I’m a she All I was saying was that while the OP was analogizing the differences between Orthodox Jewish groups to the differences among Christian denominations, I do not think the analogy holds, because the Christian group differences are mostly matters of theology (hence the Christian theological examples that I gave), while the Jewish group differences are over matters of law and worldview.
AK84, I don’t think there’s any Orthodox group that makes theology its major focus. I’m not sure what you mean by ‘common culture.’
I used ‘Ultra-Orthodox’ because AFAIK, that’s the scholarly term and the one most likely to be understood in this setting. They would definitely not refer to themselves that way, but the Yeshivish and the Hasidic tend not to lump themselves into a single group with a single term, at least in the US. In Israel, they’d be referred to as ‘haredi,’ literally meaning ‘fearful ones,’ as in ‘those who fear G-d’.
This part of OP has not really been addressed, besides sartorially.
I don’t know of any book on the topic, but I’m sure they’re out there, even if they are behind the times in the day-to-day bickering and resolutions that typify sects.
Wiki has surprisingly long and detailed entries on even the most minute sect. I’m sure as shit a marriage across sects is a no-no. About damnation, the don’t really put it in those terms. Contempt across sects is the best that they can do. Although I would not be surprised if fist-fights have broken out at the street level. A YouTube of a beat-down in a Satmar synagogue between followers of different dynastic successors is a perennial favorite, but that’s intra-sect.
I often think that the genius of secular Israel is creating space for their flourishing, but not for their social inclinations (beyond the heated, and hated, military exemption). Israel could be Iraq or Yugoslavia squared, were it not for its essential, and religously guarded, founding principle.
Anyway, I cannot grasp the Hassidic sects’ multivariant distinctions. However, you might want to look up Wiki on Satmar, and their grudging and fairly recent thoughts on whether the State of Israel is an abomination, and should not exist.
They are I think they are the second largest sect in NYC, and of course vote whatever the Rebbe says. A yearly ritual for every politician is to be photographed on stage with the Satmar Rebbe surrounded by his disciples and an adoring crowd: this also signifies to other voters that he has the most Jewishy support of all, and is clearly to be trusted.
If the general Jewish voters, and of course the politician, only knew that for decades the politician was standing on stage with people whose opinions on Israel ultimately matched those of Arafat and his most fervent sympathizers.
Not exactly - even the modern orthodox are broken down into at least two groups. There are MO, and there is a group loosely known as “chardal;” they are sort of between MO and chareidi.
Actually, Lubavitch wear black hats, but they are not sporty. Lubavitch black hats have sort of a mashed look; that’s how one can tell the difference between someone Lubavitch and someone Yeshivish (who do wear sporty Borsalino black hats, usually with a wide brim.)
Black socks, white socks, plain long black jackets, long jackets with intricate colored designs, round fur hats (streimals), tall fur hats (spodeks) . . . the list goes on and on . . .
Note that this is an Israeli distinction; ‘chardal’ is an acronym meaning chareidi, but supporting of the State of Israel. There’s no such group outside of Israel.
And it doesn’t mean just Haredim who support Israel, but who are actively right-wing (mostly, extremly instratigent on any kind of compromise on the West Bank / Judea & Samaria.) Haredim who have, explicitly or implicitly, woven themselves into the fabric of the Israeli nation are an overwhelming majority of the Haredi population at this point; but politically they tended to be relatively pragmatic / uniterested / dovish on the territorial issues until relatively recently – which change is what has earned them the Hardal moniker.
**cmkeller **-- it’s no coincidence that the acronym hardal took; being pronounced as an existing Hebrew word helped
All I was saying was that while the OP was analogizing the differences between Orthodox Jewish groups to the differences among Christian denominations, I do not think the analogy holds, because the Christian group differences are mostly matters of theology (hence the Christian theological examples that I gave), while the Jewish group differences are over matters of law and worldview.