When The ‘Aimish’ Meet The ‘Heimish’

CH.Info
CROWN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn [CHI] — Several dozen Amish residents from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, started the tour earlier Tuesday of Brooklyn's Crown Heights neighborhood with members of the Chabad-Lubavitch community.

Rabbi Beryl Epstein calls the tour “living Judaism.” He says both communities are drawn to each other because they are known for old-fashioned dress and resistance to modern amenities

The tour began in the basement of a the Levi Yitzchok Library, as Epstein explained what he saw as the similar ties the communities have. From there they walked down Kingston Avenue and stopped at HaSofer, where they saw how Teffilin and Mezuzos are written. They learned about the Shabbos siren on Kingston and Montgomery, and a final stop was at the Crown Heights Matzah Bakery.

“It's reinforcing to the Amish community to see us Jews living the way the Bible says Jews are supposed to live, and have lived since the time of Moses and Abraham,” says Israel Ber Kaplan, program director for the Chassidic Discovery Center in Brooklyn. “The Amish are also living their lives as the Bible speaks to them.”

Residents did double-takes on the Brooklyn streets as the two groups walked side by side, touring a Jewish library and a ``matzo factory,'' where round, unleavened bread was being made for the Passover holiday.

This is the second year that the community has invited the Amish on a walking tour it offers to the public.

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