The Legal Wrangling Over Seperate Haredi Busses Continues

Remember the woman who was beaten on an Egged bus by haredim because she refused to move to the rear? A good update on the story from yesterday's Globe and Mail:

…"There's a concept in Jewish law which is that silence is acquiescence. And when the rabbinical leaders hear about a store being burned down . . . when people are being sprayed with bleach on the street because their clothes are not considered modest enough, when women are being beaten on buses, when these things are going on and the rabbinical leaders say nothing, there is an appearance that it is condoned," Ms. Shear said in a telephone interview from her home in Canada, emphasizing that she respects Haredi values but regards the violence as a tragedy that cannot be ignored. "I've come under a lot of heat for publicizing this. But I've stood my ground."…

"It's more relaxing, because the males are in the front and they leave me alone," said Rachel Orlowick, a Toronto-born religious Israeli on the mehadrin No. 36 bus in Jerusalem this week. Yet even as she speaks, the heavily pregnant Ms. Orlowick grabs at a handrail as she casts around for a seat in the crowded rear, though there are several places open at the front.

But secular passengers have reported being harassed or kicked off for what other passengers deem inappropriate dress, and even modestly dressed women have been verbally abused for refusing to board through a rear entrance and sit at the back.

The prominent Israeli-American author Naomi Ragen, an Orthodox Jew and women's rights activist, says she, too, has been verbally abused and physically threatened for refusing to relinquish a front seat, and is now petitioning the Supreme Court along with four other women for a review of the practice. At the least, they are asking that segregated buses be well marked and run only in parallel with regular buses.…

I believe Mrs. Orlowick is the wife of an Aish HaTorah rabbi. Women to the rear – something Aish most certainly does not tell new recruits.

Comments

[Eric]

I certainly hope that the petition is successful and that the Supreme Court does not allow this arranagement. But I must say, I think you posted it on the wrong site. How much do you want to bet that most Chabadniks and the Lubavitcher Rebbe would not support these segregated buses? This is supported by much more right wing Haredim, Chabad is Reform compared to them.

[YUGUY]

This site is not strictly for debasing Chabad, even though that can be quite fun. This site tends to deal with many failings in the Orthodox community. Chabad is only one such tragic failing.

[anon]

Do the Chareidis control morality in Israel?
Should there be different standards for the treatment of humans in different segments? Should the Chareidis be able to ban women drivers in there neighborhoods? What if the bus driver is a woman? Can they force the hiring of men only? I know my children's yeshiva only allows Jews to work there except for the cleaning staff.

[chief doofis]

For many years, I traveled the NYC Transit system. Trains, busses, the Path, etc. They were not segregated. I was sometimes afraid to ride the system wearing a kippah, but never did anyone try to molest me. In turn, I assure you, I never try to do anything untoward to any female,

My Rebbeim, some of whom were prominent "chushiveh" Rabbonim, who learned in Radin, Shanghai, etc., had no problems riding the "mixed" trains to teach in our Yeshiva.

All of a sudden, it has become imperative to segregate the sexes on public transportation. If someone can't control their own eyes (or hands); does the rest of the world have to care?

Aren't there more important issues confronting our community than this?

There is also another issue. When I was a teenager, there was a lot a fuss made about autopsies, kashrut, aid to schools, etc., in Israel. I was all of 14 years old, when I asked one of the complainers, "Why doesn't Rabbi ________, simply go over to Ben Gurion, and tell him he has three divisions worth of soldiers to help defend Israel. In exchange, he wants X,Y and Z.

That was a generation ago. I was still, a little Doofis. Forty years later, I'm Chief Doofis, and I still feel the same way. If you won't put up, SHUT UP!!

By the way, Mr. YUGUY, at 9:08 A.M., shouldn't you be at shiur?

[nachos]

"I know my children's yeshiva only allows Jews to work there except for the cleaning staff."

Why has it become so beneath us that we need the gentiles to clean up after us.

[Noah Smith - www.Pilegesh.org]

B"H
Nachos
There are Jews who work cleaning yeshivahs.
But enough with being politically correct how about this look in Tanach Book of Kings 1 (Melachim Alef)
It says that King Solomon brought in lots of foreign workers to do menial labor and building etc. but left supervising to Jews.
Those damn ancient Jewish supremacists!:-)

[lets talk about hungarian]

Chabad is pretty egalitarian in this regard ; you shuld give them credit for it. Let's hope they don't fall for this hungarian hypocritical fanatical "tznius" bullshit.

[radclyffe]

Why do the women have to board through a rear entrance and sit at the back? Why not the front?
And what does the lady mean by saying the men "leave her alone"? What do they normally do?