Bnei Brak

**Bnei Brak** (or **Bene Beraq**) ( , **) is a city locatit on Israel's central Mediterranean coastal plain, juist east o Tel Aviv, in the Dan metropolitan region an Tel Aviv Destrict. Bnei Brak is a centre o ultra-orthodox Jewish cultur.

Bnei Brak covers an area o 709 hectares. It haed a population o  in . Bnei Brak is ane o the puirest an maist densely populatit ceeties in Israel.

## History
Bnei Brak taks its name frae the auncient Biblical city o Beneberak, that wis locatit 4 kilometres (2&nbsp;mi) tae the sooth o whaur Bnei Barak wis foondit in 1924.

Bnei Brak wis foondit as an agricultural sattlement bi Yitzchok Gerstenkorn an a group o Pols chasidim. Due tae a lack o laund, mony o its foonders turnt tae ither occupations, an the clachan began tae develop an urban character. Its first rabbi wis Rabbi Arye Mordechai Rabinowicz, umwhile rabbi o Kurów in Poland. He wis succeedit bi Rabbi Yosef Kalisz, a scion o the Vurker dynasty.

The toun wis set up as a releigious sattlement frae the ootset, as is evident frae this description o the pioneers:
:Thair sauls war revived bi the fact that thay meritit whit thair predecessors haedna. Whit particularly revived thair weary sauls in the forenuins an toward forenicht, whan thay wad gaither in the *[[beis medrash]]* situatit in a special shack that wis biggit immediately upon the arrival o the gey first settlers, for *tefilla betzibbur* (communal prayer) three times a day, for the Daf Yomi *[[Shiur (Torah)|shiur]]*, an a Gemara *shiur* an a additional ane in Mishnayos an the Shulchan Oruch.

Bnei Brak wis declared a city in 1950.

Rabbi Avrohom Yeshaya Karelitz (the *Chazon Ish*) sattlit in Bnei Brak in its early days, attractin a muckle follaein. Rabbi Yaakov Landau, chief rabbi o Bnei Brak atween 1936 an 1986, helped tae mak it an important releegious centre. Ither leadin rabbis that hae bade in Bnei Brak are Rabbi Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler, Rabbi Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky ("the Steipler"), Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman (Ponevezher Rov) an Rabbi Elazar Menachem Mann Shach. Notable rabbis that bide in Bnei Brak the day are Rabbi Aharon Leib Shteinman, Rabbi Nissim Karelitz, Rabbi Shmuel Wosner, Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky an Rabbi Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz.

In the early 1950s, the Vizhnitzer Rebbe, Rabbi Chaim Meir Hager, foondit a lairge neeburheid in Bnei Brak that continues tae serve as a dynastic centre unner his son, Rabbi Moshe Yehoshua Hager.

Stairtin in the 1960s, the rebbes o the Ruzhin dynasty (Sadigura, Husiatyn, Bohush), who haed umwhile lived in Tel Aviv, moved tae Bnei Brak. In the 1990s thay wur follaed bi the rebbe o Modzhitz. Unlik the umwhile fower Gerrer rebbes, who lived in Jerusalem, the current rebbe (syne 1996) is a Bnei Brak indwaller. The rebbes o Alexander, Biala-Bnei-Brak, Koydanov, Machnovke, Nadvorne, Premishlan, Radzin, Shomer Emunim. Slonim-Schwarze, Strykov, Tchernobil, Trisk-Bnei-Brak an Zutshke bide in Bnei Brak.

Till the 1970s, the Bnei Brak municipality wis heidit bi Releegious Zionist mayors. Efter Mayor Gottlieb o the Naitional Releegious Pairty wis defeatit, Haredi pairties grew in status an influence; syne than thay hae govrened the ceety. As the Haredi population grew, the demand for public releegious observance increased an mair indwallers requestit the closure o thair neeburheids tae vehicular traffeck on Shabbat. Whan thay demandit the closure o a main street (HaShomer St., nou Kahaneman St.), the nan-releegious residents protestit but the toun's releegious indwallers wan the battle. Syne than, thair influence in the ceety continuously grew.

