 They're among Chicago's earliest settlers and its most recent immigrants. They've made countless contributions to our city and society at large. They are followers of the Jewish faith, and their historical, cultural, and religious heritage enriches our city from hagglish to edgewater and all neighborhoods in between. Hello, I'm Chaplain Kevin Dean with the Chicago Police Department. This is the third in a series of videos to expand your knowledge and understanding of the many diverse communities within our city. Having even a basic knowledge of a person's customs and culture enables police officers to conduct their duties in a more efficient and respectful manner. Today, we explore Judaism. What separates Judaism from Christianity is its belief that the Messiah or the Messianic Age has not as yet come. There are several hundred thousand people of Jewish faith living in the Chicago area. Rabbis are leaders in the Jewish community. Most have congregations and they are a good information resource for police. The idea is that when there is something that happens, whether it's good or bad, most of the time the congregation looks to the rabbi for direction. Within Judaism, there are three main denominations, Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform. The Orthodox are the most traditional. And one of the things that will set an Orthodox community apart is that on the Sabbath and on holidays, they will walk and not drive. In a conservative community, you'll find people both walking and driving and a more liberal understanding of Jewish law. The Reform community is the most liberal and the issues regarding ritual often are not seen as being applicable to the Reform communities. Orthodox has not changed the customs of the traditions from the day one. We follow the same customs, the same prayers, the same traditions as they have from the beginning of time. With conservative and Reform adopting the religion to the times or changing with the times. Many conservatives and all Orthodox men wear a head covering called a yarmulke. Police should be sensitive to individual beliefs when asking a Jewish man to remove his yarmulke. If I were asked by a police officer to remove my yarmulke because he needs to check that I'm not concealing something, fine. It is permissible for someone to take their hat off but they would always want to keep their yarmulke on. They could theoretically slide it around so that the officer can get a full look at their head if that's necessary. Rabbi Baruch Epstein is a member of the Hasidic community, which is sometimes referred to as ultra-Orthodox. It's common that the men have beards and always keep something on their head, a yarmulke, also sometimes a black hat. Even some on the holidays and Sabbath will wear a fur, it's called a strimal or a spudik, it's a more cylindrical or rounded hat. The married women always keep their hair covered either with a wig or a kerchief or a hat. I'm wearing a wig, it's called a sheitel. That's the Yiddish term for it. Married Orthodox women never remove their hair coverings in public. It would be very offensive to be asked to remove it. It would be not at all a problem to explain that you wear it and why you wear it and so forth, but a woman is very protective about her head covering. It's no different than a woman being asked to take her blouse off. I know it sounds silly, but it actually has the same level of modesty as far as many of us are concerned. If it became necessary for some reason, which I can't even think of why it should, then take her to a bathroom with a woman officer as private and as small an area as you can imagine to ask her to remove it. Orthodox Jews value modesty. That's reflected in their dress, especially in the Hasidic community. The girls always wear skirts even from young ages and long sleeves. The boys will always be wearing the yamaka and the tzitzis, the strings that stick out from underneath their shirt. The tzitzis, the strings remind us of the commandments on the covenant that we've entered into with God to observe the 613 commandments as spelled out in the Bible in the Torah. The Jewish House of Worship is a synagogue. Men wear prayer shawls and leather boxes strapped to their arms or heads. The boxes are called teff fillings. Inside are pieces of parchment with quotations from the Torah. The Torah encompasses the first five books of Moses. Torah scrolls are kept locked in an ark in the synagogue. If they need to, let's say, to search a synagogue, it would be only appropriate if the rabbi or someone else present because there would be, for example, we keep the thing that would be the most valuable besides the people, of course, in the synagogue and the Torah scrolls. Men and women pray together in reform and conservative synagogues. They are separated in Orthodox synagogues. In the Orthodox community, there is a separation of the sexes at an early age, not just during worship, but in education and play, too. Physical contact, even handshaking between men and women outside of marriage, is not acceptable. A Hasidic Jewish woman is not going to want to shake hands with a man or a casual touch. Sometimes that was good and pat on the back or something is going to be not comfortable. Usually a good rule of thumb is to greet as a person to person greeting without the handshake and nobody will feel offended. Let's say I was taken in for questioning for some reason, and the officer who's questioning me is female. Again, technically we should not be alone in the same room. It's just considered inappropriate. A door can be open or there can be somebody else present or again a two-way, one-way mirror, but something of that sort. Many Orthodox homes don't have televisions. Children