A. E. LOKSHIN

Candidate of Historical Sciences

Very close to the center of Jerusalem, an ancient, bustling and diverse modern city, is the Mea Shearim quarter. It was founded in 1874 by a group of Jews who decided to leave the Old City. In the week when the foundation stone of the new schooner (quarter) was laid, a chapter of the Torah was read in the synagogues, in which it is written: "And Yitzhak sowed in that land, and received a hundredfold of barley that year; so the Lord blessed him." So they called the new quarter "Mea Shearim" - "One Hundred times". These days, when you find yourself in the confines of Mea Shearim, the books of Jewish writers of the past and the pages of ancient engravings seem to come to life. The impression is that absolutely nothing has changed here over the past almost a century and a half. Except that cars are racing through narrow streets, modern goods are sold in shops, and men with fluttering sidewalks are constantly talking on mobile phones. Otherwise, everything is as it was before: darkened old houses, doors opening onto long terraces. Windows with bars raised more than two meters above the sidewalks...

The unique appearance of Mea Shearim is created, of course, primarily by its inhabitants-ultra-orthodox Jews. They remained faithful to the lifestyle, mentality of their great-great-grandfathers and the habit of traditional clothing. Men in dark frock coats or trousers tucked into black stockings, striped dressing gowns, and fur hats that are strange to the unaccustomed eye, especially in summer. Women - in the worst heat of Jerusalem, when the Khamsin blows, bringing hot air and fine sand from the Judean desert - in tightly closed dresses, shawls, dark stockings and shoes. By their clothing, you can distinguish the followers of the Satmar Rebbe from the Gur Hasidim, and the Belz Hasidim from members of the Neturei Karta group.

NETUREY MAP

The very name Neturei karta literally means "guardians of the city" in Aramaic and is taken from the Jerusalem Talmud, which states that Torah experts are the guardians and defenders of the city. Members of this community, which has at least several hundred families, do not want to recognize the modern State of Israel and emphasize this fact in every possible way. They believe that the "kingdom of the Jews in the Holy Land" can only be created after the arrival of the Mashiach (Messiah).

A well-known historical fact: during the war of independence, or the first Arab-Israeli war, as some Russian authors call it, in 1948, during the period of stubborn battles for Jerusalem, members of the community opposed the creation of the state of Israel and Jewish control over the holy city, trying to achieve international status for it. During the fighting in Jerusalem, a group of Neturey karta with a white flag went towards the Jordanian positions. Later, ultra-orthodox Jews began to declaratively support the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and made attempts to establish contacts with it.

Members of the Neturei Karta community are European Ashkenazi Jews. Many of them are descendants of the old Yishuv, a Jewish Orthodox community that has existed in Palestine many centuries. At the end of the XIX century they met with hostility the first groups of (secular) Zionist settlers who came to the homeland of their ancestors and intended create a national home for the Jewish people here.

"PASHKAVILI "

Once in Mea Shearim, I tried to talk to some passers-by. And all in vain. When I addressed them in Hebrew, they didn't answer me or quickened their pace. There was a sense of wariness and suspicion about outsiders. Hebrew

For the residents of Mea Shearim , this is not the language used to talk about everyday topics. It is the holy language, the language of prayer.

Yiddish, the language of Eastern European Jewry, is spoken in the streets and alleys of Mea Shearim. It is better to address strangers in this language. However, there is a lot of graffiti on the walls of houses, mainly in Hebrew. And on numerous special stands and posters, referred to here as "pashkavils", I read statements that struck me: "For 60 years we have mourned the Jewish souls burned in the furnaces of the Zionists"; "Zionist animals are the scum of the human race". There are also wall signs calling for an end to "the Zionist occupation of the Holy Land" and the words "no Zionists allowed in". Tourists, as well as everyone else who happened to be in the neighborhood, rather out of curiosity, did not remain unnoticed in these posters. This is undoubtedly the message addressed to them: "Jerusalem is not for rest, but for prayer." Under most of the "pashkavils" there is a caption: Neturey karta. With the onset of Shabbat (Saturday), which begins on Friday evening, the block is blocked by barriers, and no car can enter Mea Shearim without being thrown stones. For the coming of the "Sabbath Queen" must not be defiled. At this time, only the voices of worshippers can be heard from the open windows of synagogues and the screams of small children playing in the street, right on the pavement...

