When you walk along the main commercial street you can hear English, French, Hebrew, Yiddish and even Spanish. Some of the current residents have arrived within recent years and others, the most orthodox and members of a small anti-Zionist group, refuse to speak Hebrew. They don’t recognize the State of Israel and, therefore, they don’t acknowledge its official language. They are not a majority but they do make their mark. Unlike other neighbourhoods of Jerusalem and Israel, Mea Shearim doesn’t display Israeli flags on windows or doors. The symbol that marks the neighborhood is Judaism, not nationalism. Book stores are fully devoted to religion. Jewish crafts and kosher food are available. Clothing stores offer little variety, most of the clothes are black and look the same.
Residents of Mea Shearim walk through the Arab quarter of old Jerusalem on there way to the wailing wall. Late at night the empty streets are constantly patrolled by heavily armed soldiers who guarantee a safe passage.
Many haredim are fundamentally opposed to a secular, modern, pre-messianic Jewish state. A minority, are either ardently or passively Zionist. In 1947, Agudat Israel attempted to dissuade the General Assembly of the United Nations from voting in favor of the partition of Palestine. To this day, Agudat Israel members run for election and sit in the Knesset, but they refuse to accept any official ministerial post in the Israeli cabinet, and remain steadfast in their anti-Zionist ideology. Though resistant to active participation and affiliation with Israel's mostly secular democracy, haredi political groups function with the aim of aligning Israel's policies with halakhah, or Jewish law, as well as insuring that haredi schools and institutions continue to receive government funding.
