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| The famed Itzkowitz 'Minyan factory' in Bnei Brak (i24 NEWS) |
That is of course absurd. There is not a doubt in any rational person’s mind that it was an extremist faction of Islam called Al Qaeda that is responsible for it. Even among the Arab leadership. They know it’s ridiculous. But there are still a lot of Muslims that nonetheless believe it. That is how far their irrational hatred goes.
Besides, who would do the kind of thing they accused the Mossad of?!
It turns out that the Municipality of Bnei Brak would. They actually tried to do exactly that. They planned and executed an event intended to raise the ire of the Charedi public against the secular government. Or more specifically the government’s transportation system.
No - this is not just another conspiracy theory. This is what Rabbi Natan Slifkin reported today:
Someone took a video of an utterly shocking incident at a train station, where some chareidi families were about to board a train. An Israel Railways inspector told them that they weren't allowed to board. "Charedim are not allowed on the train," he told them.
Naturally, this outrageous incident caused a national uproar. Deputy Education Minister Meir Porush (UTJ) fumed that "It is shocking to see how far the policy of incitement against the ultra-Orthodox permeates... I demand that the Minister of Transportation sort out the CEO of Israel Railways regarding the behavior of his employees. Shame!" Transportation Minister Miri Regev - someone with strong sympathies to the charedi community - was shocked and ordered an immediate investigation of Israel Railways.
The first twist then occurred. Israel Railways said that they had absolutely no idea who the person was. He wasn't an employee of theirs.
So who was it? The speculation was that it was some random person with a grudge against charedim. Not an Israel Railways problem, but still reflective of a general problem with anti-charedi hatred.
The next twist came when the real identity of the "Railway Inspector" was discovered.
You're not going to believe this.
He was an actor.
Hired by...
...the municipality of Bnei Brak.
Yes, that's correct. The city council of Bnei Brak were upset that a light rail line planned for the Gush Dan area is not slated to pass through Bnei Brak. So they decided to hire an actor to stop charedim boarding trains and create an outrage about discrimination against charedim.
Yes. That incident as it played out was indeed shocking. But far more shocking was the revelation of what really happened. And how low and stupid some Charedi politicians are. At least among those that govern the city of Bnei Brak.
It isn’t even just the respect of the non Orthodox world they lose. It is the respect of the rest of Orthodox world too - as far as I am concerned.
The Charedi world should be seeking a rapport with the rest of the Jewish community. Not alienating them. No matter how secular. Kol Yisroel Arevim Zeh BaZeh. We are all responsible for one another. Just because we have disagreements does not mean we can’t get along – and be friends. We are family!
An event like this not only alienates secular Jews and other Orhodox Jews. And I’ll bet it alienates a lot of Charedi Jews too.
What is the matter with these people?!
I don’t know who was behind this stupid and foolish ‘dirty trick’. I doubt that the Charedi rabbinic leadership in Bnei Brak had anything to do with it. But that does not absolve them of acting on it. If they don’t… if they remain silent… they will be seen as part of the problem instead of part of the solution.
There can be no silence with excuses that what they did is so bad that condemning it is too obvious for them to mention. And that doing so would lend give them some sort of credence.
Not good enough.
At the very least the rabbinic leadership should demand that the people behind this be fired and apologize to the public for any embarrassment this might have caused.
This incident is so disgusting that condemning what they did is not enough. The people responsible for this ought to not only be thrown out of office, they should be ostracized - placed in Nidui (today’s version of a Cherem.)
If the Charedi world in Bnei Brak ever wants to regain the respect of the public they need to clean house and do a major Cheshbon HaNefesh (introspection) about how something like thsi could happen. There is no better time than now to do that - just before Rosh Hashana.