Bad Acid
June 9, 2008 Uncategorized
We have begun a truly horrible new chapter in the era of Jewish fundamentalism. A young woman was hospitalized thanks to haredi terrorism. As many of you know, there has been a problem of haredim bleaching Jewish women who dressed in a manner considered too western and “immodest.” Many of us feared that these haredim would continue to escalate their attacks on those who dress differently than themselves when in their vicinity.
And sure enough, they have.
A fourteen year old girl was sprayed with acid. She was sprayed with acid for not dressing in accordance to parameters acceptable to the vigilante “tznius guard,” or modesty patrol.
The girl cried the whole way to the hospital. Partially out of fear, and partially out of pain from the damage inflicted to her face, stomach, and legs from the acid.
Where to go from here?
If you check the websites about this incident, you will see that most of these English speaking Orthodox Jews who use the Internet (a self-selective process) are sympathetic to this young woman, and unequivocally condemn these vigilantes.
Most. But not all.
Others blame this young woman for dressing in a (so-called) provocative manner late at night in a haredi neighborhood. Her fault, apparently, as a young woman is going to be a target for acid in the face if she’s wearing baggy pants and a short-sleeve shirt, and young ladies should act according to that reality.
For them, at least to some degree, it’s her fault. She should have known better.
It is imperative to note that though the apologists will insist that this was “one deranged individual,” and not indicative of the community, the reality is that these organized vigilante patrols, these “tznius guards,” are protected by the community. They will not be revealed, this criminal organization will not be disbanded.
The community effectively protects these bastards.
Many, such as Ron, have long argued that the Left-wing ultra-Orthodox Americans shouldn’t be identified with Israel’s right-wing ultra-Orthodox.
Ron and others are right. We need to distinguish more clearly. These are not the same populations, even if they all wear those stupid black hats in July.
So…when we talk about not only vigilantes, but also their enablers and apologists, let us refer to them as “haredi-fascists.” Now, granted, the term “fascist” is overused by the social and far-left. But. It still helps to underscore the similarities with the Islamofascists. And their ideology is cut largely cut from the same shmatte.
I feel obligated to note that left-wing ultra-Orthodox sites such as Vos Iz Neias and Yeshiva World News did report this incident. Rabbi Maryles (a prominent Modern Orthodox blogger), is infuriated, of course.
But make no mistake. Judaism itself is under attack by haredi-fascists.
It just gets worse and worse.
23 comments
This attack makes me furious! I live in Jerusalem and anyone who is interested can go to the Internet Cafes (especially the one with heavy blankets separating the computers–Haredim can show you the way) and you will find scores of Ultra-Orthodox Haredim complete with Streimel and Peyos watching porn. Where are the modesty patrol then? Ahh-I forgot, they want the Cafe to stop them from coming in (and lose A LOT of business), or they just deny it is true. WELL, read the article here: http://shearim.blogspot.com/20.....aitor.html
I know the author–this happens a lot, and no place (not even a university research library) is off limits to these nuts. Maybe its time they started practicing what they are studying–or is porn and assault what they are studying???
בני זונה
hmm. was the first chareidi fascist pinhas, for murdering two people for consensual sex? or moses, for killing all those people who wanted to practive alternative judaism (golden calf)
Mohammed,
I see no connection to Moshe and the Golden Calf incident to this one.
Violent terrorist Haredim, and their supporters, often cite Pinchas as an example of when one is supposed to take justice into their own hands. Don’t the mefarshim explicitly discourage self-righteous jerks from fancying themselves the next Pinchas, and exacting punishment on G-d’s behalf?
I bet the perpetrators of this sick, cruel, criminal behavior, are a bunch of sexually frustrated buchers who can’t act out in any way but this one.
The golden calf is just a classic example of religious intolerance. hareidi fascism.
“Don’t the mefarshim explicitly discourage self-righteous jerks from fancying themselves the next Pinchas, and exacting punishment on G-d’s behalf?”
Not necessarily. Some do, some don’t, if I remember correctly. Depends on the person and the context.
I find it surprising that something like this happened in beitar, this sort of stuff sounds more like beit shemesh.
but reading between the lines of another biased article, all she got was first degree burns, and “She cried the whole way to the hospital, partly because she was in pain but mostly because she was terrified” which means it didn’t hurt all that much.
“the modesty guards have been threatening her for quite some time” and “her family is under severe pressure” means that her whole family is apparently not getting along well with their neighbors. I wonder why? And what her family did that they didn’t report? The last three times DK posted something like this, there was violent provocation from the other side that somehow didn’t get mentioned.
“Not necessarily. Some do, some don’t, if I remember correctly. Depends on the person and the context.”
