One thing that shocked me about Israel was the rampant trash. What’s behind that? Is such trash strewing common in the Middle East? Are certain group more liable to leave trash? There’s little trash in Pico-Robertson and Hancock Park and other Jewish enclaves in Los Angeles. Why so much in Israel? I don’t think for a second that leaving trash is related to DNA. It’s a cultural value.
If the ancient Israelites left behind piles of trash in the desert on their way from Egypt to the Promised Land, we have no record of it.
Is there more trash and messy yards in ultra-Orthodox communities than more modern ones? More among Hasidim than the Litvish?
B: “If you go to certain communities in Monsey, the garbage in the street is much worse than in others. It tends to break down along hashgafic lines.”
I suspect the Hasidim are worst. As a sage put it, “People who are more likely to pay their taxes are also more likely to dispose of their garbage appropriately.”
B: “I think in Israel it may be different though, because I remember going in the 1980s and seeing garbage everywhere, even in parks and places like that. I think the awareness of littering and pollution is behind over there. Recently I read that Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Haifa all have very bad air quality because of pollution.”
