Seculars use God's name against Haredim in Jerusalem fight
Something strange happened during the ultra-Orthodox protests against Intel in Jerusalem two weeks ago.
By Nir Hasson Tags: Jerusalem Israel newsDuring the ultra-Orthodox demonstrations against Intel in Jerusalem two weeks ago, something strange happened: toward the end of the protest, when the police began pushing the demonstrators out of the Har Hotzvim industrial zone, the Haredim withdrew.
But at one point they reached a pile of plastic boxes on the road, and suddenly refused to retreat any further. Some began fighting the police, while others simply fled to the sides of the road, giving the police more impetus to disperse them forcefully.
The reason for the sudden panic was that under the boxes, on the street, someone had spray painted the name of God - Yahweh. The boxes had been placed on top of the graffiti as a holy roadblock by an anonymous group of secular Jerusalemites who have taken upon themselves to act lawfully and creatively against the Haredim.
The tactics the group uses aim to create confusion among the ultra-Orthodox by turning their own mores and mindset against them. As ultra-Orthodox protests intensify against what the secular perceive to be their domain, such as parking lots or Intel operating on Saturday, the group is stepping up their counter-measures.
In the case of the protest at Intel, the secular underground arrived at the scene the day before, wrote the graffiti, which included derogatory slogans against Rabbi Yitzhak Tuvia Weiss, a head of the Haredi community. One of the slogans that apparently affected the demonstrators most was that describing the rabbi as an Amalekite.
The underground also dispersed pornographic material at the site, which was like spraying tear gas at the protesters, who fled in disarray at the site of the smut.
On the same day, action on the scene of the demonstration was also taken by members of the "Forum of Groups for a Free Jerusalem," an umbrella group for secular organizations. However, unlike the underground group, they made do with standard slogans like "A halakhic state means the state's a goner."
The members of the forum wrote their slogans in chalk; the more radical underground used spray paint.
Another action attributed to the underground is an addition to for sale signs in secular neighborhoods: "Not for Haredim."
Also, before the municipal elections, the group put up signs, similar to the ones found in Haredi neighborhoods, calling on women in secular neighborhoods to dress modestly, and destroyed campaign ads for the ultra-Orthodox candidate Meir Porush.
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Tov meod! These secular people are genious!!! Bravo!!!
The brights do the right thing.
instead of a pseudo-secular run elite indulging in political maneuvering and musical chairs per se.
Heredi Taliban will be the ultimate destruction of Israel
Dialogue would indeed be a worthwhile thing. However it is impossible to enter into a dialogue with a person whose model is: "I can't go along with your idea, so you are just going to have to do it my way".
The use of holy names to stop haredim is pointless. According to Jewish law, a Sefer Torah written by a non-believer is to be destroyed - with all the holy names. Someone who uses the holy names as a tactic, clearly is a non-believer and, as such, those names can be desecrated. I'm sure this issue will be clarified in due course but will, obviously, cause some confusion until then. I'm afraid that this means of fighting the haredim by this means will soon found to be ineffective. As to it's legality - I'm not so sure - it's no better than any other form of graffiti.
Following GOES FOR ALL OF US who accept the ONE and ONLY creator ! "...the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.Blessed be the Name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever.And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." Regardless of Monotheistic religion !! Shame on the persons who did these actions !
It is a disgrace to spray the name of Allah/God/Hashem/YHW in that manner. My support for the Haredim on this specific point.
Okay, you can reroute the traffic to let those of you who want to get to where you are going in your car, so they won't be bothered by your cars. Were you to have a Haredi neighbor would you let your teenage kids have a loud party on Erev Shabbat?! Or would you want a loud party on Erev Shabbat that causes the neighbors to call the police to . . . And, yes, Virginia, some Jewish employers find ways of of not employing Shomrey Shabbat so they have fewer issues with their workforce. They supply all the appropriate reasons to the Labor Court, and by golly, Haredim, as well as other Normative Halachic Jews find it harder to get employment. Other than that, there is enough negative energy in this country that a little dialogue and good will from both sides could mitigate by "talking to each other".
What a pity. The Temple was destroyed because of baseless hatred like this. What a pity.
It is a disgrace to spray the name of Allah/God/Hashem/YHW in that manner. My support for the Haredim on this specific point.
B"H The porn I'm OK with, one can turn their face away from it, but the writing of Hashm's name on a street--this is unforgivable. They may be secular, but they are still Jews, right? Do they not remember the horrors of the Holocaust--the story of the man forced to walk with the Torah in his shoes, the thousands of people martyred by Romans, Catholics, Russians, and Nazis by being wrapped in Torahs and burned? We have died protecting the name of Hashm. Now they write it, like graffiti, upon the street as if it is some sort of protest? I would guess that the Haredim were not fleeing the scene. I would guess that they were attempting to protect the scene. If I saw something like this, I would organize everyone to surround that spot, and I would refuse to leave. One can protest something without emulating those who slaughtered us. Shame on these protesters.
Nobody is forcing the haredim to work on Saturday. Intel won't fire them for keeping shabat. The haredim, in contrast, want to impose their rules to the secular. Similarly, nobody is forcing the haredim to drive on Saturday. Yet -again- they want to rule over the lifestyles of the secular. There's a slight difference. I applaud the underground group. Awesome idea!
If I read between the lines of this item, I discover that there is as much disunity among Haredeim as there is in the Left. So Barak gets flack from his "left side", likewise, there are those in the Haredi community who act independently of their acknowledged leaders. Needless to say, the method that each of these "protest" groups take is different, but its the same madness. T'would seem that most of the Labor loyalists, just as mainstream Haredim are ordinary people who take direction from their leadership and regard the people who go off in their own direction as going off on the deep end. If that is the case it seems that Haredim are simply people who have an opinion that goes counter to the self-styled secularists. Why can't there a dialogue between them. They might discover how much they have in common.
They seem pretty active in molding the state in their image. Why are they allergic to the army?