Every Friday night and Saturday morning, Hollywood’s Orthodox Jews walk as far as two miles to practice their faith.
They cannot drive, as Jewish law forbids it on the Sabbath. So they stroll along sidewalks on Stirling Road to worship at neighboring synagogues Young Israel of Hollywood-Fort Lauderdale and B’nai Sephardim-Shaare Shalom.
“During the summer, it’s a bummer of a walk,” said Rabbi Edward Davis, spiritual leader of Young Israel, the area’s largest Orthodox synagogue.
These days, the traffic is steadily increasing.
With about 2,500 Orthodox Jewish residents, Hollywood boasts South Florida’s third-largest community, behind Miami Beach and North Miami Beach.
The community has grown at a steady pace since the first Orthodox family settled in Hollywood almost 25 years ago. Some have moved from Dade, others from the Northeast, lured by word of the bustling community.
Most live in the Emerald Hills and Hollywood Hills neighborhoods. Synagogues and kosher businesses have followed, helping foster a tightly knit group of strict traditional Jews.
“Hollywood is it,” said Rabbi Chaim Richter, director of chaplaincy for the Jewish Federation of South Broward. “There’s a real sense of community here. If there’s a celebration, everybody comes. If there’s a funeral, everybody comes.”
Orthodox Jews say they adhere more strictly to Jewish teachings and laws than do Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist Jews. They eat food prepared according to Jewish dietary laws. Women sit separately from men during worship.
When the Sabbath begins each Friday night, their faith prohibits them from working, driving, watching TV, even using the phone. They may only carry items such as prayer books, keys and wallets within an eruv – an area established by natural boundaries that allows them to carry items to worship.
The eruv that serves Hollywood is marked by fences, wires and other landmarks. It is bound north by Griffin Road, south by Thomas Street, east by Interstate 95 and west by 56th Avenue, Davis said.
Orthodox leaders plan to extend the eruv this summer to accommodate growth and reach more Jews in Hollywood Hills.
The eruv and other aspects of orthodoxy have played a vital role in creating this stronghold.
“Orthodox Jews are significantly more clustered than other Jews,” said Ira Sheskin, an expert in Jewish demographics and a professor of geography at the University of Miami. “Once the eruv goes in, it makes being Orthodox a lot easier. Once a synagogue goes up, people move within walking distance of it.”
Young Israel was the first to arrive, formed about 25 years ago by families meeting in a home. When Davis became its rabbi more than 14 years ago, 50 families worshiped there.
Today, Young Israel, just outside city limits, boasts 300 member families and a synagogue at 3291 Stirling Road.
“Just ride down Stirling and you can’t miss us,” said Lewis Niad, 29, who walks to Young Israel.
There are three other congregations: B’nai Sephardim-Shaare Shalom, Hollywood Community Synagogue and the Orthodox Congregation of Hollywood Hills.
The newest is the Orthodox Congregation, which has been conducting weekly worship since October 1994 in borrowed space at Temple Sinai, a Conservative synagogue. Rabbi Richter and a dozen others there hope to attract new worshipers once the eruv is extended.
Kosher businesses have also settled in Hollywood.
Davis said no such businesses existed when he arrived. But now, he said there are two meat restaurants, two dairy restaurants, one takeout deli, a kosher bakery and a Judaica gift shop.
All cater to the Orthodox, but also serve other residents.
Four of the businesses are in one shopping plaza, Emerald Centre.
“These kinds of restaurants not only become eating places, they become meeting places,” said Joan Niad, a longtime Hollywood resident.
About three years ago, Michael Katz came by way of Atlanta. He wanted to open a Judaica store in Atlanta but the city already had one.
He sought advice from others, via the Internet, on possible locations. Two of the suggestions: Milwaukee and Hollywood. Better weather helped Hollywood become his choice.
His store, Holyland Judaica, is tucked in the Emerald Centre and stocked with Star of David keychains, Muppet matzah cards and the Passover Sing-A-Long game.
Like others who flocked to Hollywood, Katz is here to stay.
“The community has been supportive and we hope this is successful,” he said. “A non-Jewish person might not notice us, but this community does.”