Some do and some don’t, eh? So the Haredim in Israel are CHERRY PICKING when they hold by the ones that don’t?
Mohammed– About your last two paragraphs: That’s right. Blame the victim! “She (or her family) must have been asking for it.” Isn’t that the way to treat all women who are victims?
No matter WHAT she or her family have done or not done, pouring acid on the kid was a violent crime. Whether it “hurts that much” or not! Who are you to pass judgement like this on the girl or her family? The perpetrator of the crime should be punished. Period!
Some of our fellow Jews are behaving like the barbarians who hate us. But then, they, too, are fundamentalists.
Mohammed,
The Golden Calf myth has more relevance to my earlier comments regarding the hold commercial considerations have on religion and the Haredi establishment’s fear of the financially rewarding (but otherwise immoral) practice of glatt shecitah being successfully challenged
The Golden Calf story is polemical and intended as a response to Jeroboam’s new calf idol religion, written by jobless and disgruntled northern Levites, who had been put out of a job by those two calves installed at Dan and Bethel during the time of the divided Kingdoms
On its face, Jeroboam’s action are illogical. How stupid could Jeroboam have been to make calves and then use the very words that Aaron used to ordain the calf centers, (“here are your GODS (note the plural), who brought you up from Egypt,’” (Exodus Chapter 32 verse 4)), when it was well known that the motivating factor Jeroboam instituting of the calf centers was because the people remained fiercely loyal to their previous traditions?
The story of the Golden Calf and the surrounding material is not historical, but rather is a polemic parable. The readers who were contemporary with the parable would have understood exactly what the point of the story was. The writer is posing a question, and answering it: what would Moses would have done, if he was alive to see those people kissing the calves at Dan and Bethel?
The Levites were concerned with more than simply attacking the new calf cult that had excluded them and left them jobless. The northern Levites at Shiloh considered themselves as proper Cohanim notwithstanding that they were not linear descendants of Aaron and his sons and their status was challenged by the southern Cohanim who ran the Jerusalem temple who considered themselves as linear descendants of Aaron and his sons and for whom this was a requirement of being a Cohen.
Thus in the story of the golden calf, we have the Levites as the only ones loyal to Moses in the story. A further distinction however is being made in the narrative by employing the symbolism of Aaron as a ‘failed Levite’ and the one who was responsible for actually making the calf. The unflattering reference to Aaron in the story strengthens the conclusion that it was northern Levites who wrote this version of events, so as to belittle the priesthood in the Jerusalem Temple which was of ‘Aaronite’ descent and threatened their economic and social power base. God, the northern Levites were suggesting, was just about mad enough to kill those temple priests.
There are therefore two competing psuedo-histories in the Torah which purport to describe the ordination of the priesthood. In the version favored by the southern Jerusalem priesthood (as one would expect) the priesthood was a divinely ordained office, it was hereditary, and it was instituted officially by Moses, following explicit instructions from God and, according to ‘the divinely ordained’ rules and regulations, any interloper would be punished by death. We are expected to believe that this was not because the Jerusalem priesthood had a vested interest in protecting their hereditary rights, but rather that God was very, very strict about sacrificing those goats and so on and only a trained professional could possibly know all the intricate details and so save their lives. Any ‘layman’ who approached would have toput to death ‘for fear that YAHWEH might break out against the people,’ so ferocious was God in these matters of having goats sacrificed at just the right time and following exactly the divine methodology. (This is reminds me of Mohammed’s recent claim that the fact that Haredim now insist on glatt shecitah has nothing to do with it being more labour intensive requiring employment of five to six times (!!) more Shochtim and Bodkim but rather because their rabbis have worked out that God wants this).
In the alternative version favoured by the norther Shiloh priesthood,as found in the story of the Golden Calf, the Levitical priesthood was awarded based on ‘merit.’ On the day that the (proxies for the northern) Levites ‘killed their brothers, friends, and neighbors’ they ‘brought a blessing on themselves’ and were appointed to the priesthood. No mention was made of ‘hereditary rights’, and Aaron is portrayed in the most unfavorable light. The northern Levites were expressing their hatred of the calf cult in the most extreme terms (they wanted to kill their brothers, friends, and neighbors, and sarcastically suggested that God would richly reward them for doing so). The meaning of the polemic would not have been lost on their contemporaries who also would have picked up on the sarcasm.
