The Black Bus

Women, Judaism and the haredi community's ongoing oppression of women caught on film.

 

Debra Nussbaum Cohen writes in the Forward's Sisterhood blog:

…[The film] “Black Bus” is a close look at the price paid by women who leave their Hasidic communities. [Shulamit] Weinfeld and [Sara] Einfeld are unable to have contact with their parents or siblings or friends. Even as they explain — to the filmmaker, to Haredi Jews who come to talk with them in the movie — why staying in the community was impossible, you see how much pain they’re in. Particularly heartbreaking are scenes where Einfeld’s young son asks why they can’t go visit his grandmother, and one in which a visitor catches a glimpse of scars where Einfeld cut herself on her inner arms. In the movie, which was originally made for broadcast on Israel television, Weinfeld has left her community just weeks before, after breaking free of an engagement that her parents forced her into. Her sense of abandonment by her parents, and her vulnerability, is heartrending.

A young, more Modern Orthodox rabbi, Avi Poupko, is also featured as he tries to distribute leaflets on one of the Mehadrin buses and explain that nowhere in Torah is it written that men and women must be separated in public. He gets shouted down by angry hasidic men, and all but physically tossed out a window.…

Nothing has been more destructive to Jewish women than haredism, especially the hasidic variant of haredism.*

How odd that a movement which briefly had a female leader – Eidel, the daughter of the Ba'al Shem Tov – would turn into one of the most misogynistic movements on the face of this earth.

* Chabad, largely because of its missionary activity, is much more egalitarian than other haredi and hasidic groups.

Comments

[notsofrumjew]

you are so right, This is really sad. People in the name of religion are twisting the torah for no reason. And coming up with these rules. But you should have wrote the last sentance bigger and clearer. Chabad, does not do this and is much more tolerant towards women.

[Menachem Mendel lll]

This Ahavas Yisroooel will help bring about the coming of the Moschaich within our lifetime.

MOSCHAICH!

[A. Nuran]

Wish there were a way to see this movie within a thousand miles of where I live

[tzvi]

Maybe instead of segregated buses they can have a bus line where no passengers get picked up after all seats get taken or if the bus exceeds capacity. I would assume that the key problem arises when the buses get jammed packed with people and bodies get "squeezed" together (easy Rabbi Tropper).

Come to think about it that could pose a problem in a men only bus if young boys are allowed aboard and the bus is allowed to exceed capacity :)

[jancsipista]

menachem-umain:)

[Loveandlivethetorah.blogspot.com]

Tzvi,you got it right.
:)

Serioulsy though,
The real root of the issue is that hashkafically,ashkenazi chareidim have adopted the Catholic Church outlook from old Europe.
That's why Sefardim are not obsessed with ridiculous things like this,whereas the Ashkenaz Chareidim are so bothered by women with any sort of power.
Its the Galuth,It fried their brains.

[Loveandlivethetorah.blogspot.com]

P.S.

That's why there is so much Male child abuse too in The Ashkenaz Hareidi world,they adopted the WHOLE hashkafic package.
(and the papal infallibility deal they just changed the name to "Gadol" and they've got more of them,I could go on and on,I'll stop here,but ther are many other examples)

[jancsipista]

love- youre forgetting that ashkenazim outnumber the sefardin by 10 to 1 maybee more so thats the reason we see more molesters among the ashkenazim youre painting the wrong picture here,

[Rochel]

Tzvi, the problem is also of a woman and a man simply sitting next to each other in seats, even if there is no squeezing. Many years ago, pre-9-11, I took a short flight from NYC to Montreal which had many, many chasidim as passengers - the flight should have been called Chasidim Express. The non-chasidim took their assigned seats as one does when one boards, but the many chasidim would not sit next to people of the opposite gender and spent the next twenty minutes standing, moving about, blocking the aisles, yelling across to each other, and trying to rearrange the seating in the plane. The flight attendants were frustrated at the unnecessary delay this was causing, the other passengers baffled, and I and my traveling companion were embarrassed for them. They did not realize the inconvenience they were causing.

[Mkblitz]

A. Nuran:

You can watch it on YouTube in five parts, it's good quality and all, though I did not find any with English subtitles. It is posted by user YahwehRaptor.

Enjoy.

[A. Nuran]

Thanks Mkblitz

[A. Nuran]

Alas, subtitles appear to be in Russian

[assist]

Doctrine has become religion

[Rochel]

Here is a trailer with English subtitles:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeIcuOuxQoI

[tooclose2detroit]

man, that chick at the top of the page is cute-she could ride anywhere on my bus that she wants to.

[ghj]

Many years ago, the rosh hayeshiva in my home town said that it's better to go to notre Dame than to Yeshiva University. In my view, this is the saddest thing of all -- chasidishe schtick being more important than halacha.

[nobody]

Shmarya wants to have his cake and eat it too. He is against chabad because he thinks outreach is evil and unfair to poor naive Jews like himself who are incapable of independent thought, but he hints at the truth that outreach (including chabad outreach) plays a positive role in Judaism and cuts away some of the bs (by necessity). It's evil but it's good, apparently.

[Shmarya]

Shmarya wants to have his cake and eat it too. He is against chabad because he thinks outreach is evil and unfair to poor naive Jews like himself who are incapable of independent thought, but he hints at the truth that outreach (including chabad outreach) plays a positive role in Judaism and cuts away some of the bs (by necessity). It's evil but it's good, apparently.

Posted by: nobody | February 14, 2011 at 09:20 PM

No.

The world isn't black and white, and even bad things have good aspects.

I'm surprised you haven't learned this already.

[Grifter]

The chabad shluchim whore out their wives - it's disgusting to watch what they'll do for a few dollaros

[tooclose2detroit]

they whore out their wives?-what u b drinkin, boy?

[yudel]

Do not forget Rebbetzin Chana of Ludmir

[Grifter]

Not Vodka or Mountain Dew

[tooclose2detroit]

damn-we had a sweet lookin Rebetzin in my hometown-why the hell do I always find out these things too late????

[Jack]

Actually Shulamit Weinfeld iirc correctly, one of the movies main subjects went back to being Chareidi and may have even married.
I remember reading this on one of the Israeli sites

[tooclose2detroit]

damn-missed another one!