This story was reported by Jonathan Bandler and Steve Lieberman and written by Richard Liebson. Photography by Seth Harrison

A generation ago, there were few problems between Ramapo's small ultra-religious Jewish communities and the gentiles and other Jews who made up the bulk of the town's population.

Things have changed. As the ultra-religious community has grown, Ramapo has become a flash point in a continuing conflict over what it means to live in the suburbs. The idyllic version of leafy bedroom communities close to New York City — with groomed lawns and white picket fences — is being replaced by chaotic, high-density sprawl that many find overwhelming and unsafe. The conditions fueling that conflict are now threatening to spread beyond Ramapo's borders.

Surrounding communities have taken notice, and they are adopting measures aimed at heading off the strife that has become the norm for their municipal neighbor. No place, it seems, wants to become "the next Ramapo."

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The fears are not unique to Rockland County. The ever-expanding ultra-Orthodox community in Lakewood, New Jersey, has led to yard signs of "DON'T SELL" in neighboring Toms River. Just over the Rockland border, in Orange County, the Village of Kiryas Joel's efforts to expand by annexing hundreds of acres from the Town of Monroe have met with steep opposition and court battles from community and conservation groups.

While unprecedented population growth and a clash of cultures — complete with accusations of favoritism, anti-Semitism, racism and corruption — are symptoms of the changes, the Ramapo story is really one of loose zoning, lax enforcement of fire and building codes, and largely unchecked, out-of-control development.

"Ramapo has allowed this mass density," said George Hoehmann, supervisor of the neighboring Town of Clarkstown, which has objected to large development proposals being considered along its border. "People are fearful. Most folks have their wealth tied to their house. They moved into a single-family neighborhood and want it to remain a single-family neighborhood."

Clarkstown has gone so far as to hire a special attorney to prosecute zoning, building and fire safety code violations within its borders. Too often in Ramapo, critics say, government officials simply look the other way.

Rockland and the county's state representatives have for years called on Albany to enforce building regulations in Ramapo and Spring Valley. In late December, New York's Department of State appointed monitors to oversee the Ramapo and Spring Valley building departments because of the lack of enforcement of fire, safety and building codes.

Members of the Jewish community are themselves concerned about the lack of zoning and safety enforcement.

"Everyone who lives in Ramapo knows that we need smarter development and better planning," said Morton Silberberg, a member of Jewish Council of Rockland County. "Among our issues are certain streets that are overbuilt and roads with traffic congestion."

The council was formed two years ago by Rabbi Ronald Greenwald to promote dialogue between the Orthodox Jewish communities and their neighbors. Since Greenwald's death last year, the group is being reconstituted under new leadership.

A constant need for more housing, schools and synagogues, combined with questionable zoning and code enforcement, has resulted in development chaos.

Often, unchecked expansion is marked by dubious construction methods and materials, such as housing additions made of plywood. Extensions and even new structures are frequently built toward the back of lots, with no street access for emergency vehicles or municipal records of what's actually there.

That's created plenty of confusion for emergency responders, mail carriers and utility workers.

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"What goes on in Ramapo is a total disregard for the safety of both building occupants and first responders," said John Kryger, chairman of the Rockland Illegal Housing Task Force.

Former Rockland District Attorney Kenneth Gribetz's family moved to Monsey in 1953, joining a tiny community of modern Orthodox Jews who arrived before the opening of the Tappan Zee Bridge attracted mass migration to the area. His father helped organize the synagogue.

It was a different place back then, he said, remembering Monsey's quiet streets, lined with single-family ranch homes. Willie Mays' lawyer lived next door, and hundreds of kids would show up when the New York Giants' star came for a visit.

By the time his mother sold the family's Jeffrey Place house in 1998, a large ultra-religious community had been established.

"The new owners knocked down the house the next day," Gribetz said. "There's a house for three or four families there now. It's stunning, but not what I grew up with. The streets were not built to accommodate the level of housing of today."

Rockland County had the state's highest population percentage increase in 2014, edging out the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn for the top spot, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. While demand for housing keeps developers busy — and property values high — the town's tax base has been eroded by an ever-growing number of tax-exempt yeshivas and synagogues, among other factors.

