Bnei Brak or Bene Beraq ( he, בְּנֵי בְּרַק ) is a city located on the central

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

coastal plain A coastal plain is flat, low-lying land adjacent to a sea coast. A fall line commonly marks the border between a coastal plain and a piedmont area. Some of the largest coastal plains are in Alaska and the southeastern United States. The Gulf Coa ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, just east of

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

. A center of

Haredi Judaism Haredi Judaism ( he, ', ; also spelled ''Charedi'' in English; plural ''Haredim'' or ''Charedim'') consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions, in oppos ...

, Bnei Brak covers an area of 709 hectares (1752 acres, or 2.74 square miles), and had a population of in . It is one of the poorest and most densely populated cities in Israel, and the 5th-most densely populated city in the world.

History

A settlement for Haredi Jews in Bnei Brak

Bnei Brak takes its name from the ancient Biblical city of

Beneberak Benebarak ("Sons of Barak") ( he, wikt:בני ברק, בְּנֵי בְּרַק, ''Bnei Brak'') was a biblical city mentioned in the Book of Joshua. According to the biblical account it was allocated to the Tribe of Dan. Its archaeological site is ...

, mentioned in the

Tanakh The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''

tribe of Dan The Tribe of Dan (, "Judge") was one of the twelve tribes of Israel, according to the Torah. They were allocated a coastal portion of land when the people of Israel entered the Promised Land, later moving northwards. Biblical narrative In th ...

. Bnei Brak was founded as an agricultural village by eight Polish

Hasidic Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism (Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of contem ...

families who had come to Palestine as part of the

Fourth Aliyah The Fourth Aliyah (Hebrew: העלייה הרביעית, ''HaAliyah HaRevi'it'') refers to the fourth wave of the Jewish immigration to Mandatory Palestine, mainly from Europe, between the years 1924 and 1928. The character of the Fourth Aliyah S ...

. Yitzchok Gerstenkorn led them. It was founded about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from the site of Biblical Beneberak. Bnei Brak was originally a

moshava A moshava ( he, מושבה, plural: ''moshavot'' , lit. ''colony'') was a form of rural Jewish settlement in Ottoman Palestine, established by the members of the Old Yishuv since late 1870s and during the first two waves of Jewish Zionist immi ...

, and the primary economic activity was the cultivation of citrus fruits. Due to a lack of land, many of the founders turned to other occupations, and the village began to develop an urban character. Arye Mordechai Rabinowicz, formerly rabbi of

Kurów Kurów () is a village in south-eastern Poland, located in the historic province of Lesser Poland, between Puławy and Lublin, on the Kurówka River. It is capital of a separate gmina (municipality) called Gmina Kurów, within Lublin Voivodesh ...

in Poland, was the first rabbi. He was succeeded by Yosef Kalisz, a scion of the Vurker dynasty. The town was set up as a religious settlement from the outset, as is evident from this description of the pioneers: "Their souls were revived by the fact that they merited what their predecessors had not. What particularly revived their weary souls in the mornings and toward evening, when they would gather in the

beth midrash A ''beth midrash'' ( he, בית מדרש, or ''beis medrash'', ''beit midrash'', pl. ''batei midrash'' "House of Learning") is a hall dedicated for Torah study, often translated as a "study hall." It is distinct from a synagogue (''beth kness ...

(Jewish study hall) situated in a special shack which was built immediately upon the arrival of the very first settlers, for ''tefilla betzibbur'' (communal prayer) three times a day, for the

Daf Yomi ''Daf Yomi'' ( he, דף יומי, ''Daf Yomi'', "page of the day" or "daily folio") is a daily regimen of learning the Oral Torah and its commentaries (also known as the Gemara), in which each of the 2,711 pages of the Babylonian Talmud is covere ...

shiur Shiur (, , lit. ''amount'', pl. shiurim ) is a lecture on any Torah topic, such as Gemara, Mishnah, Halakha (Jewish law), Tanakh (Bible), etc. History The Hebrew term שיעור ("designated amount") came to refer to a portion of Ju ...

