OPINION: `Ultra-Orthodox Jews’: who are they?
Now that we are in the middle of Passover, perhaps the time has come to talk about the media’s constant use of the term “Ultra-Orthodox Jews” – a term newscasters and writers sometimes misuse or overuse.
Often, those writing the articles or giving the newscasts have only a minimal knowledge of Judaism. For example, one article described the Satmar part of Williamsburg as an “Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community.” This is technically correct, but it would be more accurately described as a “Hasidic Jewish community.” All Hasidim are Ultra-Orthodox, but not all Ultra-Orthodox are Hasidim.
To many in the media and the general public, it seems, “Ultra-Orthodox” mainly means “religious Jews who wear funny outfits.”
To begin with, what is an Orthodox Jew? An Orthodox Jew, by and large, is one who believes that God revealed himself at Mount Sinai through the written law (the Torah), the oral law (the Talmud), and through Jewish philosophers like Maimonides. Orthodox Jews believe in a set of religious laws known as “halachic law” that govern their lives.