The shortfall is so severe that the town has been selling surplus lands, in part to replenish its depleting coffers. In what could be seen as a symbol of its willy-nilly approach to real estate and development, Ramapo has been sued by a developer who claims the town sold him property it didn't even own. The dispute, which involves the buyer, the town and another developer, is also before a religious court.

"I've watched (the Hamlet of) Monsey evolve into a little city," lifelong resident Yehuda Weissmandl said during a recent speech to the national convention of Agudath Israel of America, a leadership and policy organization of ultra-religious Jews.

"Explosive growth of these proportions triggers explosive backlash," said Weissmandl, a Hasidic Jew who is president of the East Ramapo Board of Education, a developer and a landlord.

The tension sometimes erupts into acts of hatred. News stories on Ramapo and Rockland frequently attract thinly veiled anti-Semitic comments. Critics of developments for Hasidic and other ultra-Orthodox Jews are compared to Nazis. Ugly rhetoric about Jews in Rockland is common on social media. In some instances, street graffiti declaring "No Jews" or similar words have defaced property for-sale signs. Powerful fireworks have been exploded outside the homes of rabbis in New City.

"Is it only hate? Absolutely not," Weissmandl said in his speech to Jewish leaders. He said those who have lived in the area their entire lives are afraid of change.

"They used the schools, used the shopping, and (now) the stores are closing down, neighbors are changing," he said. "They're petrified, and they're reacting to it."

Ultra-religious Jewish communities were established in Rockland during the 1950s. New Square was incorporated as a village within Ramapo in 1961; from the beginning, it was almost exclusively Hasidic. The ultra-religious community spread to Monsey and then Spring Valley. Eventually, part of Monsey was carved out to form Kaser, another predominantly Hasidic village. Those communities and their concerns are well-known beyond their borders; they are featured regularly in Jewish media throughout the world.

Hasidic and other ultra-Orthodox Jews distance themselves from modern culture to varying degrees. Yiddish is the preferred language. The Hasidim, who follow dynastic lines of rabbis, and other ultra-Orthodox groups, adhere to strict observance of Jewish law and tradition. For the men, that often means lives dedicated to the study of the Torah and the Talmud. They generally have large families and, for religious reasons, do not send their children to public schools. Their limited secular education keeps many in low-paying jobs within the community or at religious institutions. Many families in these communities qualify for and receive food stamps, rental assistance and other government subsidies for the poor.

According to census estimates, 73.7 percent of Kaser residents live in poverty, followed by New Square, with 70.5 percent; Monsey, with 46.9 percent; and Spring Valley, with 35.7 percent. Overall, 24.9 percent of Ramapo's population is below the poverty line compared with 14 percent countywide and 15.4 percent statewide.

Obedience to the Torah means modest dress for women, who wear shin-length dresses, blouses that cover their arms, and wigs. Hasidic and other ultra-Orthodox men wear black hats, long black coats and fringed prayer shawls. The men also wear beards and distinctive "payot" or side curls.

Housing is a major concern. Ultra-religious Jews need synagogues they can walk to because driving or riding in cars or other vehicles is prohibited during the Sabbath, from sunset on Friday until darkness on Saturday. They also need yeshivas (private schools that emphasize religious, rather than secular, studies) for their children. Those needs, and a desire to live among their own, often trump adherence to building and fire codes.

Visitors to some of these ultra-religious enclaves are confronted with a hodgepodge of single-family homes next to huge townhouse apartment complexes, next to synagogues, next to construction sites, next to yeshivas, next to vacant lots awaiting more development.

A yeshiva might pop up overnight in a house or, sometimes, in a trailer. Single-family houses expanded into crowded, multifamily homes are commonplace. A shipping container plopped onto what was once a lawn could very well serve as a local entrepreneur's store or business.

Housing is shoehorned into every available space, and large numbers of yeshivas and synagogues dot neighborhoods. Playgrounds, ball fields and front and backyards are all but nonexistent. The streets are teeming with children, many walking with their fathers or mothers, or stopped to watch construction crews. In New Square, there are signs directing men to walk on one side of the street and women on the other, for modesty's sake.

Outsiders are viewed with caution. Occasionally, young ultra-Orthodox men approach to ask visitors if they are lost or need assistance. The Journal News/lohud asked more than a dozen Hasidic Jews to comment for this report; few were willing to speak on the record or for attribution about the issues created by the apparent clash of cultures or their communitywide repercussions.