'' (Torah lesson) and a

Gemara The Gemara (also transliterated Gemarah, or in Yiddish Gemo(r)re; from Aramaic , from the Semitic root ג-מ-ר ''gamar'', to finish or complete) is the component of the Talmud comprising rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishnah w ...

''shiur'' and an additional one in Mishnayos and the

Shulchan Aruch The ''Shulchan Aruch'' ( he, שֻׁלְחָן עָרוּך , literally: "Set Table"), sometimes dubbed in English as the Code of Jewish Law, is the most widely consulted of the various legal codes in Judaism. It was authored in Safed (today in Is ...

." In 1928, the Great Synagogue was completed, and the village committee celebrated its inauguration by presenting statistics noting its development over the past four years. Bnei Brak, with a population of about 800 residents, covered about 2,000

dunam A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; tr, dönüm; he, דונם), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area equivalent to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amount ...

s, including about 800 dunams which were citrus groves. It had 116 houses, 31 huts, six public buildings, and 48 cowsheds. In the summer of 1929, Bnei Brak was connected to the electricity grid. In the

1931 census of Palestine The 1931 census of Palestine was the second census carried out by the authorities of the British Mandate for Palestine. It was carried out on 18 November 1931 under the direction of Major E. Mills after the 1922 census of Palestine. * Census of P ...

, the population of ''Benei Beraq'' was 956, all Jewish, in 255 houses.Mills, 1932, p
13
/ref> In 1940, it had 4,500 residents and 25 factories. In 1948, the population was 9,300. Bnei Brak achieved city status in 1950. In April 2020, the entire city of Bnei Brak was placed under quarantine due to the

coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the com ...

outbreak. In 2022, a

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

man killed five people in a mass shooting.

Rabbinic presence

Avrohom Yeshaya Karelitz Avraham Yeshaya Karelitz (7 November 1878 – 24 October 1953), also known as the Chazon Ish () after his magnum opus, was a Belarusian-born Orthodox rabbi who later became one of the leaders of Haredi Judaism in Israel, where he spent his f ...

(the ''Chazon Ish'') emigrated from

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

to Bnei Brak in its early days, and attracted a large following there. Leading rabbis who have lived in Bnei Brak include Yaakov Landau,

Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler (1892 – 31 December 1953) was an Orthodox rabbi, Talmudic scholar, and Jewish philosopher of the 20th century. He is best known for being the ''mashgiach ruchani'' ("spiritual counselor") of the Ponevezh yeshiva in I ...

Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky ( he, יעקב ישראל קַנִיֶּבְסְקִי), known as The Steipler or The Steipler Gaon (1899– 10 August 1985), was an ultra-Orthodox rabbi, Talmudic scholar, and ''posek'' ("decisor" of Jewish law), ...

("the Steipler"),

Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman (1886–1969), he, יוסף שלמה כהנמן, yi, יוסף שלמה כהנעמאן, known also as Ponevezher Rav, was an Orthodox rabbi and rosh yeshiva of the Ponevezh Yeshiva. He was a renowned Torah and Talmudic s ...

( Ponevezher Rov), Elazar Menachem Mann Shach,

Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz (1913 – 27 June 2011) was a respected Haredi Lithuanian Torah leader and rosh yeshiva in Bnei Brak, Israel, for over 70 years. He was a '' maggid shiur'' at Yeshivas Tiferes Tzion from 1940 to 2011 and rosh yeshiva of ...

Aharon Yehuda Leib Shteinman Aharon Yehuda Leib Shteinman ( he, אהרן יהודה לייב שטינמן), also Shtainman or Steinman (November 3, 1914 – December 12, 2017), was a Haredi rabbi in Bnei Brak, Israel. Following the death of Yosef Shalom Elyashiv in 2012 ...

