New York’s Orthodox Jewish City: Inside Brooklyn’s Crown Heights

In the United States, they make up a very visible yet inaccessible community: the ultra-Orthodox Jews. Most of the 200,000-strong community live in New York and are flag bearers for the more conservative and religious branch of Judaism. Recognisable by their outfits, they have a strict dress code and live by even stricter rules. We gained exclusive access to their world and heard from a family expelled from the community for breaking those rules. Orthodox Jews live in a vacuum on the fringes of the modern world. They marry solely within their community and – as contraception is banned in most circumstances – their families often exceed six children. Their entire life is determined by religion, following judaic practices which have not changed since the 18th century. The sexes are strictly segregated. They speak Yiddish, the language of Eastern European Jews before the Second World War. Within the most rigorous branches, men devote their entire lives to the study of religion and women only work in mainstream society to provide for the family’s needs. Children are educated in Orthodox schools, which focus mainly on religious education. We follow the Katz family, with their nine children, during their daily life as they prepare for Easter celebrations. In New York, ultra-Orthodox Jews are long established and accepted but, as their community spreads out, tensions are starting to appear. In Monroe, a small town in the New York suburbs, which is now home to thousands of Hasidic Jews, their presence and lifestyle is challenging local communities. Signs telling people to dress modestly in streets where Orthodox Jews live have not been well received. As for those who make efforts to abandon this tight-knit community, they pay a heavy price: rejection by their closest friends and family and the discovery of a modern world which they scarcely know. ------ We have the stories that global corporations don't want you to know. Our channel is home to award-winning investigations, current affairs and revealing documentaries that challenge unchecked global powers and give you the real, human stories behind the headlines. Want to understand more about our world? Want to delve beyond news headlines and understand global issues more deeply? Subscribe to DISPATCH for all this and more. Make sure to hit notifications to never miss a new release!