The seemingly uncontrolled sprawl is what other residents of Ramapo and surrounding communities — both Jews and gentiles — say they want to avoid. Insisting they don't care about the religious practices of the Hasidim, ultra-Orthodox Jews or anyone else, critics of the under-regulated developments say they just want to protect the integrity of their neighborhoods — and their property values.

"They are going to bring down the prices of our houses," said William Adjetey, who lives on Spring Brook Road in Clarkstown, next to the huge Pascack Ridge housing development being considered across the border in Ramapo. "This will take away the nature of our community."

Adjetey, 65, purchased his raised ranch-style house for $402,000 a decade ago. Until recently, the neighborhood never attracted attention from the ultra-religious Jewish communities. The Pascack Ridge plan, currently under environmental review, is changing that; already, ultra-Orthodox Jewish investors have quietly purchased 14 homes on Spring Brook Road and surrounding streets in Clarkstown.

One buyer, according to land records, is 31-year-old Esther Loeffler, a New Square resident whose companies or relatives control seven of those Clarkstown properties, at least 15 others in Orange County and 30 in Sullivan County.

Loeffler lives in an apartment run by the New Square Public Housing Authority that is classified as "welfare" on the village assessment roll. Several of her companies are registered to that address. Loeffler declined to discuss her business dealings.

"Everywhere you go, (the ultra-religious) are building. ... I love people and have no problem with them," Adjetey said. But he added: "They are trying to make nice communities for themselves, not us. We're a little scared."

In the early 1980s and '90s, several of Ramapo's more diverse communities decided to take control of zoning and code enforcement. Residents included a number of modern Orthodox Jews who strictly observe Jewish law and tradition but also value both secular and religious education, work in all fields and participate in civic life. Over time, those areas incorporated into the "zoning villages" of New Hempstead, Chestnut Ridge, Montebello, Airmont and Wesley Hills. All have tried, with varying degrees of success, to keep development under control.

Referring to the villages in his speech to Jewish leaders, Weissmandl, the East Ramapo school board president, said they were formed specifically to "curtail the growth of the neighboring (ultra-religious Jewish) community."

Echoing that sentiment, Jewish Council member Silberberg, a lawyer who lives in Wesley Hills, said in his statement that many of the town's problems "were caused by short-sighted and exclusionary decisions" made by Ramapo villages he said were created "specifically to prevent the inevitable growth of our community."

While some Ramapo villages and other Rockland municipalities are taking legislative steps to try to curb haphazard growth, residents are not sitting on the sidelines. Many are mounting legal challenges against what they see as unlawful development in their neighborhoods.

Occasionally, observant Jews find themselves in the somewhat uncomfortable position of taking their ultra-religious brethren to court.

"Ramapo is becoming one large private school campus," said Peter Katz, a Brooklyn native and modern Orthodox Jew who moved to town in 1980. "Single-family lots are rapidly being converted to yeshivas and going off the tax rolls due to ownership by religious institutions."

When the town issued a permit allowing Congregation Yeshiva Zera Yakov to convert a single-family house near his home into a potentially unsafe "temporary school" for 75 boys — without benefit of a public hearing — Katz decided to sue.

The Town Board, he said, "does everything possible to ensure that yeshivas get built as quickly as possible, without much regard for legalities or zoning requirements."

Nevertheless, before Katz, 63, talked to a lawyer about the letter of local municipal law, he discussed the matter with his rabbi, to make sure he followed the letter of Jewish law. Jews are discouraged from speaking publicly against other Jews or reporting their conduct to secular authorities.

"I did indeed consult with my local Orthodox rabbi, who consulted with other rabbinical authorities," Katz said. "I am an orthodox, religious person. … I wouldn't do something against (Jewish law). I absolutely asked my rabbi, and his response was I was totally covered."

With his rabbi's blessing, Katz took legal action in late December in state Supreme Court.

Earlier in 2016, town officials and developers of the 20-building Viola Estates complex, across from Ramapo High School, were sued by a group of neighbors. They claimed that each of the completed buildings included not just the two townhouses that had been approved, but an additional two accessory apartments. The neighbors accused town Building Inspector Anthony Mallia of signing off on the apartments, despite the violation.

In an email, Mallia said it was premature to say there were extra apartments, as no certificates of occupancy have been issued.