Nissim Karelitz Shmaryahu Yosef Nissim Karelitz ( he, נסים קרליץ; July 19, 1926 – October 21, 2019) was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and posek who served as the chairman of the '' beis din tzedek'' (rabbinical court) of Bnei Brak. Biography Karelitz ...

Shmuel Wosner Shmuel HaLevi Wosner ( he, שמואל הלוי ואזנר, 4 September 1913 – 3 April 2015) was a prominent Haredi rabbi and posek ("decisor of Jewish law") living in Bnei Brak, Israel. He was known as the ''Shevet HaLevi'' after his major w ...

and

Chaim Kanievsky Shmaryahu Yosef Chaim Kanievsky ( he, שמריהו יוסף חיים קַניֶבסקִי; January 8, 1928 – March 18, 2022) was an Israeli Haredi rabbi and '' posek''. He was a leading authority in Haredi Jewish society on legal and ethical ...

. In the early 1950s, the Vizhnitzer Rebbe, Chaim Meir Hager, founded a large neighborhood in Bnei Brak which continued to serve as a dynastic center under his son, Moshe Yehoshua Hager, and under his grandsons, Yisrael Hager and Menachem Mendel Hager. Beginning in the 1960s, the rebbes of the Ukrainian Ruzhin dynasty (

Sadigura Sadhora ( uk, Садгора; german: Sadagora; pl, Sadagóra; ro, Sadagura; yi, סאדיגורא Sadigora, also Sadagura and Sadiger) is a settlement in Ukraine, now a Sadhirskyi District of Chernivtsi city, which is located 6 km from the ...

Husiatyn Husiatyn ( uk, Гусятин; yi, הוסיאַטין, Husyatin) is an urban-type settlement in Chortkiv Raion, Ternopil Oblast (province) in western Ukraine. Alternate spellings include Gusyatin, Husyatin, and Hsiatyn. It hosts the administratio ...

and Bohush) who had formerly lived in Tel Aviv, moved to Bnei Brak. In the 1990s, they were followed by the rebbe of Modzhitz. Unlike the former four Gerrer rebbes, who lived in Jerusalem, the current rebbe was a Bnei Brak resident until 2012. The rebbes of

Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

, Biala-Bnei-Brak, Koidenov, Machnovke, Nadvorne, Premishlan, Radzin,

Shomer Emunim Shomer Emunim ( he, שומרי אמונים, meaning "Guardian of the Faith") is a devout, insular Hasidic group based in Jerusalem. It was founded in the 20th century by Rabbi Arele (Aharon) Roth. The Shomrei Emunim are characterized by fervent ...

, Slonim-Schwarze, Strykov, Tchernobil, Trisk-Bnei-Brak and Zutshke also reside in Bnei Brak. Moshe Yehuda Leib Landau was the Rabbi of Bnei Brak until his death on March 30, 2019. He was a respected authority on ''

halakha ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...

'' (Jewish law) and ''

kashrut (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, yi, כּשר), fro ...

'' (kosher supervision). The "Rav Landau" ''

hechsher A hechsher (; he, הֶכְשֵׁר "prior approval"; plural: ''hechsherim'') is a rabbinical product certification, qualifying items (usually foods) that conform to the requirements of halakha. Forms A hechsher may be a printed and signed certif ...

'' (kosher certification) is widely accepted. Nissim Karelitz, chief rabbi (''av beis din'') of the Lithuanian

Haredi Haredi Judaism ( he, ', ; also spelled ''Charedi'' in English; plural ''Haredim'' or ''Charedim'') consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions, in oppos ...

community, heads a

beth din A beit din ( he, בית דין, Bet Din, house of judgment, , Ashkenazic: ''beis din'', plural: batei din) is a rabbinical court of Judaism. In ancient times, it was the building block of the legal system in the Biblical Land of Israel. Today, it ...

(rabbinical court) of Lithuanian and

dayanim, called ''She'eris Yisroel''.

