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judaism

Goy Next Door

In October 2008, community newspaper The Hackney Citizen published a thought-provoking article by North Meadow media’s Ben Locker and Orthodox Jewish blogger ‘The Shaigetz’. The piece, which takes a fond and wry look at what it is like to be a gentile – or goy – living amongst the world’s third largest Orthodox community, is given added sharpness and balance by The Shaigetz’s perspective from within ‘the square mile of piety’.

The Hackney Citizen’s editor, Keith Magnum, was delighted with the response the article generated. As he said after publication: “The responses I’ve been have been… things like ‘amazing’, ’sensitive handling of some difficult issues’, ‘brave’”.

The full article is reproduced below:

The Goy Next Door

I made my home in the heart of Stamford Hill in 1999 becoming, as I put my foot on the property ladder, goy next door to Europe’s largest settlement of Orthodox Jews. Over the years, I’ve observed the observant in this ‘square mile of piety’ and relished those moments where our lives collide.

It always made me nervous, as a kid, when new neighbours moved in, especially if it was goyim. You never knew in advance what threat they might bring. Would they have kids who would shout ‘Jew Bug’ when we came home from school? Worse, would they have a dog? (more…)

Posted by: Ben Locker
Published: 12th November, 2008 at 12:59 pm in North Meadow Projects.
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