CONVERSATIONS WITH MENACHEM AND DVORA

After several visits to Mea Shearim, I was lucky enough to get one of its residents to talk, though not without difficulty , a man with a black beard and traditional Jewish clothing, with his side skirts fluttering in the Jerusalem wind, and a calm look in his forties. When he identified himself as Menachem, he said without undue emotion, first of all, what he obviously did more than once, that "the Zionists should withdraw from Judea and Samaria" (i.e., from the West Bank) and generally "get out of the country". "The Zionists believe," my new acquaintance continued, " that this country must be conquered. And we are waiting for the arrival of the Mashiach. Then will come geula (i.e. liberation and deliverance. - A. L.). I involuntarily at that moment glanced at the stand, where new posters had just appeared. The inscription on one of them read: "The Zionists are biting! In the name of preserving Holy Jerusalem, we choose the power of the Arabs." When Menachem had finished speaking, I asked him, almost certain of a positive answer beforehand, if he was the owner of the Darkon, i.e., if he was the owner of the Darkon.e. an Israeli passport. Of course, the emphatic "no"followed. "I don't have any identification card. I can get it at any time, it's worth writing a statement, " Menachem said. But this means "recognition of the state". A strong refusal to recognize the Jewish secular state as a member of the Neturei Karta and other ultra-Orthodox Jews means not only refusing to possess Israeli identity cards, but also not recognizing the jurisdiction of the Israeli court and even the Supreme Rabbinate.

The vast majority of Mea Shearim residents do not vote in either parliamentary or municipal elections. And the national holiday of the country - Independence Day in Mea Shearim is celebrated as a sad date. This coincides with the opinion of the Palestinians, who define the day of the declaration of independence of the Jewish State as a Nakba catastrophe.

Menachem, with whom I did not enter into any argument, only occasionally nodding his head, which was obviously interpreted as a sign of agreement, came with me to the door of his house and unexpectedly invited me to visit. Although the visit of an outsider to the home of ultra-Orthodox Jews is an infrequent event, I was well received. I met his wife Dvora, who was very talkative. When she found out that I was from Moscow, she asked me where this place was located. However, my explanations were met with little interest, and the conversation turned to another topic. Dvora was pregnant. Looking down at her belly, she said that she wanted to have at least twenty children. Menachem nodded his solidarity with his wife. Dvora said that so far they have only eight children, but even now life is not easy. She does not enjoy any of the benefits and allowances provided to mothers with many children by the Israeli authorities. Nor did she want health insurance. "You have to pay for childbirth. It was especially hard with this one, which was premature, " she said, pointing to the one-year-old child lying peacefully in the crib. I had to pay 50 thousand shekels. "And for this money, you can buy an apartment," she laughed. (At the current exchange rate of the shekel against the dollar, this is approximately 12,5 thousand US dollars.)

I have noted that for the last

For 10 years, the ultra-orthodox quarter has clearly grown. The place where once stood with broken windows and drenched with ink and ink inactive movie theater, now houses the inhabitants of the quarter. Meanwhile, the garrulous Dvora pointed to her children and said: "The whole family lives in the same room, and we are not cramped." Menachem whispered something to his wife, and she immediately switched to " politics." "The Torah is against the creation of a state. Loyalty to the Torah means that we are also against it. It's all one. They call us something like "-Dvora chose the word - " extremists. And we Neturei Karta are the true guardians of the Torah and our faith." I noticed that there was an old Hanukkah lamp in the cabinet, which is lit by Jews on the days of the holiday of Hanukkah. "Do you know the history of this holiday?" I asked Dvora and Menachem's eldest daughter, who was also there. She didn't seem to know what to say. "It's hard for her to speak Hebrew," Dvora said for her. (It was obviously customary to speak Yiddish in the house.) She continued: "Hanukkah is a holiday to celebrate the victory over the Greeks, who wanted us to stop being Jews. How are the Zionists now: they wanted us to watch TV, movies, and play soccer. And then our ancestors rebelled. And saved the Temple from desecration..."