Demographics

According to figures by the municipality of Bnei Brak, the city has a population of over 181,000 residents, the majority of whom are Haredi Jews. In the

2021 Israeli legislative election Legislative elections were held in Israel on 23 March 2021 to elect the 120 members of the 24th Knesset. It was the fourth election in two years. Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett announced that they had formed a rotation government on 2 June 202 ...

, 89% of the voters chose Haredi parties.

Pardes Katz Pardes Katz ( he, פָּרְדֵס כָּץ) is a neighborhood in the northern part of the city of Bnei Brak in Tel Aviv District. Area of about 300 hectares neighborhood, and with roughly 30,000 inhabitants, most of them secular hilonim and t ...

, a neighborhood of about 30,000 inhabitants in northern Bnei Brak, is the sole neighborhood of the city where the majority of residents are not Haredi. In 2022, Bnei Brak was ranked Israel's most densely-populated city, with 28,000 people per square kilometer.

Mayors

*Yitzchok Gerstenkorn: 1939–1954 *Moshe Begno: 1954 *Reuven Aharonovich: 1954-1957, 1959-1966 *Shimon Soroka: 1968-1969 *Yitzchok Meir: 1974-1976 *Shmuel Weinberg: 1966-1968, 1978-1983 *Moshe Irenstein: 1983-1990, 1993-1995 *Yerachmiel Boyer: 1991-1993 *Mordechai Karelitz: 1998-2003 *Yissochor Frankenthal: 2003-2008 *

Ya'akov Asher Ya'akov Asher ( he, יַעֲקֹב אָשֵׁר; born 2 July 1965) is an Israeli Haredi rabbi and politician who currently serves as a member of the Knesset for the United Torah Judaism alliance. A member of the Degel HaTorah party, he previousl ...

: 2008-2013 * Hanoch Zeibert: 2013-2018 *Avraham Rubinstein: 2018 - present

Economy

One of the landmarks of Bnei Brak is the

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

bottling plant A bottling company is a commercial enterprise whose output is the bottling of beverages for distribution. Many bottling companies are franchisees of corporations such as Coca-Cola and PepsiCo who distribute the beverage in a specific geographic ...

in Kahaneman St. It is owned by the Central Bottling Company (CBC), which has held the Israeli franchise for Coca-Cola products since 1968. It is among Coca-Cola's ten largest single-plant bottling facilities worldwide. Two major factories which dominated the centre of Bnei Brak for many years were the Dubek cigarette factory and the Osem food factory. As the town grew they found themselves in the middle of a residential area, and both companies subsequently left the area. Osem's main factory is now located on Jabotinsky road in

Petah Tikva Petah Tikva ( he, פֶּתַח תִּקְוָה, , ), also known as ''Em HaMoshavot'' (), is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel, east of Tel Aviv. It was founded in 1878, mainly by Haredi Judaism, Haredi Jews of ...

, just next to Bnei Brak. In 2011 construction started on a business district, which will include 15 office towers. Several of the towers of the Bnei Brak Business Center are already built , and other buildings won't be completed until after 2021.

Healthcare

Bnei Brak is home to

Mayanei Hayeshua Medical Center Mayanei Hayeshua Medical Center (MHMC) is a Haredi hospital in Bnei Brak, Israel. Initially focusing on maternity, it is now a general hospital. MHMC's affairs are managed in strict accordance with ''halakha'' (Jewish law). History Mayanei ...

(MHMC), a Haredi hospital. It is located on the east side of the city, on the outskirts of the

Ramat Aharon Ramat Aharon ( he, רׇמַת אַהֲרֹן) is a neighbourhood in the eastern part of Bnei Brak, Israel. The neighbourhood was established in 1967 and was named after Rabbi Aharon Kotler.English language description on plaque in the neighbourhoo ...

and Or Haim neighborhoods. It serves the residents of Bnei Brak, along with nearby

Giv'at Shmuel Giv'at Shmuel ( he, גִּבְעַת שְׁמוּאֵל, , Samuel's Hill) is a city in the Center District of Israel. It is located in the eastern part of the Gush Dan Metropolitan Area and bordered by Ramat Gan and Bnei Brak to the West, Kiryat ...

