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Comment by mgiampapa | Hacker News Reader

You are not alone, having lived in Brooklyn in Orthodox areas, I have encountered some ridiculous racism from the orthodox community. Frankly even a trip to Costco in Brooklyn will give you a huge amount of perspective on how many view non-orthodox jews as "Others" and "Non-People".

That said, I also worked with the Safardic Jewish community doing tech in the garment industry and as the token gentile I was loved on and respected for my work.

Like every culture there is a broad spectrum, but if the Orthodox jews of NYC are anything to go on, I am seriously questioning why they are choosing to live here.

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There are a lot of Jewish communities in Brooklyn and it's hard to know what you're referring to, but if I am correct, they're so insulated against the outside world that they could really move anywhere (and often do, for cheaper housing prices, as has happened to many a modern orthodox community)

Yeah, that's the thing I don't understand. NYC is known as a melting pot of cultures and it isn't inexpensive at all, even out at the far ends of the NRD and B trains. Why be in a great cosmopolitan city if you aren't going to give your neighbor the time of day when you go out and interact? It's not like I'm talking about interactions at a Yeshiva or a Synagogue, but out doing every day things like shopping, or going to for a walk in the park.

They live there because they immigrated through new York and settled down in New York. That doesn't mean they're required to integrate with the modern world, as much as that attitude disgusts me.

Required to integrate, no. Should they be polite members of civil society? Yes.

My issue isn't what they do in their congregations and communities, but how they interact with the rest of the world. I've personally been treated extremely poorly by strangers in the Orthodox community just going about my day in the city. Between that and other experiences, I'm just shocked at how prevalent racism is among the Jewish Orthodox community in particular.

You're asking why a community that's lived somewhere for generations does just all of a sudden pack their bags and GTFO?

Hardly, I'm asking why a community that has lived somewhere for generations remains insular to the point of xenophobia and treats people not in their group who also live there as non-people. Why come to NYC in the first place given it's reputation for inclusion and mixing cultures? It's wrong to discriminate both ways, and having seen it firsthand I don't understand it.

You clearly hold negative stereotypes about this group, and seem unaware of the history that motivated them to come from Eastern Europe to Ellis Island and then establish a community nearby… I’m not sure continuing this discussion would be productive

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