Xenophobes oppose Hasidic bus service
May 15th, 2003
There’s more conflict between the Hasidic Jewish community and a group of bigoted xenophobes in Outremont. First, they opposed the Eruv on the grounds that the wire is visible and it bothers them or something similar. Then, they lobbied against a zoning change that would have allowed a synagogue to expand. Now, they’re opposing a bus service between Montreal and New York that is geared towards the Hasidic community, many of whom have friends and relatives in New York and make the trip regularly:
Even more important than convenience – the bus made three stops in Outremont, picking up people almost from their doorsteps – is that the bus service offers kosher food, separate seating for men and women, and prayer time, Werzberger said.
The bus service has existed for about 30 years, he said, and nobody had complained about it until a small group of residents started lobbying council.
“There is a small group of people in Outremont who have made it their raison d’être to make life difficult for the Hasidic community. They come and bang in at the councillors and sometimes you just cave in to this kind of pressure.”
The credibility of the residents who keep complaining about the Hasidic community is long gone. The only question is, will the borough council cave into their pressure?
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Rector Lowy would say ‘I’m sure they’re genuine in their beliefs and values, but when those values are imposed upon others…that’s not in our tradition or in most people’s tradition.’
Unlike Ms. Virk, who requested that nobody on the Board of Governers drink alcohol at a meeting, the Orthodox community in Outremont isn’t insisting that anyone else get on a bus to New York.
Teaneck, New Jersey has been fighting to keep an eruv from being put up by the local Chabad. And a lot of the people against the eruv are themselves Jews.