I had mixed feelings about translating and re-uploading this documentary about the school situation in Beit Shemesh, which has been going on in September. There is a lot of anti-haredi feeling in the country right now, and I fear that it could get out of hand. However, we can't let people get what they want through violence and intimidation. Thanks to Tsipi for helping with the translation. Happy Chanukah. … [Read more...]
Separate-Sex Sidewalks and Civil Rights
October 24, 2011 by 14 Comments
This year, like last year, the neighborhood of Meah Shearim posted signs indicating that during the Sukkot celebrations, men and women would be directed to separate sidewalks. Civil rights or anti-haredi activists, depending on your perspective, petitioned the court, which ruled that the sidewalks belong to both sexes equally. The ruling was not enforced. After the holiday, a group of civil rights activists entered the neighborhood and were greeted with food and rocks thrown from the balconies. But is it right for outsiders to interfere? Reader Henya writes on the Mother in Israel Facebook page: And if people belonging to a certain community prefer separate streets or buses it is … [Read more...]
The Haredi Protest that Ynet Missed
August 31, 2011 by 25 Comments
It looks like the school crisis in Beit Shemesh has been resolved for the time being, with the teachers invited to prepare for the school year under police protection. Today's poster reminds us that disputes over religious issues in Israel can be worked out peacefully. Please welcome Naomi Elbinger for today's guest post. The Haredi Protest that Ynet Missed If you follow the mainstream Israeli media, you probably know all about the fanatical haredim. Their destructive protests in reaction to every perceived breach of their iron-clad principles regularly make headlines. But for some reason, none of the major news outlets picked up the story of a recent protest that occurred in my … [Read more...]
Beit Shemesh School Battle
August 30, 2011 by 29 Comments
School conflicts and strikes are a normal part of Israeli life at this time of year. Today we take you to Beit Shemesh (again). Several years ago the education ministry and the municipality of Beit Shemesh built a new building for the girls of Orot, a state-religious elementary school. The new school adjoins the boys' branch of the school and borders a haredi neighborhood. (Rafi has a map with explanations.) When protesters from the haredi buildings began vandalizing the building, the Orot parents from the school camped there overnight. A participant told me that she was called a Nazi and a prutza (whore). People threw garbage and feces. The mayor has refused to grant a license to … [Read more...]
Is There Anti-Haredi Discrimination in Elad?
April 28, 2011 by 30 Comments
I spotted this sign in the lobby of an apartment building in the religious city of Elad, on Highway 444 between Rosh Haayin and Shoham. About 15 years ago, when the town was first founded, the government allocated building projects for two sectors: Haredim and national religious, also known as religious Zionist. This sign, posted in the lobby reads: Esteemed Buyer/Renter! This project is national religious and intended for this population only! Elad is not a popular destination. It has a reputation for poor apartment construction and sub-standard infrastructure. A large part of the haredi population there are hozrim beteshuvah, or religious returnees, who as a group tend to have more … [Read more...]
The Changing Cost of Shidduchim in the Haredi World
October 27, 2010 by 24 Comments
Haredi educators are noticing that the age of marriage is rising. According to an article in the Hebrew edition of Mishpacha, only 10% of students in a particular seminary got engaged last year instead of the normal 50%. According to the shadchanim (matchmakers) quoted, only 5-10% of girls’ parents can afford to buy an apartment for the young couple in a low-cost haredi project. But the parents of the “good” bachurim (eligible men), are still hopeful, so they wait, while the yeshiva dormitories fill up. These kinds of articles always seem to pit parents of sons against parents of daughters. At least 90% of haredi parents, presumably, have children of both genders. Yet parents … [Read more...]
Exclusive: Interview with a Former Kannai, Part I
June 4, 2009 by 5 Comments
In my series on Pashkevilim, I gave highlights of a lecture about the community of anti-Zionist kannaim, or zealots, in Jerusalem. @Jewnet invited me to interview her husband Moshe Yossef, a former kannai, for an insider's view. I've divided the interview into two parts. Part I is about Rabbi Moshe Yossef himself and his experiences. In Part II, he answers general questions about the community. My questions are in bold, and Rabbi Yossef's answers are in blue. What is your Jewish background? Rabbi Yossef responds: I was born into a traditional, modern, orthodox background. At the age of eighteen I went in search of something more meaningful to me, and found it here in … [Read more...]
Pashkevilim: Wall Posters in Jerusalem Part III, Spoofs and Cellphones
May 28, 2009 by 1 Comment
This is Part III of a series on pashkevilim, the anti-establishment wall posters hung in large haredi neighborhoods. The series is based on a talk by Tzuriel Rashi of Michlelet Lifshitz and Bar Ilan University. See Part I and Part II. Pashkevil forbidding the use of Zionist banknotes. Credit: Ben Chorin A major concern for the haredi community in recent years has been cell phones. When chassidim who worked with troubled youth realized how easily a cell phone could be connected to the outside world, they alerted their leaders and an emergency meeting took place between the leaders of the various haredi communities. Even Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the Sephardic chief rabbi, was invited. As a … [Read more...]
Pashkevilim: Anti-Establishment Jerusalem Wall Posters Part II
May 27, 2009 by Leave a Comment
In honor of Jerusalem Day our synagogue hosted Tzuriel Rashi, professor of political science and communications and expert on pashkevilim, political and religious wall posters found on the streets of large haredi neighborhoods. This is Part II. See Part I and Part III. In the pre-State period, a staff of four men known as kruzim sped through town to put up the pashkevilim. One brushed the walls with glue, the second and third worked together to carry and stick up the posters, and the fourth added a final layer of glue. Pashkevilim were and continue to be a way of getting out important news that the regular press won't publish, in the same way we often use blogs. After the 1929 … [Read more...]
Pashkvilim: Anti-Establishment Posters in Jerusalem, Part I
May 22, 2009 by 6 Comments
Pashkevilim hold up the buidings of Jerusalem. Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum, Former Satmar Rebbe Today marks Jerusalem Day, commemorating the unification of Jerusalem and the restoration of its Old City to Israel's control. As part of the celebration our synagogue hosted a talk called "Al Homotayich Yerushalayim" ("On Your Walls, Jerusalem," Isaiah 62). Dr. Tzuriel Rashi, head of the Communications Department at Lipshitz College in Jerusalem and a professor in the Political Science Department of Bar-Ilan, introduced us to the textured world of pashkevilim, the religious wall posters found in large haredi neighborhoods throughout the world. The word Pashkevil comes from the Italian … [Read more...]
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