Published: 5 July 2019
Last updated: 5 March 2024
A CALMER, SAFER AND more beautiful place than the Alpine skiing town of Arosa is difficult to imagine. In summer, cyclists abandon their unlocked mountain bicycles (there’s virtually no crime here) outside cafes surrounded by wild coniferous forests. They enjoy reasonably priced regional treats on terraces whose stunning views include turquoise lakes at the foot of snow-capped mountains punctuated by waterfalls.
Arosa, which has had a kosher hotel since the 1930s, is a preferred destination for haredi Orthodox Jewish tourists during the summer vacation. Often traveling on a budget, large haredi families get bargains here off season for hotels that make most of their profit from winter sports enthusiasts, and incur losses during the summer.
In recent years, however, this symbiosis in paradisaical Arosa has become burdened by tension and resentment. Jewish tourists from insular communities and locals from this small town in one of Western Europe’s most conservative societies have clashed at times in ways that occasionally have made news.
Perhaps the best-known incident occurred in 2017, when an Arosa hotelier posted a request to her “Jewish guests” that they shower before entering the hotel pool. She also asked the Jews to access the refrigerator only at set times. Jewish groups, an Israeli official and an online travel site all condemned the hotel as racist before both sides acknowledged mistakes.
FULL STORY In the Swiss Alps, locals and haredi Orthodox tourists find ways to get along (JTA)
