NPR

A new website reports on the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community

A new website, Shtetl.org, aims to provide an inside view and a critical look at the insular world of ultra-Orthodox Jews.
The late Hasidic composer Ben Zion Shenker sings, wearing a yarmulke and holding a mic, at a male-only sing along known as a k<em>umzits </em>that took place in an Orthodox neighborhood in Brooklyn.

Imagine buying an expensive electric vehicle that has internet connectivity but deciding to disable it. That's what a business is doing for ultra-Orthodox Jews who own Teslas in order to ensure that the drivers and their passengers don't see anything on the internet considered immodest according to rabbinical standards. The intricate details are reported in one of the latest stories from Shtetl, a new website designed to provide an inside view and a critical look at the insular world of ultra-Orthodox Jews.

Secular news organizations and mainstream Jewish journalism sites do cover the Haredi community, but their access — as outsiders — is limited.

So, Shtetl bills itself as the Haredi Free Press. The term Hrefers to Jews who follow strict is a Yiddish word that refers to the small Jewish towns formerly found in Eastern Europe.

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