Viola Estates builder Shimmy Galandauer has made $18,000 in campaign donations to Ramapo Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence, and built a $200,000 extension on Mallia's Airmont home.

Mallia was suspended following his October, 2016 arrest on charges that he let developers off the hook for $100,000 in fees.

The fast and loose nature of Ramapo development receives tacit approval from local officials who critics say rubber-stamp permits and ignore code enforcement. Often, those officials receive campaign contributions from developers. Between September 2014 and November 2015, for instance, companies owned by developer Berel Karniol donated $40,000 to St. Lawrence's two campaign committees, Ramapo Democrats and former Councilman Samuel Tress' campaign.

Officials are elected and stay in office thanks in large part to a loosely organized "bloc vote" of Hasidic and other ultra-Orthodox residents from New Square, Kaser, Spring Valley and Monsey that is controlled by religious leaders. The election of people sympathetic to the wants and needs of the ultra-religious community, critics say, has made the town's master plan and zoning laws all but irrelevant.

For example, Ramapo expanded a new zone permitting the multifamily houses with accessory apartments that are common in the ultra-Orthodox communities soon after St. Lawrence took office 16 years ago. He's been re-elected seven times since then, with help from the 12,000 or more votes he regularly receives from the ultra-religious bloc.

Even when developers go through the motions of obtaining building permits and certificates of occupancy, they don't always construct what was approved.

Gordon Wren, Rockland's Fire and Emergency Services coordinator and a former Ramapo chief building inspector, said dozens of builders in Spring Valley have received two-family housing permits only to turn around and add extra apartments to increase revenues.

The conversion of single-family homes has "become an underground economy," Wren said.

"We don't even know if the electricians and plumbers are permitted or trained," he said.

A major concern, he said, is that gas lines and electrical systems are not inspected after permits are approved, even when a single-family house is turned into a school or a multifamily apartment building. Both have more stringent code requirements.

"It's dangerous," Wren said. "It's a juggernaut spreading like crazy. … People are afraid of what's taking place in central Monsey and Spring Valley."

Rockland County Executive Ed Day, who has frequently had to defend himself against accusations of anti-semitism, said more state action is needed.

"Anyone watching what's going on can say higher forces are at work, or someone in the state is not paying attention or is abdicating their responsibility to the health of our residents and children," he said.

Day, a Republican, said that too often, complaints to Albany about Ramapo's lack of code enforcement fall on deaf ears.

"I expect other folks who work in government to do their jobs when we (bring) compelling matters to their attention," he said. "What's it going to take to have change happen? Is it going to take us carrying children out of burning buildings in body bags?"

Referring to the Ramapo Town Board, Day said that "sometimes governing bodies need to say no."

"You have neighborhoods being changed by unapproved schools popping up next door to people's homes," he said. "All I'm insisting on is that the rule of law prevail and that there be proper planning and inspections."

Assemblyman Kenneth Zebrowski, D-New City, said he's not satisfied with the state's response, despite some progress in getting Albany to investigate Ramapo and Spring Valley code enforcement.

Day and Zebrowski say the issues have nothing to do with religion and are, in fact, a matter of holding government responsible for doing its job.

"Ramapo shows lawlessness that defies the norms of enforcing the zoning and building codes," Zebrowski said, adding that suburban homeowners simply want to protect their investment.

"They need to feel everybody is following the same law and treatment is equal. … That's the compact they made with the municipality when they purchased their homes," he said.

As is the case with most developments in town, six proposals that would require zoning changes on large tracts of land are viewed by many with skepticism and suspicion.

Town Attorney Michael Klein defended Ramapo's zoning laws, noting, in the case of yeshivas and synagogues, that state and federal law prevents municipalities from using zoning to discriminate against religious institutions.

"It's difficult to ultimately defeat applications for schools and synagogues," Klein said. "I can understand the concern if a synagogue, church, school or a mosque opened up in a neighborhood. They can change a neighborhood."

Zoning changes are made because of a need to allow more density, he said.

"The need for housing is developing faster than in almost any other area in New York state, so we need to address that need," Klein said.

He said the community outside of Spring Valley wanted more density. He denied that Ramapo has completely rolled over for developers and the ultra-religious enclaves.