Meanwhile, one of the older boys, about eleven years old, invited me to go down with him to a large basement room and pointed to the books. "When I can't sleep, I read. These are anti-Zionist books. I also distribute anti-Zionist tapes." He showed me an album of color photographs: demonstrations against the "desecrators" of the Sabbath and a certain Rabbi Stein, who called for service in the Israeli army. I didn't ask how these photos, which are generally rejected by the ultra-Orthodox, were taken. In the future, I realized that everything is decided depending on the situation. To my naive question whether the boy is going to serve in the army when his time comes, Dvora's son answered with a decisive "no". "Why not?" I persisted. The explanation was very lapidary: "After all, this is the Zionist army."

When I went upstairs, I suddenly asked the owner of the house: "Menachem, have you been to the sea?" "No," he said, " I wasn't. Trips to the sea some people call: "go get some air." But at the same time, Jewry is being eroded out of our heads, " he added. Suddenly I heard my mobile phone ringing. Menachem picked up the phone and answered. "And you're talking on your cell phone? I asked, clearly surprised. - After all, in all" pashkavili " it is forbidden to do this." "Yes," Menachem admitted, " I do. After all, the train of progress is rushing forward, and it is impossible to stop it. No one can get off it. But you always have to stay in the last car." And then he said, " I'm not sure.": "Anything new, even if it's harmless and safe, is forbidden too." And he ended his "speech" with some pathos: "We must fight to the end, every day, all twenty-four hours a day, because this is Judaism." "Thinking about sin is worse than sinning," Dvora continued to philosophize. - After all, evil is inherent in human nature. And we must fight this."

Suddenly, a young woman knocked on the door and entered. She asked me to lend her some flour. "A young wife," Dvora explained to me. "Married women have to cover their heads. We are against wigs, " she said. Rivki (this was the woman's name) was the owner of a long braid before her marriage, but after marriage, as is customary in the community, she shaved her head. And now he wears a headscarf. "How are you?" Dvora asked, turning to her. She replied sheepishly that it was hard at first. And that until now, she hadn't looked at herself in the mirror.

At parting, I asked permission to take pictures of my interlocutors. Menachem flatly rejected this suggestion, adding: "They will throw stones at us here."

All the pictures I managed to take in Mea Shearim were taken secretly, I hid my camera. And if one of the objects of my attention guessed that they wanted to take a picture of him, he immediately turned away and quickened his pace.

"GOY FRUMKIN"

During my next visit to Mea Shearim, reading the new Pashkavili ,I realized that a real war was raging in the quarter. Sharp criticism was directed at one person named Yisrael Frumkin. This Frumkin turned out to be a real dissident. Starred on television and gave interviews. I do not know what he was talking about. But apparently that didn't interest the large crowd gathered outside his house. "Frumkin is a hooligan, goy!" (i.e., a gentile) - they shouted excitedly. When I met Frumkin a little later, I learned that he was, in his words, "a broad-minded person and likes to act on television." He works in iria, i.e. the Jerusalem City Hall, receives a salary, pays all taxes, and likes to travel abroad. "That doesn't mean I'm a Zionist.