, Petah Tikva and

Ramat Gan Ramat Gan ( he, רָמַת גַּן or , ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv and part of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. It is home to one of the world's major diamond exchanges, and many ...

. Founded in 1990, MHMC's initially focus was

maternity ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of gestati ...

, and now it is a Hospital#General and acute care, general care facility. It consists of 18 medical departments and 32 outpatient clinics, including 12 dialysis units, a

high-risk pregnancy A high-risk pregnancy is one where the mother or the fetus has an increased risk of adverse outcomes compared to uncomplicated pregnancies. No concrete guidelines currently exist for distinguishing “high-risk” pregnancies from “low-risk” p ...

ward and a

neonatal intensive care unit A neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), also known as an intensive care nursery (ICN), is an intensive care unit (ICU) specializing in the care of ill or premature newborn infants. Neonatal refers to the first 28 days of life. Neonatal care, as kn ...

. With a 320 bed capacity, MHMC handles 13,000 births, and carries out more than 6,000 surgical procedures per annum. It features a six-story Mental Health Center, which sponsors an eating-disorder clinic. MHMC's affairs are managed in strict accordance with ''halakha''. It has been managed by three distinct groups: A board of directors, an association of rabbis and public servants, and most influential of all, the "Halakhic Supervision Committee", a rabbinical committee consisting of Shmuel Wosner, Nissim Karelitz and

Yitzchok Zilberstein Yitzchok Zilberstein ( he, יצחק זילברשטיין, also spelled Silberstein) (born 1934) is a prominent Orthodox rabbi, posek (Jewish legal authority) and expert in medical ethics. He is the ''av beis din'' of the Ramat Elchanan neighborho ...

, with Yisrael Rand, a confidant of Aharon Yehuda Leib Shteinman, serving as its secretary. Chaim Kanievsky was on its board of directors, as was

Moshe Lion Moshe Lion, or Moshe Leon ( he, משה ליאון, born 6 October 1961), is an Israeli politician who is currently the Mayor of Jerusalem. He previously served as a member of the Jerusalem City Council, director-general of the Prime Minister's O ...

. If during any medical procedure there might arise some ''halakhic'' doubt, the medical staff will activate the ''halakhic'' team, which is headed by the hospital's

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

. Only after the ''halakhic'' ruling is issued can the medical activity be carried out. MHMC has its own beth midrash on the premises.

Culture and lifestyle

Until the 1970s, the Bnei Brak municipality was headed by religious Zionist mayors. After Mayor Gottlieb of the

National Religious Party The National Religious Party ( he, מִפְלָגָה דָּתִית לְאֻומִּית, ''Miflaga Datit Leumit'', commonly known in Israel by its Hebrew acronym Mafdal, ) was a political party in Israel representing the religious Zionist moveme ...

was defeated, Haredi parties grew in status and influence; since then they have governed the city. As the Haredi population grew, the demand for public religious observance increased and more residents requested the closure of their neighbourhoods to vehicular traffic on

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...

. In a short period of time most of Bnei Brak's secular and

Religious Zionist Religious Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת דָּתִית, translit. ''Tziyonut Datit'') is an ideology that combines Zionism and Orthodox Judaism. Its adherents are also referred to as ''Dati Leumi'' ( "National Religious"), and in Israel, the ...

residents migrated elsewhere, and the city has become almost homogeneously Haredi. The city has one secular neighborhood, Pardes Katz. Some names of streets with a Zionist connotation were renamed for prominent Haredi figures, such as

Herzl Herzl is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name: *Herzl Berger *Herzl Bodinger *Herzl Rosenblum *Herzl Yankl Tsam Surname: *Theodor Herzl See also *Mount Herzl *''Herzl (play) ''Herzl'' is a 1976 play w ...

