Amanda Oglesby

@OglesbyAPP

JACKSON - After the Rev. John Bambrick spread news that St. Aloysius Church in Jackson would host a talk on Orthodox Judaism with a local rabbi, angry emails and letters began flowing into his inbox.

The rage-filled reactions from some members of the community came as a shock, he said.

"That was really an eye opener for me, because in a sense I felt anti-Semitism directly, even though I'm not Jewish," said Bambrick. "That, of course, told me we were on the right path."

As the Orthodox Jewish community has grown in northern Ocean County, they and their more secular neighbors have at times contentiously disagreed over their visions of the region's future.

That tension spurred Bambrick and Rabbi Philip Lefkowitz, who lives in the Westlake Golf and Country Club age-restricted community in Jackson, to open dialog about the religion. At the Catholic church on Sunday, Lefkowitz answered questions about Orthodox Judaism before an audience of about 300 people. The event was part of his and Bambrick's effort to narrow the divide and lessen hostilities between both communities.

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"I realize the community is changing and it will continue to change," said Lefkowitz, "but we have to work together, understanding our differences and try to work with others."

"There are more similarities between us than differences," Bambrick said.

Lefkowitz wanted to assure his neighbors that Christians and Jews could be friends and live together harmoniously, despite their differences.

During the two-hour meeting, audience questions at times turned hostile toward Lefkowitz. Some attendees cited fears that problems like alleged block busting and a school funding crisis that affect neighboring Lakewood would happen in Jackson as the Orthodox Jewish community expands. Others worried the rules in their gated communities could change; for example, restricting community pools for single-gender swims.

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Yet at the end of the discussion, Frank Romano, 63, of Hemlock Hill Road in Jackson said he believed the talk was productive.

Romano said Orthodox Jewish families have moved into his own neighborhood.

"They've been friendly and outgoing," he said.

When audience members worried about home prices falling as the Orthodox families purchase more homes in Jackson, Bambrick said numerous members of his parish have sold their homes at prices higher than expected to Jewish families.

"In many cases there was a bidding war," he told the audience.

Coming together

Linda Selznick, 75, of Westlake was pleased to see the joint efforts by both the Jewish and Catholic clergy to foster better relationships among residents here.

"I just found it very enlightening," she said of Sunday's discussion.

Lefkowitz said he hoped that someday Jackson residents could live in the same kind of neighborly harmony he remembered existing between Jews and Catholics decades ago in his native Brooklyn.

"I think you can learn and enjoy other people's culture and faith," he said.

"I think (Sunday) was an opportunity also for people to become enlightened, and for people to begin to build friendships," said Bambrick. "Pope Francis has said on a number of occasions ... 'Christians build bridges, they don't erect walls.' And I think that's what today was about, at least to lay the foundations for bridge building."

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Amanda Oglesby: 732-557-5701; aoglesby@GannettNJ.com