Who would spit and curse at a second grader and call her a whore? Haredim, that’s who. The Haredim are considered the extreme of orthodox Jews, although they reject the label: to them they are just “Jews,” everybody else is not. In the Israeli town of Beit Shemesh, some Haredim spat and cursed at second grader Naama Margolese (pictured here with her mother), and called her a whore for dressing immodestly. Since the assault Naama.is afraid to walk to her religious school, even when her mother is with her, holding her hand.
“When I walk to school in the morning I used to get a tummy ache because I was so scared … that they were going to stand and start yelling and spitting. They were scary. They don’t want us to go to the school.”
But that’s okay, “Moshe,” a Haredi explained to Israeli TV:
“To spit on a girl who does not act according to the law of the Torah is okay. Even at a seven year old. There are rabbis who empower us to know how to walk in the street and how a woman should act.”
To the Haredim women and little girls are unclean, not to be touched or seen, except when they are covered up. Burqas would be fine. Women soldiers are an abomination, not to be heard. And Arabs? Even lower than women: they should be expelled from Israel as well as from greater Israel, which God gave to the true Jews.
Tragically for Israel and its admirers and allies, the Haredim are the tail that wags the dog of Israeli politics. They are part of the governing coalition and control the Foreign Ministry, among other major posts.
The ugliness of the Haredim at Beit Shemesh may well have a good outcome. Thousands of people were expected at tonight’s demonstration against the Haredim excesses. Israeli President Shimon Peres urged the public to attend, saying.
“All of us must defend the image of the state of Israel from a minority that is destroying national solidarity and expressing itself in an infuriating way.”
But in Israel the president is a largely ceremonial position. The power is with the Prime Minister, and PM Bibi Netanyahu has shown little inclination to oppose the extremists. And as long as they are allowed to run wild and make up their own laws and say God told them to, Israel’s future as a Jewish democracy is at risk.
“It is clear that Israeli society is faced with a challenge that I am not sure it can handle,” said professor emeritus Menachem Friedman of Bar Ilan University, considered an expert on the ultra-Orthodox, “a challenge that is no less and no more than an existential challenge.”
(Much of the detail for this piece was reported by the Associated Press)
Tags: Bar Ilan University, Beit Shemesh, ethics, Haredim, Menachem Friedman, Moshe, Naama Margolese, Netanyahu, Orthodox Jews, Shimon Peres
Ethics Bob 
December 28, 2011 at 7:37 am |
Like Christians and Muslims, Jews also have a lunatic fringe of self-proclaimed pietists who think they have a direct line to God. Those Jewish fanatics who spit or throw things at a little girl are guilty, not only of assault, but also of desecration of the Holy Name. They embarrass God by making the Torah look bad. Such conduct is NOT forgiven at the Day of Atonement! Do Christians and Muslims have a similar concept?
December 28, 2011 at 10:37 am |
I agree with your assessment, but it’s not enough to blame the haredim and their counterparts in other religions: the “moderates” who tolerate their hate are also very much at fault.
December 29, 2011 at 2:36 pm |
This is just one more symptom of the state of Israel rotting from within. Their violations of international law, their apartheid policies and their disproportionate response to offenses against them will eventually doom them, I am afraid. The really sad thing is that most Israelis want peace with the Palestinians, and most Palestinians want peace with Israelis, but their leaders are ideologically intransigent. I was hoping Obama would be able to break through the stalemate, but he has been just as ineffective.
December 29, 2011 at 4:24 pm |
You’re right about the rotting, but not–I hope–about the doom. We’ve long understood that a democratic, Jewish, peaceful state can’t exist forever–that’s just math, as Obama might say. I hope the decency of the majority prevails over the medieval cruelty of the minority.
December 31, 2011 at 12:48 pm |
[…] Who would spit and curse at a second grader and call her a whore? « Ethics Bob /* Socialize […]
December 31, 2011 at 6:34 pm |
these charedim should be locked up and the key should be thrown away. They need psychiatric help. Hitler and today’s neo-nazis gain in stature when pictures of these insane idiots are seen througthout the world. RABBI DR. BERNHARD ROSENBERG
December 31, 2011 at 11:15 pm |
Locking them up would be good. I’d be satisfied if the Israeli government would crakk down, enforce the law, and kick them out of government.