ashkenazim and the subgroup that has always lived in the Middle East usually has brown skin similar to fellow Arabs and do not look as "white".....since this group is rare in America a famous person who is of "Middle East" Jewish ancestry is Paula Abdul of American Idol to give an example).

[MikefromCT]

Originally Posted by 7 Wishes

The only places driving around CT that I have ever seen them on the streets are in West Hartford and in Waterbury, and in that specific neighborhood of Waterbury for a very short stretch they are as common to see as if you were in Brooklyn's Williamsburg, the two NY State towns I mentioned earlier or the Diamond District of Manhattan. In West Hartford it was more of a scatter, like when you're walking around midtown Manhattan or on the subway and occasionally see a couple of them.

Believe it or not, there's actually a handful of the more conservative, Orthodox Jews in Bloomfield. There's a woman I know, she and her husband just moved there from Brooklyn's Crown Heights neighborhood, of all places. When I met her husband, it was then that I realized they were of a more traditional sect since he had a full beard and was dressed in black, wearing a yamicha (sp?). Oddly enough, the demographics of Bloomfield are similar to that of Crown Heights - mostly black with a sizeable Jewish population. I've never been to CH but I'm familiar with it, must be all those years of reading Daily News.

7 Wishes - where in Westchester did you grow up? Mount Vernon? I remember you mentioned it previously.

I've heard New Haven has a Little Italy section. Is anyone familiar with this area? I know it's famous for Pepe's and Sally's pizzerias, but I've never been to the neighborhood. I'm anxious to go sometime, though.