Klein said the town cannot just assume that large housing development proposals are for the ultra-Orthodox or the Hasidim, or that such development will automatically increase the need for schools and synagogues.

More applications have been rejected in recent years, he said, but he acknowledged the complaint that it's been easier for applicants to build first, then ask for the town's permission.

Klein and Deputy Town Attorney Alan Berman, who is the lawyer for Ramapo's Planning Board, were hard-pressed to provide an example of a case where the town required anyone to tear down something that was built improperly.

They said the town does issue violation notices and tries to prosecute violators. The local courts rarely issue fines, they said, and seem more focused on getting compliance.

Ramapo's elected town justices, David Stein and Rhoda Schoenberger, have received support from the ultra-religious voting bloc.

With space at a premium, aggressive home-buying solicitations have led to accusations of blockbusting, although the term actually refers to the practice of persuading homeowners to sell cheaply, playing on fears that people from a different race or class are moving into a neighborhood. In fact, despite critics' fears that an influx of ultra-religious Jews will hurt property values, the opposite is true in Ramapo, where houses normally sell at a tidy profit.

Overzealous, non-stop pitches by would-be real estate buyers have angered many. In response, Clarkstown, Orangetown and Airmont have created "no-knock" registries to prevent them from bothering homeowners. Violators face heavy fines.

In his speech, Weissmandl, the president of the East Ramapo school board, mentioned no-knock laws, school bus parking bans, prohibitions against non-residents using municipal parks, and court challenges as methods being used to slow the spread of ultra-religious Jewish communities.

"The model is simple: We can't stop your growth, but we will do everything we can to slow it down," he said. "The question is, How do we avoid, how do we improve, how do we fix this?"

The answer, Weissmandl said, is "we have to present ourselves to a higher standard."

"We have to keep our neighborhoods clean. We have to interact properly with our neighbors. And we have to set up initiatives that make us welcome, and good neighbors," he said.

In 2015, Weissmandl constructed a building with three apartments and three accessory apartments on land he owns on Roman Boulevard. He set up One Roman LLC for the project, obtained a building permit for the $800,000 construction cost and deeded the property to the corporation. He controls several other companies, and his developments have included homes in New Square and Spring Valley.

Naomi Streicher, owner of Realty Teams Corp. in Pomona, is one of Rockland's most high-profile and successful Realtors. She said Airmont, along Ramapo's southern tier, has replaced Chestnut Ridge as the county's hottest area for housing sales in 2016.

Throughout the county, she said, older residents are selling their large homes to buyers moving from Brooklyn, or to developers. In many cases, she said, the new owners build multifamily homes. Overall, she said, the sales are good for sellers and buyers.

"People shouldn't be upset if their neighbors sell for a lot of money," Streicher said.

In Spring Valley, the Parkview Condominiums replaced a strip of small businesses next to Memorial Field. Parkview, arguably the nicest new development in the village, was an urban renewal project; the land it sits on was purchased with public funds.

The condos were only advertised to Orthodox Jews, said Willie Trotman, president of the Spring Valley branch of the NAACP. When minorities sought to buy there, he said, the sales agent was "unavailable," and there was no information on whom to call.

The development company insists it followed the rules for marketing the project.

Trotman scoffed at the perception that Ramapo's ultra-religious Jews have outgrown their established enclaves.

"They're not bursting at the seams; this is about the developers' greed," Trotman said. Most new apartments are occupied by people moving in from Brooklyn and elsewhere, he said, adding that new developments geared toward the ultra-religious are "not being built because they have to be – it's because there is money to be made and it increases their population."

In 2013, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People filed a complaint with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, alleging that the Parkview development discriminated against blacks in violation of the Fair Housing Act. The complaint remains under investigation.

More recently, the condominium development has threatened to bring a civil rights suit against Spring Valley over the village's call for the removal of religious baths and a synagogue that was built at the complex without permits.

Faced with development that they say threatens their neighborhoods and government that they say is unresponsive to their concerns, residents in some areas are organizing on their own to challenge Ramapo's status quo.

"The system is rigged. The Planning Board will approve anything, without research or, for the most part, critical questioning. The fix is in," said Micheal Miller, who in 2015 formed Citizens United to Protect Our Neighborhoods in Hillcrest. The group's goal is to protect neighborhoods from illegal construction and conversion of single-family homes into multifamily apartments or schools.

