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| Screenshot of the protest (VIN) |
Obviously they are not directly responsible for the actions of a brutal cop. That cop should have never been allowed to serve in law enforcement. But that so many people who look the way that fellow in Bnei Brak does - do the kinds of things done in Jerusalem yesterday surely colors how they see all Charedim. Even though it is terribly wrong and unfair to generalize, it’s human nature to do so when there have been so many instances of the kind of thing that happened yesterday by people that look like them. Here is what happened:
After a long period of quiet, Peleg members took to the streets on Wednesday in a protest against the approval of the Chareidi draft law over a week ago.
The protesters blocked traffic on Highway 4 under the Coca-Cola bridge at 4 p.m. during rush hour.
Heavy traffic jams ensued and clashes erupted between the protestors and the police who tried to clear the area. Four protesters were arrested.
The protestors dispersed on their own accord after two hours.
For those unfamiliar with the term, Peleg is the Jerusalem faction of the Charedi world founded by the late Rav Shmuel Auerbach. He chose to ignore the peaceful ways of the late Rav Aharon Lieb Steinman who advised young Charedim to obey the law and register for the draft.
R’ Auerbach insisted that young people disobey that law and refuse to register. And advised his followers to cause havoc in the crowded streets of Jerusalem by holding large public protests when one of their own was arrested for dodging the draft. That happened more than once and entailed blocking traffic and inconveniencing thousands of Israelis (both religious and secular). In some cases violent confrontation erupted between protesters and the police.
It should be obvious from the videos of yesterday’s protests (located at the VIN website) why police see red any time someone looking like one of those protesters violates even a minor law. As was the case in Bnei Brak a few days ago.
Please understand - as noted in a previous post on the subject I am NOT blaming the victim. Just explaining the reason for the inexcusable violent overreaction by a cop towards a maskless Charedi consumer.
It would be one thing if the protesters were few in number… and just a bunch of extremists out to do some mischief. But as noted these kinds of protests were called for years ago by R’ Auerbach - an elder sage of the Charedi world. His agenda is still being carried on the streets of Jerusalem by his many followers. They may not be the majority of the Charedi world. But they are clearly a very large and significant portion of them. This is his legacy.
They are entitled to their views. What they are not entitled to is to disturb the peace and cause havoc in the streets of Jerusalem - inconveniencing people of all backgrounds who have nothing to do with this issue and are in no way responsible for what they are protesting.
The fact that they do it shows complete disregard for the public welfare. What’s worse is the fact that they are recognized as strictly Orthodox Jews. Which makes secular Jews who might at worst be indifferent to the Torah - enemies of the Torah!
They apparently do not care a whit about anyone other than themselves. And could not care less about the Torah’s requirement of Arvus - the responsibly of every Jew to their fellow Jew to demonstrate the peaceful ways of the Torah. Instead of bringing them closer to God, they are chasing them further away.
I am so sick of rabbinic leaders that turn innocent young people whose minds are filled with mush into ‘monsters’ that become the vehicles for chasing Jews away from Torah.
There is a reason that R’ Chaim Kanievsky called R’ Shmuel Auerbach a ‘Zaken Mamre’ (rebellious sage). He rebelled against the somewhat older and in my view - much wiser sage, R’ Aharon Leib Steinman. I wonder how many more innocent Charedim will to be beaten by overzealous cops before they realize the damage they cause to innocent Charedi Jews?