Not only is this version an alternative myth of the origins of the priesthood, one more favorable to the northern Levites not attached to the southern temple cult, aspersions are also cast on the legitimacy of the claims of the priests in the Jerusalem temple, through the device of casting aspersions on the character of Aaron. First we are told that ‘Aaron’ was an unfit candidate for the priesthood, and showed it by allowing lax conduct among the people, even helping them to make the calf. Indeed the Golden Calf was Aaron’s suggestion. He then offered a lame excuse when confronted by Moses. Political and religious commentary is being made here on events that were contemporary to the time of the Northern Levites, and on the much hated novel calf cult that had put them out of work, and they are also getting in their digs at the priests in the Jerusalem temple.
Something very similar is happening in Satmar today. The aptly named Aaron being the older brother should by heredity entitled to control Satmar’s considerable financial empire. His younger brother however claims that his ‘merit’ entitles him to that control and attacks his brother for being unworthy.
For an excellent historical review of the relationship of ultra orthodox Jews with violence see
http://www.biu.ac.il/SOC/so/Haredi-Violence.pdf
What a terrible story. What nuts. People who do this have a mental problem, which is not to suggest they shouldn’t be held strictly accountable for their actions. If they have a leader, religious or otherwise, who encouraged them to do this, he should be held responsible, too.
half sours
no, they’re interpreting. but they didn’t get the apologetics version.
r leibish
I see no point in arguing with your fantasies. If the bible isn’t the word of god it’s just a meaningless asswipe, interpret it any way you want.
Mohammed,
You know that I’m not one for mamby-pamby apologetics where unnecessary. Torah is m’Sinai. I’m with you on that one.
What I was starting to get at above is about mefarshim. The gedolim have can chose which mefarshim to hold by. So why is it, sociologically, that this segment of Jewish society seem to cherry pick out the mefarshim that justify their sinat chinam? And why don’t they hold by other principles of Halakha, such as abiding by the law of the land?
It would be much easier if you would bring any specific interpretation, to which I could either bring a different one or explain why it’s inapplicable.
But you’re asking for the big picture. So, is your question why a segment of jewish society that generally picks the more stringent interpretion did so here also?
Sinat chinam is bullshit.
And although there are different interpretations of how דינא דמלכותא דינא applies in other countries, none of them are relevant when there is no recognized goverment.
“Sinat chinam is bullshit.”
Not according to the Talmud. Or does your brand of Haredism hold that its account of Kamsa and Bar Kamsa is a mere bubbemeisa?
“It would be much easier if you would bring any specific interpretation, to which I could either bring a different one or explain why it’s inapplicable.”
I brought up a specific issue: Pinchas. Some mefarshim (the ones I was exposed to in MODERN Orthodox seminary) explicitly discourage vigilantism such as his. The ones you apparently hold by, do not. Why is that? Deciding which commentator’s account of the text sounds closest to the truth has nothing to do with stringency or leniency.
Sinat chinam is *unjustifiable* hatred between religious jews. Not hating a transgressor.
You brought up a specific issue, but you didn’t bring any specific commentaries, or what they say.
Orthodoxy believes all legitimate commentaries are equally valid. it’s not a matter of picking which one is “closest to the truth” because they’re all true. There are rules to decide which ones we follow.
Have you ever considered that certain groups evolved out of like minded individuals who had a similiar style of interpretation, instead of having arbitrary groups choosing different interpretations arbitrarily and then asking why?
Or that modern orthodoxy is biased towards whichever interpretation fits best with western culture?
“Or that modern orthodoxy is biased towards whichever interpretation fits best with western culture?”
Actually, they tried out “Torah u’Frumkeit” as their motto, but it didn’t do as well in the market research as “Torah u’Maddah”.
Re: Pinchas- his vigilantism was in response to avodah zarah. The commentators, as I was taught, felt that the circumstances were unique and did not need to be addressed as “something we don’t do anymore” , because everyone already knew that we don’t do that anymore. Hence their silence.
Besides, The Halacha developed in the direction of the Sanhedrin– namely, capitol offenses were, and are, no longer to be settled by vigilantes!!! And that’s why the golden calf and Pinchas are irrelevant to this discussion. And that’s why people who throw acid at girls are bad people and are not acting like Jews.
“Orthodoxy believes all legitimate commentaries are equally valid. it’s not a matter of picking which one is “closest to the truth” because they’re all true. There are rules to decide which ones we follow.”
“Legitimate commentaries”. Somebody decides which ones are legitimate, and which aren’t. And that’s fine, but let’s not sugar-coat it. Even the ones that we study aren’t all accepted. Take Midrash for example. Most are seen as legitimate, but are not all the accepted narrative interpretations of what actually happened.
“You brought up a specific issue, but you didn’t bring any specific commentaries, or what they say.”
