Photography exhibit shows haredi culture in new light

Goal is to show haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Jews in a state of normalcy not commonly seen by secular citizens of Israel.

By JACOB GOLDSTEIN
HUNDREDS OF hassidic ultra- Orthodox Jews attend a wedding in Mea She’arim. (photo credit: YONATHAN SINDEL / FLASH 90)
HUNDREDS OF hassidic ultra- Orthodox Jews attend a wedding in Mea She’arim.
(photo credit: YONATHAN SINDEL / FLASH 90)
An exhibit from Flash 90 photographer Yonathan Sindel is opening this week at Jerusalem’s Bezalel Academy with the goal of showing haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Jews in a state of normalcy not commonly seen by secular citizens of Israel.
“For years, I was involved, from the side, in their way of life,” Sindel said. “I watched them, I learned from them.”
The photographs capture daily life interactions within these relatively unknown communities, including weddings, marketplaces, and children of the haredi culture.
Sindel said that the way these Jews are portrayed in the media is not always correct or fair to their culture.
“People don’t see these things often,” he said.
After all this time spent with haredim, Sindel still calls himself a secular Jew, but maintains a strong relationship within their community and culture.
“I have a lot of friends there now and I don’t feel different because they are haredim,” he said. “They are the same as us.”
The exhibit opens Friday and runs through August 1.
For more info visit www.bezalel.ac.il.