Street south of Jabotinsky Street, which was changed to HaRav Shach Street. Bnei Brak is one of the two poorest

cities in Israel This list includes localities that are in Israel that the Israeli Ministry of Interior has designated as a city council. Jerusalem includes occupied East Jerusalem. The list is based on the current index of the Israel Central Bureau of Statist ...

. A street in Bnei Brak was named after one of the town's founders who was a great-grandfather of murdered journalist

Daniel Pearl Daniel Pearl (October 10, 1963 – February 1, 2002) was an American journalist who worked for ''The Wall Street Journal.'' He was kidnapped and later decapitated by terrorists in Pakistan.' Pearl was born in Princeton, New Jersey, and rais ...

.Pearl, Ruth & Judea, eds.
I Am Jewish: Personal Reflections Inspired by the Last Words of Daniel Pearl
''. Jewish Lights Pub., January 2004. . Bnei Brak is home to Israel's first women-only

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

, only one example of gender segregation in what is viewed as an ultra-orthodox city. Bnei Brak was home to one of the original gender segregated bus lines that Israel's courts ruled were illegal. Mehadrin bus lines are a type of

bus line A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

in Israel that mostly ran in and/or between major Haredi population centers and in which

gender segregation Sex segregation, sex separation, gender segregation or gender separation is the physical, legal, or cultural separation of people according to their biological sex. Sex segregation can refer simply to the physical and spatial separation by sex w ...

and other rigid religious rules observed by some ultra-Orthodox Jews were applied until 2011. In these sex-segregated buses, female passengers sat in the back of the bus and entered and exited the bus through the back door if possible, while the male passengers sat in the front part of the bus and entered and exited through the front door. Additionally, ''

tzniut ''Tzniut'' ( he, צניעות , , ; "modesty" or "privacy"; ) describes both the character trait of modesty and discretion, as well as a group of Jewish laws pertaining to conduct. The concept is most important within Orthodox Judaism. Des ...

'' (modest dress) was often required for women, playing a radio or secular music on the bus was avoided, and advertisements were censored. The Bnei Brak municipality set up an alternative

water supply Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Thes ...

, for use on Shabbat and

Jewish holidays Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or ''Yamim Tovim'' ( he, ימים טובים, , Good Days, or singular , in transliterated Hebrew []), are holidays observed in Judaism and by JewsThis article focuses on practices of mainstre ...

. This supply, which does not require intervention by Jews on days of rest, avoids the problems associated with Jews working on the day of rest at

Mekorot Mekorot ( he, מקורות, lit. "Sources") is the national water company of Israel and the country's top agency for water management. Founded in 1937, it supplies Israel with 90% of its drinking water and operates a cross-country water supply ne ...

, the national water company. Most of the streets are closed on Shabbat and Jewish holidays. Bnei Brak won national attention when it lost a battle to remove the photos of women candidates from

Likud Likud ( he, הַלִּיכּוּד, HaLikud, The Consolidation), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement, is a major centre-right to right-wing political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon ...

election ads. Orly Erez-Likhovski, legal advisor of the

Israel Religious Action Center The Israel Religious Action Center (Hebrew: המרכז הרפורמי לדת ומדינה) also known as IRAC, was established in 1987 as the public and legal advocacy arm of the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism. It is located in Jerusalem, ...

declared it a victory for gender equality:

Notable people

Baruch Ashlag Baruch Shalom HaLevi Ashlag ( he, ברוך שלום הלוי אשלג) (also known as the RABASH) (January 22, 1907 – September 13, 1991) was a kabbalist, the firstborn and successor of Yehuda Ashlag also known as Baal Hasulam, the author o ...

, kabbalist *

Elazar Menachem Man Shach Elazar Menachem Man Shach ( he, אלעזר מנחם מן שך, Elazar Shach; January 1, 1899 O.S. – November 2, 2001) was a prominent ultra-Orthodox rabbi, heading the non-Hasidic ''Litvak'' Orthodox from the early 1970s until his death. He ...