don't listen to the radio or pop music. There is an emphasis on reading and religious education. They're not sheltered in the sense that they may not know what's going on in the world, but they're sheltered in the sense that we don't have a TV, we don't listen to the radio, we monitor what they read in terms of their books. I think there in mind these children don't know words like sex offender and drugs and so on. This is not part of their world. It's something that is very deliberately kept out of their world and it's going to be seen as very intrusive and very odd and inappropriate if this is brought up by a person of authority such as a police officer. One way to determine you are at a Jewish home is to look for a small box on the exterior doorpost. Many Jewish homes in general, but the Orthodox in particular, on the right-hand side of the door you will find something that's called a mezuzah, which contains a little parchment of a portion of the Torah which asks God's blessing and protection on our home. Many Jews keep kosher homes. Police should never bring non-kosher food into a home or synagogue either. Perhaps the most important Orthodox practices police need to be aware of are those surrounding observance of the Sabbath and the holidays. Every week from Friday at sundown till Saturday night, approximately an hour after sundown, is our day called Shabbat in English the Sabbath. We shall do no manner of work and work is defined over the generations as a whole number of things, not just going to your job. There is no electrical devices used, no telephones, no writing implements. People do not carry anything outside so if an officer asks them if they had some identification it would be very common on the Sabbath that they would not have anything, not their driver's license, not anything, not even a key to their own home in their pocket. For cars we would not drive in a car, we don't turn lights on and off, we would leave them on a timer but we would not walk in a room and turn on lights. For cars parked someplace illegally and the officer says please move your car, they can't move the car. The officer can volunteer to take the keys and move the car and that's fine. So unless it's an extreme emergency, an Orthodox Jew may not phone police to report a crime until after the Sabbath. He or she will not ride in a police car or even an ambulance unless it's a matter of life or death. But if at any time or point where it's a life and death emergency, they are permitted to summon help. During a police emergency on the Sabbath and holy days, rabbis may be contacted in person at their synagogues to help alert the community if necessary. Police are always welcome and even encouraged to show a presence during times of worship. Especially in these days when there's such a heightened focus on security, when the building is open and there are multiple entrances and synagogues, we are hyper aware of the dangers that lurk around and so we welcome police protection, we welcome the presence of police patrolling around. Police are asked to be sensitive to reports of hate crimes and a harassment that can occur while Jews are coming to and from the synagogue. I would say this to any police officer to be a very good education without his uniform. Just walk around on Devon or Foster avenues on a Friday night especially when there's foot traffic and just listen. Listen to the honking, listen to the screaming. It's constant. No question. And so the reaction of a community like the Jewish community is something that the police do have to take seriously because we also are aware of how quickly things can change and how quickly a synagogue can become a target and people entering the synagogue can become targets for those who have anti-Semitic beliefs. And police should keep in mind some Chicago Jews have survived government endorsed anti-Semitism especially in the former Soviet Union. It's not a Jewish concept as much as a Russian cultural concept and therefore they should just please be understanding that if you approach an elderly Russian person to live through Communism and live through Stalin and Lenin and so on that seeing someone in a badge is not reassuring its frightening. Overwhelmingly however, police are viewed with great respect and appreciation in the Jewish community. American Jews are exceedingly grateful to the police of our country and to the police of Chicago for the protection and the security that they guarantee. Jews have very rarely in our history regarded the police, the local police as our friends. But this is a blessed exception and you will find rabbis and other synagogue leaders who are very very eager to be as cooperative as possible. As you now know, there are many religious and cultural considerations to keep in mind when dealing with people of the Jewish faith. Men may or may not be hesitant to remove head coverings. Orthodox women should never be asked to remove a head covering in public or in the presence of a male officer. Shaking hands is not appropriate when greeting an Orthodox Jew of the opposite sex. If possible, Orthodox men and women should be interviewed by officers of the same sex. Never bring non-Kosher food into a Jewish home or synagogue. Sabbath laws prohibit Orthodox Jews from using telephones, cars, money and electrical devices from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday. Some Jews of foreign descent may be fearful of police. All of the people we encounter on a daily basis expect to be treated with dignity and respect. Those who practice the Jewish faith are no exception. It is our hope that this video will serve to enlighten and foster a new awareness and understanding. Thanks for watching and as always, stay safe.