The observant community.
Life within walking distance of the shul: the eruv, the minyan of ten, the day school — halakha builds its own geography.
Orthodox life is community-dependent in a practical rather than sentimental way: you need a synagogue within walking distance because driving on Shabbat is prohibited, kosher food supply, a mikveh, and schools. That produces geographically dense neighborhoods, and the density in turn sustains the observance. It also means that leaving is costly in a way that leaving a less demanding religious community is not, which is a fact the community and its critics both acknowledge.
The same ground, other faiths
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