Contrasts of Belleville

Following up on my previous post, this picture could be a metaphor of the diversity in my quarter. Old buildings constructed well before the first world war, at the end of the nineteenth century, contrast with tall (and a bit too simple), 18-story tall HLMs or "housing at modest rent" apartment blocks from the 70s, built mostly for the middle and working class. Very similarly, the old French seniors who grew up in the neighborhood before any of the high-risers were built mix in the streets and at the farmers' market with the immigrant youth from North and West Africa, China or even Latin America.

The question is, though, whether the diverse residents of Belleville merely exist next to each other like these contrasting buildings without any contact, passing each other while shopping for their bread in the little Tunisian-run boulangerie on the corner, or whether they actually go beyond the formal contact to make bridges between the diverse communities.

It's a question that makes me think of the little town of Chapel Hill in the Southern United States.

My Jewish "voisins"

One of the things I like about the neighborhood where I live here in Paris is its fascinating diversity. Belleville is known for its many French-Chinese inhabitants, but you definitely have more of a rainbow feeling walking around this 19th-20th arrondissements. Arabs, Eastern Europeans, French white, French black, African immigrants, Muslims, Jews, young, old... You can find anyone and everyone here.

The first week I got to Belleville, I noticed the large population of Jews meeting every night in a small makeshift hall next to our house. I realized that it was the period of Yom Kippur, that's why their frequent meetings throughout the week. They were one of the ultra-Orthodox sects, the men wearing their typical black coats, hats and growing curly sideburns, women wearing head scarfs and long skirts, with children aspiring to mimic their parents' dress code sooner or later, boys still wearing only yarmulkes instead of hats and girls having uncovered hair. It might seem like a duh issue for some of my readers but I could count the number of Orthodox (or any other) Jews I saw during my growing up in Slovakia. What used to be one of the largest Jewish communities in Central Europe, Slovakia was sadly left with virtually no official Jewish residents after the world wars followed by the coming of religiously intolerant communism shortly after. The first time I got to interact with the Jews was at UNC at their Hillel community center where I did a study of social interaction among the reformed Jewish youth for my African religions & philosophy class (paradoxically, we didn't have to focus on an African religious community). I studied about the Brooklyn ultra-Orthodox Jews in my Sociology class but I never actually saw the community living together. Well, my time came here in Paris which has a Jewish population of around 300 000 people. With this particular sect in Belleville, it's not really true what I heard about the ultra-Orthodox as being isolated and grumpy toward outsiders. These Jewish residents are very nice and polite although they do segregate quite a bit (I don't think they have particularly close friendships with the neighbors; but truth be told, who does in Paris?). The only interaction we have is at the gate or in the elevator but I'd love to be able to get to know them more. Maybe I should look for a community center in town (since they disassembled the Yom Kipur meeting room) or a synagogue to visit. As a Christian, I am very fascinated by Judaism as a "point of depart" of my faith. It's always interesting to have doctrinal conversations with Jews because it helps me understand the principles of Christianity as well. A visit to a Messianic synagogue before I leave wouldn't be bad either!