Isolated from the rest of the world, and proud to be so

The Age - Australia

March 14, 2008

Melbourne's Adass community is secretive and reclusive. That's how its members like it, writes Barney Zwartz.

THEY could be called the Amish of the Jewish community: ultra-orthodox, ultra-reclusive and ultra-strict. On the Jewish Sabbath and holy days, the men of Melbourne's Adass community stand out with their tall fur hats and long, black silk coats, while the women usually cover their heads with a scarf or hat.

There's no TV or iPods, no skimpy clothing, no children's stories in which boys and girls are friends, no sex education before marriage — and almost no drop-outs from the community. The strict seclusion works.

People come to Elsternwick and Ripponlea like tourists to stare at this apparently medieval cultural relic from eastern Europe.

But during the rest of the week, Adass members look much like anyone else, if more modestly dressed, and fit comfortably into modern life.

They have as little to do with outsiders — and that includes other Jews, even Orthodox ones — as possible.

"The reason we are so reclusive is that if we want our children to uphold our religion the way we believe it, to the dot of the law, dress code etc, the only way is to isolate children from all outside influences," one member of the community said yesterday.

The community of about 150 families is almost entirely self-sufficient, with its own kindergartens, schools, doctors, butcher, baker, circumciser and cemetery. Most are not rich, and families tend to be large. Most have six children and some have 13 or 14.

They are remarkably stringent about separating the sexes.

"Some will not use their wife's name in public or before anyone except their children. Neighbours are always Mrs. Once you call a woman by her first name, that's the beginning of a possible illicit relationship," the Adass member said.

Boys and girls, other than siblings or cousins, do not talk to each other after they are about eight. There are separate kindergartens for boys and girls, and separate schools that are kept so distinct that boys and girls cannot be dropped off in the same street in case they talk to each other, The Age was told.

Children go to school until they are 16, then to full-time religious school — usually seminaries in Israel, the US or Britain — until they are married, at which point they can go to university or to work.

Another Adass member, who also spoke to The Age anonymously, said the community had got much stricter in the past 10 years under spiritual leader Rabbi Avrohom Zvi Beck, and the younger members were more fanatical in their religious observance than their parents.

"Walking, we are supposed to gaze at the ground, looking up only enough for safety, because we might look at a woman."

Adass women wear stockings, long skirts — never trousers or jeans — and cover their arms to the wrist. Clothes must not be tight or see-through or red — because red attracts the eye, and women are supposed to blend in to the landscape, according to the community member. "All women in Adass have to cover their hair. Fanatics shave after their weddings and wear wigs, and ultra-fanatics wear a scarf over the wig."

Adass members marry within the community, often finding partners in Israel, the US or Britain. Marriages are not arranged, precisely, but the parents play an active role. They find prospective partners, then let the children meet — but not alone. If they don't suit there is no pressure. "No one wants their children to have a bad marriage or have problems later," the member said.

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