In a short period o time maist o Bnei Brak's secular an Releegious Zionist residents migratit elsewhaur, an the ceety haes acome amaist homogeneously Haredi. The ceety haes ane secular neeburheid, Pardes Katz. Names o streets wi a Zionist connotation war renamed for prominent Haredi figurs, for ensaumple, Herzl St. wis chynged tae HaRav Shach St. Bnei Brak is ane o the twa puirest ceeties in Israel.

Rabbi Moshe Yehuda Leib Landau is a respectit authority on Jewish law an kashrut superveesion. Rabbi Moshe Landau teuk office efter the daith o his faither, Chief Rabbi Yaakov Landau in 1986. The Landau faimily is somewhat affiliated wi Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidism. The "Rav Landau" hechsher (kosher supervision) is widely acceptit as ane o the best in Israel, relied on bi amaist aw releegious Jews in Israel. Rabbi Nissim Karelitz is Chief Rabbi (*av beis din*) o the Lithuanian Haredi population o the ceety. He leads a beth din that includes baith Lithuanian Haredi an Hasidic dayanim, cried *She'aris Yisroel*, which is an aa a hechsher (kosher superveesion).

Bnei Brak is hame tae Israel's first weemen-anerlie depairtment store.

Bnei Brak is notit for its abundance o sel-help an volunteer organisations. Several organisations help the ill, special needs population, an the puir. Thare are an aa available abudant airticles tae be borraed free o chairge, frae extra baby beds, electric drills, pent rollers, tae bridal claes.

At the instigation o the Chazon Ish, the Bnei Brak municipality set up an alternative watter supply, for uiss on Shabbat an Yom tov. This supply, that disna require intervention bi Jews on days o rest, evytes the problems associatit wi Jews wirkin on the day o rest at the naitional watter company Mekorot.

## Demographics

Accordin tae figurs bi the municipality o Bnei Brak, the ceety haes a population o ower 165,000 residents, the majority o whom are Haredi Jews. It an aa haes the lairgest population density o ony ceety in Israel, wi 23,375 indwallers per square kilometre (60,541/sq mi). In the 2006 Israeli legislative elections, 89% o the voters chose Haredi pairties, an anither 7% votit for ither releegious pairties. While the ceety disna hae a offeecial 'releegious' status, the migration an development o the population haes led tae twa distinct sections: The northren pairt o the ceety as well as the extremities hae a significant nan-releegious minority population while the core o the ceety is amaist entirely releegious. While this releegious population uised tae be mainly Releegious Zionist, it is nou amaist exclusively Haredi.

## Mayors o Bnei Brak
*Yitzchok Gerstenkorn
*Moshe Begno
*Reuven Aharonovich
*Shimon Soroka
*Yitzchok Meir
*Shmuel Weinberg
*Moshe Irenstein
*Yerachmiel Boyer
*Mordechai Karelitz
*Yissochor Frankenthal
*Ya'akov Asher

## Economy

Ane o the laundmerks o Bnei Brak is the Coca-Cola bottlin plant in Kahaneman St. It is awned bi the Central Bottling Company (CBC), that haes haud the Israeli franchise for Coca-Cola products syne 1968. It is amang Coca-Cola's ten lairgest single-plant bottlin facilities warldwide. Accordin tae Dun's 100, "CBC's dedication tae excellence an innovative technologies in aw auries o its operations haes wan it prizes frae the US-based Coca-Cola Company, as well as recognition an accolades frae various public institutions for its environmental-friendly operation an ongoin community service".

Twa major factories that dominatit the centre o Bnei Brak for mony years war the Dubek cigarette factory an the Osem fuid factory. As the toun grew thay foond thaimsels in the middle o a residential aurie; baith left the aurie. Osem's main factory is nou locatit on Jabotinsky Road in Petah Tikva, juist aneist tae Bnei Brak.

## References