For the fourth straight week, extremists among the Haredim have engaged in violent protests over Shabbat to protest the opening of a parking lot on Shabbat (and now also protesting over the arrest of a Neturai Karta woman who attempted to kill her child). Overnight last night and today they’ve thrown stones at vehicles, destroyed traffic lights, lit fires and other fractious acts.
Now these are people who believe it is a violation to turn on lights during Shabbat. It is a violation to carry anything, hence women aren’t required to attend any kind of religious services because carrying a child is considered to be work. These are people who put timers on their lights or hire gentiles to come in and turn on and off their stoves and so forth. Yet they are rioting on this holy day.
Have they hired gentiles to pick up those rocks? Do they have gentile representatives to throw the rocks for them, to attack and knock over traffic lights, to beat up the policemen, to light their trashcans on fire? GASP, it doesn’t seem to be the case. No, they are violating the sabbath themselves by doing work because, you know, if you can’t carry a kid then certainly picking up a rock and humming it at a passing car or police officer must be considered work. If lighting your own stove or turning on your own light switch is prohibited, is not setting afire the trashcan in your street also not included?
I just love the hypocrisy of it.
All extremists are crazy. No matter what religious or political or whatever kind of group, extremists are crazy. The government needs to be arresting these people in droves. They are dangerous, violent and criminal. What an appalling image of Israel for the world to see.
So, that’s where that rock that broke my windshield this week came from….Lol! That would have to be one good arm!
Will I violate Shabbat by stating the obvious - that these folks are stir crazy and dumb?
Oh, I do violate Shabbat usually, so…
These people have lost or never had the ability to think critically and rationally. They are tied up in a mental knot with religious dogma. They do not see the obvious contradictions in their disgusting actions. When a group loses all objectivity and reason, as is in the case of the woman who was starving her child, it is just hopeless. Their religious leaders are much to blame, perhaps mostly to blame. Why on earth would these nut cases not want the mistreatment of the child in this case investigated? Their claims are easily disputable (the child has been having chemotherapy… he has cancer—all lies). What a damn mess!! I have no patience with these kinds of people at all.
These people are nutz. Their thinking is just warped on some many subjects but because they tend to think ‘they know it all’ they blind themselves to logic. I also find it very offensive when I visit the Wall and have them coming up to me and begging for money. I find that really sacreligious but again, they could care less. They might get a wakeup call if the state cut off all their extra funding they had to play by the same rules as everyone else. A lot of this nonsense would stop.
Jett, I agree. They should not be allowed to behave this way.
Actually people that is what it is all about in a democracy, from the above comments and Yael’s posting I understand you all to be slightly in favour of an Iranianish, Birmese or even Chinese version of a state.
The way these people do behave is not exactly my way of communicating but within the boundaries of democratic thinking it should be made possible
to demonstrate one’s feelings.
Mongrel “demonstrating one’s feelings” is all well and good and fine within the realm of democracy and I have no problem with nice peaceful protests. I exercise my democratic right to peacefully protest all the time. That is not what they are doing.
Democracy does not cover sending innocent passerbys to the hospital with severe injuries as a result of your demonstration of feelings, nor does it cover the destruction of public and private (other people’s) property. That is called breaking the law.
And of course these people are “demonstrating their feelings” in order to try to prevent other people from having basic rights under democracy, such as the right to drive one’s car on any day of the week that one chooses.
And the point of my article was about the hypocrisy of people violating the very religious laws they hold dear in a much more severe way in their protests than the actions of the people they are protesting against.
These people are crazy, unfortunately. They are behaving violently toward others, injuring innocent people, starting fires, destroying property, mistreating others. They have gone over the line between expressing their ideas to criminal behavior.
Aha, it is allowed to injure “guilty” people?
OK - Let’s say that the “masses” can’t think this through and realise that if you can’t …. (fill the gap - there are plenty) then you can’t riot on Shabbat - but how about the rabbis - their spiritual leaders - where are they? Why don’t they speak out? They _must_ know it’s both forbidden and wrong - and all it does is drive people away from Judaism. Don’t hear a word from them - not on this nor on the corruption nor on the…….
As if we do not have enough people hating us already, now we have to have infighting? That you have made Aliya is a great thing, but that you deride our brothers and sisters borders on disgusting.
Do you know why we finally lost our sovereignity to Vespasian and Titus? When they finally breached the walls of Yerushalayim 4 Jewish armies were fighting one another for control of the Temple Mount!
Finally, I am also saddened that you know so little of our history that you are unaware of one of the most important junctures in the Judean-Assyrian War (as a person from N. America you probablly would know it better as the “Maccabi Rebellion”). Our ancestors were so pious that they indeed believed it a sin to raise a weapon on Shabbat. One day the Assyrians happened upon a large camp of Judeans, up in the hills and although very well armed, they refused to raise a fist out of concern for violating Shabbat.
For this they were alughtered to the last person. The Hasmosean Clan (Maccabis) decided that to NOT fight for what is just is to be more disrespectful of G-D and so we ended up retaking our homeland.
Since then the majority ruling in Halacha is that indeed it is permissable to raise arms in defence of hearth and home and in defence of Torah. These are fundamental issues that most Israelis understand.
I do want to say that I enjoy your Blog VERY much and it was not so much your misunderstanding of these basic issues that disturbed me, as you are an olah chadash. What truly bothered me was to see 11 comments supporting your view. We have so many enemies, if you feel a brother or sister takes a misstep, try and help them but failing that I hope you never try and ridicule them in public.
(P.S.: I despise Neteuri Karta, but I could never despise its members).
Rachamim Ben ami, I’m 100% with you.
People are very quick at judging Charedim with very little knowledge of Torah and Halacha, and without ever having spent any time with them.
Well congratulations Yael, you have made a near complete aliyah! You are showing a non Western sense of understanding of other types of viewpoint and attacking differences that is breath taking to behold.
does it never occur to anyone that the more reform they are the more likely their blood is mixed? it is not opinion. it is a mathematical fact.