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| Israeli MK Rachel Azaria - running for Mayor of Jerusalem |
Nebech. All they want is to live their lives Al Taharas HaKdeosh (which basically means living in ways even holier than they need to be lived). And the world condemns them for it. True they may have gone a bit too far. But they are only children. And the Reshaim that run this country deserve no better. They insist on foisting Treif values upon us. Forcing us to to gaze at Shmutz (filth) on our buses. Buses are our primary means of transportation. Who can blame these poor young souls for trying to eradicate that from our midst?!
Besides… the idea of a woman as mayor of Yerushalyim Ir HaKodesh is a disgusting thought! Especially one that is not religious. (I have no clue whether that’s true or not. But to these people the fact that her picture is plastered on the sides of over 300 buses that traverse our community and used primarily by them - is tantamount to proof to them of that.)
We will fight these evil people with everything we’ve got. We are NOT going to allow them to infiltrate our community with their filth and anti Torah agenda. We will continue to fight them and NEVER allow anything like this to happen again.
This is the kind of reaction from Eida HaChardis types (both leaders and lay people) living in Meah Shearim and its environs that one might hear to what happened there recently. From the Jerusalem Post:
Jerusalem mayoral candidate Rachel Azaria’s bus posters were defaced in the capital by haredi (ultra-Orthodox) extremists overnight between Sunday and Monday, shortly after the end of the observance of Tisha Be’av.
Azaria rented ads on 300 buses with the slogan “Believe. It is possible to live together.” She said she received video clips of haredim destroying the posters from haredi friends.
“This violent attempt to harm the election does not reflect Jerusalem, Jerusalemites or the haredi population of the city,” Azaria said. “This was just an extremist fringe group. We in Jerusalem know how to live together in mutual respect, even if it is not always easy. We won’t let the extremists decide for us.”
This was not the first time Azaria has had to fight to get her face on Jerusalem bus ads.
In 2008, Azaria turned to the High Court after a company that worked with the Egged bus cooperative refused to put her campaign advertisements on buses because they feared a photo of a woman would upset haredim. The High Court forced the company to run the ads just three days before the municipal election.
I have heard the above kind of response to similar situations before. Usually in articles in Charedi Magazines fawning all over a community like this as the epitome of a Torah community. Articles that praise the ‘beauty’ of living their lives Al Taharas HaKodesh. Wishing that we could all rise to their level of observance and holiness.
Those articles go about describing how they live their lives in complete isolation from all the negative influences we are all subjected to on a daily basis because of our own life circumstances. Such as the need to provide for our families by working in a less than pristine Torah environment.
They might say that we should all take a lesson from these holy people and start to change our lives along their holier lines. Lives that revolve around Torah and doing Mitzvos in the most Mehudar (beautiful) way possible.
Adding that if only our collective Yetzer Hara could be as subdued as theirs is. These people are the real deal... roles models for us all by virtue of living a lifestyle dedicated to God in ways that their rabbis taught them is best way to live a Torah lifestyle. And doing so without any compromises!
What about the fact that they defaced public property? they might respond by saying OK. Maybe they shouldn’t have done it. But it is only the more zealous youth among them - and who can blame them? We should not be looking at pictures of women anyway.
This is where the problem lies. It isn’t just a problem of extremists doing things against the will of their community leaders. They are not extremists. They are young people that take seriously their commitment to live their lives in ways their rabbis tell them to. And if that means defacing a few pictures, then it isn’t only permitted. It is a Chiuv – a Halachic obligation to keep the environment as pristine and pure as possible. And erase (or deface) the Shmutz form their midst when they encounter it.
And since they are young they can take the heat. Allowing themselves to be blamed and absolving the adults of any responsibility for their vandalism. It’s kind of a built in ‘plausible deniability’. These young people are pretty much the same people that have done much worse along these lines. Insulting, embarrassing, and even causing physical harm to innocent people that they see violating their standards. Which will elicit a similar responses plus and ‘plausible deniability’ from the rest of their community. saying things like - it is only some misguided overly zealous albeit righteous youth.
What will it take for the mainstream Charedi world to recognize what is really going on? And stop fawning all over this community? To recognize that images like the one in the video are a Chilul HaShem that constantly shows religious Jews to be vandals living in isolation that care little about anyone but themselves. That in keeping their world ‘pristine’ they make Judaism into something horrible and uncivilized.
It is not enough to say that they don’t represent us. The fact is that they do. Whether we like it or not the entire world - Jew and gentile alike - recognizes that these Jews look the way they do because of how religious they are. If this is how the ultimate Jew is supposed to behave, then who needs them?! What is so good about Judaism? Why should we look to the Jewish people as a light unto the nations? people whose behavior we should emulate? What they represent instead is a people that consists of self centered thugs that should not be emulated but shunned!
These people are not role models anymore than the thugs that vandalize the streets of New York and Chicago are. They have in common the fact that they care little about anyone but themselves. And think nothing of hurting innocent people and damaging property if it suits their purposes.
True their set of values are not the same. But they have a lot in common. Their youth are the criminals and thugs. And their community that supports them with apologetics. The only real difference in their behavior towards others is the way they look. Their actions are the same.
What good is it if one buys a nicer more expensive Esrog for Sukkos if they act like criminals to the rest of the world. What difference does it make of they spend more time in daily prayer if they behave like thugs and gang members when they aren’t praying? What difference does it make how Kosher the food that goes into their mouths is if what comes out of those mouths is Treif? What good is the supposed Chesed they do for each other if they treat outsiders like dirt?
What will it take for the rest of the religious world to wake up and see just how much damage these people do to Judaism in their way of pursuing of holiness? It isn’t enough that I call them out. It should be universal. All this fawning over them about how holy they are ought to end once and for all. Looking Frum is not the same as being Frum.