Street Fight?

Larry Gordon, the editor of the local Jewish paper, writes on his new blog about a call he received from a reporter for the New York Newsday, Carol Eisenberg, regarding a story she is writing for her paper.

Well, Carol said, people she had spoken to had told her that they feel that if they are not Orthodox and live in today’s 5 Towns they are looked down upon and not regarded with respect. She repeated the old and often repeated accusation that we as a people insist on walking in the middles of the street on Shabbos and don’t pay any attention and sometimes don’t even care if there is car behind us that needs to pass.

I told the reporter that I had lived here a relatively long time and that I have a brother who lives in the 5 Towns ten years longer than that. I recall reading stories and letters in the local press about this annoying habit of walking in the middle of the street on Shabbos over twenty years ago. My guess is that for every hundred time his idea is mentioned a minimal form of the scenario may have unfolded perhaps a total of once. “I know lots of people,” I said, “and I don’t know any at all that set out on Shabbos to walk on the street to assert the growing Orthodox presence in the area by obstructing traffic.” If anything at all Orthodox Judaism represents the exact antithesis of this type of behavior. A truly observant Jew is always concerned about his or her good name, reputation and image and how his or her behavior will impact on the image of all Jews everywhere.

This suggestion that we must walk in the way of traffic as a way of announcing to the world that we are observing the Sabbath is nothing other than a ridiculous idea.

I think he is right and wrong. Yes, ideally, a "truly observant Jew" will be concerned about his reputation and image, and will not walk down the middle of the street and obstruct traffic. Mr. Gordon is also correct in saying that any traffic obstruction that is done is not done to announce our Sabbath observance to the world in any way, shape, or form. That being said, one can't deny that in this area, on a typical Shabbat, large groups of observant Jews do seem to find themselves walking down the middle of the street. Does this is action in any way have as a goal obstructing traffic for the non-observant residents in the area? Not a chance.

Sure, the practice shows a lack of consideration - and that is something that needs to be worked on, big time. I have actually heard many community Rabbis speak out specifically against walking smack down the middle of the street on Shabbat. Obstructing traffic is rude, inconsiderate, and needs to be stopped. I understand that there are no sidewalks on many streets, but that doesn't absolve people from walking on the side of the street (not the middle) and sharing the road.

But again, to give a motive to this type of behavior of some kind of attempt at religious domination of the streets of the Five Towns is absurd. Thankfully, this isn't Meah Shearim. No one is walking down the middle of the street as some sort of protest to driving on Shabbat, or standing at the corner of Rockaway Turnpike and Central Avenue every throwing stones at passing cars.

At least, not yet.