I'm just a law-abiding citizen. And for that, "he said," they wanted to kill me." I myself saw the call for my murder in one of the "pashkavils". I was sitting in the car with my kids. Someone threw a rock. My children were miraculously unharmed. God saved us. Just a little more and I would have been sitting shiva (seven days of mourning)." "Who is 'they'?" - I asked. "These are fanatics. They're worse than the Nazis." "Would you like to leave the country?" I suddenly blurted out. "No way! Never. This is where I was born. My family is here, " he sang the lyrics of a popular Israeli pop song. And continued: "I released my own poster against them and signed it with my real name - Yisrael Frumkin. I call them "sicarii" there. And the name has already stuck to them, " he said angrily. "In the Mishnah (the fundamental part of the Talmud - A. L.) sikari are those who killed the soul of the people."

"Sicarii" in the Mishnah simply referred to robbers (from the Latin word sica-dagger), and even more often so called Jerusalem rebels who fought against the Romans during the siege of Jerusalem. By the way, this word was used by Josephus when he wrote about the most radical wing of the anti-Roman opposition in Judea. Armed with short daggers hidden in the folds of their clothing, they attacked their Roman victims and Jewish collaborators.

After a while, Yisrael said that, in addition to working in the city hall, he is also involved in organizing funerals, this job was passed down to him from his father. Besides, he's a sahkan. "An actor, an artist?!" - I couldn't help but be surprised. "Yes, yes sakhkan," Frumkin confirmed. "When I am invited to Purim celebrations, I always participate in a theatrical performance." In addition, Israel has its own small printing house, which prints a variety of "pashkavili", including those that condemn the very way of life and thoughts that Frumkin himself is inclined to. "I'm neutral," he told me, " and I want to be at peace with everyone. And the police. And with the neighbors. We have a democracy at home. I tell my kids that you can take whatever path you want in life, but they stay and don't want to go anywhere." After saying goodbye to Frumkin, I decided to stop by Menachem's for a while.

DVORA HAD NO IDEA THE WORLD WAS SO BIG

Menachem wasn't surprised to see me. "We must, "he said," declare a boycott of this 'microbe' (meaning Frumkin)." "Have you ever watched TV?" I asked him. "No," Menachem replied. - I happened to watch a video once. After that, the visions haunted me. I couldn't get over it all day. This, "he concluded," fills your head with the wrong things." "And I," Dvora said, " once went to the hospital with my mother. (We were talking about the Hadassah Medical Center in Ein Kerem, which is located a few kilometers from the old city.) There was a television set. I stole a glance... They showed me animals. My mother said: "Don't look! This is unclean." Actually, "Dvora confessed ," I knew the world was so big, but I didn't know how big it was!"

It was time for lunch. Menachem invited them to the table and recited the traditional blessing on the bread. And the family began to eat. Menachem said that they do not eat "Zionist" bread, milk, or meat at home. "Why not? I ask Menachem with a naive face. "Zionist milk doesn't taste so good?" "I can't say I haven't tried it," he said. It turned out that he has a whole farm where dairy cows are bred. There, he sells milk to those who, according to him, want nothing to do with the Israeli state. "How many are there?" I asked. "A lot. Very much, " he said. As I left the block, I noticed that the old posters had already been torn down, and in their place were new "pashkavili" signs that read:: "Mobile phone companies, get out of our neighborhood!"; " Dear brothers, don't read the newspapers!"; " Don't watch movies!"; "Until when will movie theaters be open on Saturdays?"

BAAL TESHUVA TZVI

Writing out individual quotes and trying to translate new "pashkavili" into Russian, I noticed that a man in traditional clothes was looking at my notebook. It turned out to be a fellow countryman, a native of Moscow. We started talking. My interlocutor's name was Zvi, and he was brought up in a typical Jewish Soviet family. I had no idea about Judaism. He moved to Australia in the early 1970s. Once there, I visited a synagogue in Sydney out of curiosity. And suddenly he heard the voice of his ancestors and realized that his place was in the holy city of Jerusalem. And now for many years he has lived on this land. Tsvi belongs to a true Orthodox community, " free from the influence of the modern spirit and its false ideas." So he became a Baal teshuva (a person who had never had or lost contact with Judaism, who repented and returned to the religion). Zvi offered his translation services for the Pashkavils. Which, of course, I didn't refuse. But there wasn't much time. Zvi said the traditional wish: "A gut shabes" ("good Saturday" - Yiddish), and left.