, leader of the ultra orthodox Lithuanian Jews *

, worldwide ''

posek In Jewish law, a ''Posek'' ( he, פוסק , pl. ''poskim'', ) is a legal scholar who determines the position of ''halakha'', the Jewish religious laws derived from the written and Oral Torah in cases of Jewish law where previous authorities a ...

'' *

, leader of the ultra orthodox Lithuanian Jews * Simon Leviev, conman *

Sesto Pals Sesto Pals, pen name of Simion (or Semion) Șestopali (born Шестопаль, also rendered as ''S(h)estopal'', ''Sestopaly'', or ''Sestopali''; ca. 1912 – October 27, 2002), was a Russian-born Romanian and Israeli writer. Primarily a poet-phil ...

, writer *

Shuli Rand Shalom "Shuli" Rand (also spelled Shuly; he, שולי רנד; born 8 February 1962) is an Israeli film actor, writer, and singer. He is a Breslover Hasid and is best known in the English-speaking world for his role as the protagonist in ''Ush ...

, actor, writer, singer * Mary Schaps, mathematical scholar *

Dovid Shmidel Dovid Shmidel (also spelled Dovid Schmidel, Polish: Szmiedl; born 1934) of Bnei Brak is a rabbi and the Chairman of Asra Kadisha (the Committee for the Preservation of Gravesites). He was involved in struggles against excavations at various locati ...

, rabbi *

Motty Steinmetz Yisrael Baruch Mordechai "Motty" Steinmetz ( he, מוטי שטיינמץ) is a prominent Hasidic singer. Biography Steinmetz was born in 1992 to a Vizhnitz family in Bnei Brak. Motty is the son of Rabbi Moshe and Rebecca Steinmetz, and the fou ...

, singer *

Tuvia Tenenbom Tuvia Tenenbom ( he, טוביה טננבום; born 1957 in Bnei Brak, Israel) is a theater director, playwright, author, journalist, essayist and the founding artistic director of the Jewish Theater of New York, the only English-speaking Jewish t ...

, theater director and writer * Michal Waldiger, Knesset Member in the

Religious Zionist Party The Religious Zionist Party ( he, הציונות הדתית, HaTzionut HaDatit, The Religious Zionism), known as Tkuma ( he, תקומה, , Revival) until 2021 and still officially known as National Union–Tkuma ( he, האיחוד הלאומי-� ...

Ariel Ze'evi Ariel "Arik" Ze'evi ( he, אריאל "אריק" זאבי, born 16 January 1977) is a retired Israeli dan 6 black belt in Judo. He had a long and successful career competing in half-heavyweight Judo competitions. He is an Olympic bronze medal fin ...

(born 1977), Olympic

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

International relations

Twin towns – sister cities

Bnei Brak is twinned with: *

Lakewood, New Jersey Lakewood Township is the most populous township in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. A rapidly growing community as of the 2020 U.S. census, the township had a total population of 135,158 representing an increase of 41,415 (+45.5% ...

, United States, since 2011

Gallery

File:בני ברק - מראה המושבה עם שער הכבוד.-JNF043493.jpeg, Bnei Brak 1925: “View of Colony with the Gate of Honor” File:בני ברק - מראה.-JNF045698.jpeg, Bnei Brak 1928 File:בני ברק - בית הספר.-JNF044403.jpeg, Bnei Brak, school 1931 File:Esh Sheikh Muwannis cropped.jpg, Bnei Brak (Benei Beraq) 1928 1:20,000 File:Petah Tiqva 1945.jpg, Benei Beraq 1945 1:250,000

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * *

External links

{{Authority control 1924 establishments in Mandatory Palestine Cities in Tel Aviv District Orthodox Jewish communities Populated places established in 1924 Religious Israeli communities