THE MEA SHE'ARIM QUARTER OF JERUSALEM (ISRAEL)

Mea She'arim is a very old venerable corner of Jerusalem, Israel. The name Mea She'arim (Hebrew: מאה שערים‬, lit. "hundred gates"; contextually "a hundred fold") is derived from a verse from Genesis, which happened to be part of the weekly Torah portion that was read the week the settlement was founded: "Isaac sowed in that land, and in that year he reaped a hundredfold (מאה שערים‬, mea shearim); God had blessed him" (Genesis 26:12). According to a tradition, the community originally had 100 gates, another meaning of Mea She'arim. oday, Mea Shearim remains an insular neighbourhood in the heart of Jerusalem With its Haredi and overwhelmingly Hasidic population, the streets retain the characteristics of an Eastern European shtetl as it would have appeared in pre-revolutionary Russia. Life revolves around strict adherence to Jewish law, prayer, and the study of Jewish religious texts. Traditions in dress include black frock coats and black hats for men (although there are some other clothing styles, depending on the religious sub-group to which they belong), and long-sleeved, modest clothing for women. In some Hasidic groups, the women wear thick black stockings all year long, even in summer. Married women wear a variety of hair coverings, from wigs to scarves and snoods. The men have beards, and many grow long sidecurls, called peyot. Many residents speak Yiddish in their daily lives, and use Hebrew only for prayer and religious study, as they believe Hebrew to be a sacred language only to be used for religious purposes.