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Hasidic Jews look at Hazleton Pennsylvania area as potential home

A community of Hasidic Jews from New York wants to build 1,000 residential units on more than 400 acres near Hazleton.

The project could eventually attract as many as 5,000 new residents and boost the local tax base.

The Hazleton Area School District, already struggling with overcrowding, wouldn’t be affected because developer/owner Shari Limud Inc. plans to build its own private schools.

Shari Limud has an agreement to buy the property if it can get the roughly 380 acres in the Stockton section of Hazle Township rezoned from conservation to residential, said attorney John Michelin, who represents the group through the law firm of Donald Karpowich.

The rest of the land is in Hazleton and already zoned residential, he said.

Representatives of Shari Limud said they picked the Hazleton area because it is rural, the people seem friendly and it is relatively close to New York City and other areas of New York where transplants might have relatives, Michelin said.

The 1,000 dwellings would be a combination of single family homes, townhouses and multi-family residences.

Medical facilities and grocery stores are also planned, although Michelin said the residents would still shop locally.

Hasidic Jews speak English, but converse in Yiddish among themselves, Michelin said.

They plan for their community to remain part of the local government subdivisions, and don’t want to create their own borough or village, he said.

“They don’t keep totally to themselves and welcome people to come into their development,” Michelin said. “They want to be part of the fabric of the community.”

The township planning department plans to issue a recommendation soon to township supervisors. Supervisors, who will ultimately decide whether the zoning change is granted, plan to hold a public meeting, tentatively scheduled for June 13, to gather more information and seek public feedback.

Michelin said residents of more crowded Hasidic communities in Brooklyn and a New York village named Kiryas Joel about an hour from New York City might be interested in coming here.

The Hasidic culture is unfamiliar to many Hazleton area residents, he said. Some people wrongly believe they are more like the Amish, shunning technology, but they drive cars and were at a recent meeting in Hazleton carrying cell phones, Michelin said.

Hasidic Jews tend to live in communities and have large families.

Hasidic men sport long side curls and beards, and always keep their heads covered with skullcaps and broad-brimmed hats. The women dress modestly, and the married ones wear wigs or head coverings. The Village of Kiryas Joel shuts down on Saturdays for Sabbath, just like Christians adhere to a Sunday Sabbath.

Some people will notice white strings – called tzitzis or tzitzit -- hanging down outside the men’s pants. They are part of a four-cornered garment that might be worn under or outside a shirt.

Michelin expects many of the people who come here to be highly educated and work at the businesses they open within the community.