Similar grass-roots neighborhood groups have popped across Ramapo, in Chestnut Ridge, Airmont, Monsey, Pomona, Clarkstown and Orangetown.

CUPON members routinely attend Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals and Town Board meetings, trying to ensure that zoning, building and fire codes are followed. The group frequently challenges what they see as questionable approvals in court.

Miller insists that the issues in Ramapo aren't about religion.

"The problem is elected officials and the planning and zoning board people they appoint," he said. "We support the religious community working within the existing structure. We understand that they want (synagogues) close to where they live and they want schools for their children. Everybody has the right to live and prosper wherever they want. But we are against people who violate the law to change the character of the existing area."

Peter Bradley, a supporter of the Preserve Clarkstown group, said residents there "bore witness to the Town of Ramapo becoming corrupt."

"We're saying if you move into Clarkstown, you follow the land-use laws in Clarkstown," he said.

In his statement, Silberberg, of the Jewish Council, said Ramapo is "overdue for conversations and hard looks at the way things are now and how we can enact sensible planning and development policies that will allow Orthodox families to remain here, while planning for growth in a sensible way that will address the concerns of all Ramapo residents... We also need to have a dialogue with neighboring municipalities to create a welcoming environment that would alleviate the concerns that we all share."

Rivkie Feiner, an Orthodox Jew and community activist who grew up and still lives in Monsey, said concerns about the ultra-religious are often manufactured or exaggerated.

"I want to know of an incident in which Hasidic or (ultra) Orthodox people actually did something to them," she said. "It's all about how you treat people."

She said her children play with the children of her Hasidic neighbors, with no problems.

"My kids wear jeans and their kids have payot," she said. "My kids learned a couple of Yiddish words. We believe in being nice to your neighbors."

Feiner said she knows some people are worried about their homes and feel a need to protect their investment from the large, dense housing taking over many neighborhoods.

"It's become so contentious, they feel they don't have a choice," she said. "I understand the community is changing. … The question is, What can we do about it and how do we handle the change?"

There has to be more communication between the various communities, Feiner said. Too often, she said, people take a negative attitude toward ultra-religious Jews based only on looks and different customs.

Weissmandl apparently agrees.

In his speech, he said ultra-religious Jewish leaders "have to work much harder on communicating, both to understand what is scaring, hurting and annoying our neighbors and at the same time, teaching and educating them on what we need, who we are and what we stand for. We don't do enough of that."

Nevertheless, despite repeated calls and messages from The Journal News/lohud, Weissmandl would not comment or make himself available for an interview.

Attorney Ryan Karben, a former assemblyman who represents many developers in Ramapo, said he understands the bitterness of some longtime residents, Jews and gentiles alike, who expected to grow old and retire on their quiet, tree-lined patches of the American Dream.

"When that expectation of peace and quiet confronts explosive growth, of course it will be a flash point," he said. "But no one gets to freeze a community in time."

Karben grew up in Hillcrest and was raised Orthodox, but he said he is no longer religious.

Growth was inevitable, given the high birth rate among ultra-Orthodox and Hasidic couples, he said, and arguing about it is a waste of time. The real discussion should be about improving infrastructure and long-term planning to accommodate the growth, he said.

Karben said communities from Pomona and Airmont to Bloomingburg, in Sullivan County, have learned the hard way – in federal court – that they can't make zoning decisions with the goal of keeping out ultra-religious communities.

"A zoning code is not going to be an effective way to manage (the) birth rate," he said. "Government is ill-suited to be a referee of the religious needs of a community."

One of Karben's clients has proposed a 600-apartment Town Square Residences development in three dozen buildings on the site of the former Rockland Drive-In Theater in Monsey. Critics insist that the project is too big for what is already a traffic-choked stretch of Route 59.

Karben, however, argues that the proposal could be a catalyst for much-needed improvements to Rockland's main east-west commercial thoroughfare.

He described the stretch between New Square and Kiryas Joel, in Orange County, as a "shtetl-opolis," where the old-time traditions of Eastern European Jewry try to co-exist with modern amenities and lifestyles.

While the cultural differences are stark and anxiety-provoking for many, Karben said, all residents must be able to provide for their families as they see fit.

"How do you run a shtetl-opolis?" he said. "The bottom line is, nobody knows."

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