In and near Bnai Brak

 B'nai Brak is next to Ramat Gan. It is the 'hometown of Haredim' in Israel. Thus rabbis are heros and people put pictures of rabbis in their home. Hence an art store that sells such pictures is the first image.  Modern day Bnai Brak is the poorest and most densely populated municipality in Israel. 

Unlike other Haredi communities, the religious fervor expresses itself in ways that are not particularly off putting to secular or non Jews.  For example, the sign on the building under construction on Jabotinsky street a few blocks from Rabbi Akiva street says, "Evil Speech: Don't Speak it Here".  Also, when you walk through the town you see plenty of non Haredi people, some dressed in shorts. I boarded the intercity bus to Jerusalem in Bnai Brak and, while women and men generally clustered in different places on the bus, one couple (man and wife I presume) sat together and a number of younger men with no head covering were scattered throughout the bus.  

The sign in the image which is at the border between Ramat Gan and Bnai Brak says, "Bnai Brak in big letters and in smaller cursive letters says, "Blessed are your comings in" which (as my brother Irwin pointed out are the first three words of Deuteronomy 28:6).  This seems to be a friendly invitation to all, religious and secular although in the context of that sentence in Deuteronomy, it might mean to apply only to people (or a society) who obey the law. This is because curses for societal transgression follows that verse.

 Bnai Brak is mentioned in the Bible (Joshua 19:45) as a Canaanite village. It probably meant, 'children of ibrak' or something similar. B'nai Brak also is mentioned in the Passover Hagaddah where scholars, at a seder in Bnai Brak, are retelling the story of the Exodus intently and have to reminded that it is morning and time to pray.  Bnai Brak also appears in a surprising sentence in the Talmud that says that the descendants of Haman (presumably a daughter or grand daughter of Haman converted to Judaism) taught in Bnai Brak (tractate Gitten folio page 57b in the Babylonian Talmud).



Although the building in the last image is in Ramat Gan, it is on the way to Bnai Brak and I passed it several times while walking around. The building houses an organization that does charity work (e.g., delivering baby food to new mothers).

The blue sign on the door says, "House of Good Deeds".