The Sabbath was approaching. I quickened my pace. I wasn't the only one doing it. The inhabitants of the voluntary ghetto rushed home. It was the most important and significant day of the week, illuminated by peace and rest from everyday work, when a person's thoughts should ascend to the heights of spiritual life, devoid of everyday hardships and worries that darken a person's life throughout the week. It wasn't long before the last Jerusalem bus left, and I still had time to get to my place of refuge. After all, in Jerusalem, public transport does not work on this day. Finally, the streets, houses and people of the modern city appeared. My journey into the past is over. Already all the inhabitants of Mea Shearim were in the synagogues, each in his own, familiar and familiar. And very soon my Mea Shearim acquaintances, like everyone else in this quarter and in many homes in Jerusalem, will be singing traditional Sabbath songs on their return from synagogues. Then they will bless the Lord over the wine and sit down at a table filled with festive viands.

A TWO-WAY STREET

In the early post-war years, the future of Orthodox Jewry was seen in dark colors by many. The largest Eastern European centers of traditional Judaism were destroyed by the Nazis. The main concern was that Orthodox families in both Israel and the Diaspora were unable to prevent the mass withdrawal of young people from religion that began in the mid-19th century. It seemed to many that the day was not far off when the last Orthodox synagogue and yeshiva would close. One could only wonder which Torah scholar would have the honor of becoming the last orthodox rabbi in the history of Judaism.

However, as further events showed, the rumors about the death of Orthodoxy were exaggerated. Moreover, since the 1960s and in the following decades, many Jews who broke with religion in the past or even grew up in non-religious families have dramatically changed their way of life, becoming righteous and God-fearing children of Israel. Although the return process has had relatively little impact on ultra-Orthodox communities in Israel, ultra-Orthodox people can be found not only in Mea Shearim, but also in neighboring neighborhoods of West Jerusalem, partly in Bnei Brak, a city about five kilometers northeast of such a completely different, secular and ultra-modern center as Tel Aviv.

The results of the November 2008 mayoral election in Jerusalem are very revealing. Ultra-Orthodox rabbi Meir Porush won 43% of the vote, passing only Nir Barkat, a secular activist, city councilman and entrepreneur, who received 52% of the vote. However, Porush's ultra-orthodox United Torah Judaism party still won the majority of seats on the city council.

Despite their relative smallness, ultra-Orthodox communities enjoy some influence in broader Orthodox circles. They are met with understanding and support, for example, during demonstrations against archaeological excavations of ancient Jewish graves (with frequent clashes with the police); demonstrations for strict observance of the Sabbath; against joint bathing of men and women... Members of the community mostly live on small-scale trade income and on donations from similar communities abroad, mostly from the United States.

The author of this essay, who wrote about his impressions of Mea Shearim, had no intention of presenting it as a "dark realm". Fate has prepared everyone or he chooses his own path in this world. The inhabitants of Mea Shearim have their own aspirations and lives.

There are no statistics on how many Orthodox Jews in Israel and other countries of the world leave the world of strict regulations and traditions and enter the thorny and unknown path of secular life. Conversely, there are also no statistics on how many Jews return to the world of Orthodoxy each year. There are a lot of both. This is a two-way street.

Often, thanks to a variety of avenues and tourist guides, a tourist who has visited Israel develops a certain image of a sunny, bright, ancient, biblical and modern country. But it clearly lacks the hidden image with which, to the best of his abilities and capabilities, the author of this essay tried to introduce readers.

Jerusalem - Moscow

* A yeshiva is a higher religious educational institution dedicated primarily to the study of the Talmud.