You’re right. Like you, my memory on this matter is somewhat fuzzy. I have the same recollection as you of reading mefarshim who discourage amateur Pinchasim. But I can’t muster the koach to go traipsing around the internet for something linkable. I didn’t realize that there were any at all that would give talmidim the thumbs up to pull the same thing, but I’m content to take your word for it.
“Have you ever considered that certain groups evolved out of like-minded individuals who had a similar style of interpretation, instead of having arbitrary groups choosing different interpretations arbitrarily and then asking why?”
I’m surprised that you didn’t anticipate that I’m with you on that one. What I’m adding to that though is there is something unhealthy about a group of people who claim to be the only authentic hold-outs of the original people who brought morality and justice to the world- and use that ancient wisdom to justify pouring acid on the body of a 14 year old girl. I hold issue with that cluster of people with common values, because the values seem twisted.
“Or that modern orthodoxy is biased towards whichever interpretation fits best with western culture?”
I’d say the tenets of Modern Orthodoxy (not always the practitioners, but as you are aware the same is true of Ultra-Orthodoxy) is pretty far removed from Western thought and behavior.
“Sinat chinam is *unjustifiable* hatred between religious jews. Not hating a transgressor.”
The translation of sinat chinam that I am familiar with is “baseless hatred”, which is different than “unjustifiable”. You can justify almost anything (murder, adultery, spilling acid on a 14 year old). However when it comes to Hashem’s judgement, one’s reasoning can be based on false justification that is completely baseless. And then, spiritually, you’re fucked.
Pinchas was much too much of a Zionist racist for my taste. I think Jews should stop looking up to him, and pretending he is Eliyahu HaNavi who lived forever. The man is simply not someone we should be striving to emulate.
Pinchas was kind of an asshole.
Sigmund Freud had an interesting interpretation of the symbolism of the incident regarding Pinchas. So as to save Mohammed’s blushes I will not go into too much detail about his ideas however I will mention that Freud thought that the nature of the spear used by Pinchas was of the type which the bochrim at Toldos Aharon yeshiva are known to spend many an hour at night polishing and furthermore, should a woman ignore the ruling of the Satmar rebbe and ride a bicycle over such a spear, she is unlikely to find herself with a flat tire.
Look, in a theoretically beautiful world I can understand (and support) extreme actions against the few who, for selfish reasons of their own, bring about harmful consequences to others. The Hareidi community as it currently exists however is decidedly not one of those communities.
As for what sort of sexual communal policy would be most healthful for the masses of humanity (such that violating it would be accurately deemed deservant of corporeal punishment)…. damned if I know, but sexuality is serious enough that – at least in the theoretic – I would say that Vaad HaTznius tactics would be appropriate responses to people who would fuck with such a beatific (and theoretic) policy.
mnuez
Jerusalem has been hell on earth for me as a single woman living alone. I have been attacked 10 times. I have 10 police reports.
All the attacks were by the Ultra-Orthodox. I don’t even live in their neighborhood, but they pass by my ground floor apartment and my door faces the street. Since I don’t speak Hebrew and they don’t speak English, they have no idea what I’m about. I am a kosher Sephardic Jew attending an Orthodox seminary…but they don’t know that. So they smash my windows, enter my home, tear off all my religious items from my building, including my mezuza and finally I got wacked with a 2×4 with nails. The police took the guy in and then released him! There is no protection for a single woman outside of the seminary or yeshiva. Oh, forgot to mention…all the perverts who follow me around are all Haredim. It doesn’t matter that I am dressed in all black just like one of them. They are truly demented.
Nancy,
Holy Moly! What a story! Wacked with nails! Wow. What neighborhood do you live in? I want to know so I know not to rent there. I live in J-Lem for 14 months. I lived in the number one neighborhood for violence against women in the whole country (G’vat Tzarfatit), but only ever had a physical confrontation with an Arab. I also rented a room in Baka once which the previous tenant evacuated because she had repeated (and frightening) incidents with a peeping (Non-Haredi, I think he was Arab) Tom. The whole Middle East is a scary place for women, and Jerusalem is no exception (still better than Egypt where I was almost raped in a bathroom right on the Taba border).
Out of sheer curiosity- don’t answer if you feel uncomfortable-why do you think they target you if you dress all in black like them? Just because you’re living alone, or is it a Tznious issue? Is there some explicable reason that you would be the target of(possibly) organized attacks? Please don’t forget to mention which neighborhood I should avoid living in as a single woman. And if you want, DK can put you in touch with me, and I can recommend some great and safe places to rent in Jerusalem.
This is not the stone age, her parents and rav should be in charge, not the tznius police. I welcome your comments on my http://www.simchawear.com/blog tznius topics.
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