ABSTRACT
The ultra-Orthodox community in Israel or as it is commonly called Haredi society is a peculiar group even within Israel's complex social structure. This chapter examines the relationship between a community and the space it occupies and the way such a relationship is imagined and constructed through legal discourse. It addresses the struggle of the ultra-Orthodox community in Jerusalem to draw the boundaries of what they perceive as their territory. The chapter provides a historical and sociological background on the ultra-Orthodox, shedding light on their aspiration for geographic separatism that resulted in the formation of the ultra-Orthodox 'ghetto'. It also addresses the 'Sabbath Struggles'—struggles between the ultra-Orthodox community and secular society over the closing of streets and roads on the Sabbath. The chapter focuses on the single most important case involving the Sabbath Struggles—the Bar-Ilan Road case. It identifies the implicit political philosophy guiding ultra-Orthodox ideology, an ideology based on communal solidarity and an inter-subjective notion of self.
