Women's Cellphone Ban, Williamsburg

“Can you imagine your grandmother with a cell phone on the streets or on a bus? Where did our ingrained shame and modesty of the Jewish daughter disappear to? On the behest of the Jewish leaders is forbidden for a Jewish daughter to talk on a cell phone on the streets or on a bus!”

On the right side of the poster, which found on streets and in the synagogues of Williamsburg, Brooklyn this Shabbat, is a letter signed by the rabbis of the ultra-Orthodox beit din (religious court) of Eida Charedis (of Mea Shea’arim, Jerusalem) along with the signature of ultra-Orthodox Rabbi Shmuel HaLevi Wosner of Bnei Brak endorsing the ban:

Closeup of the letter and signatures:

Comments

[ah-pee-chorus]

from heshys blog....

"WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE WHEN WE CHAREIDIM TAKE OVER

First we must close all tattoo shops,all bars,all movie houses, and all colleges that teach evolution or other heretical subjects. We must remove all immodest ads from all public sights. We must force all secular soldiers into a rigorous yeshiva education for 4 years minimum. Anyone walking the streets with long pony tails will be forced to cut it and no earings on any men allowed. Any women wearing a short skirt not covering at least 5 inches below the knee will be fined on first offense and thrown into prison for 30 days on second offense. All television stations will broadcast only Torah programs and all secular music will be banned."

you are a poster child for the danger and evil of religion. its ironic that those whose position has the least evidence to support it, and in your case, none, are the ones who want to force others to do as you tell them.
you and all who think like you should completely understand and respect the crusades. you should admire those that tortured and killed jews for not converting to christianity. you are a terrorist using your delusional understanding of god as an excuse.even in a free country it should be considered whether talk like this, in which the goal is to deny others their guaranteed freedoms, should be legal.
i would like to see you locked up.

[Shmarya]

Notice that Heshy never answers a question posed to him.

That's because he cannot answer.

It is also because he is a troll.

[Office of the Chief Rabbi]

Please.

The trolls are here, Shmarya, because you have drawn them in by becoming famous.

You allow them to post and to ignore the challenges to their troll-like ways of thinking, because it raises interest in the site.

Please excuse me; I have to go over to VIN to see if they posted my troll-like (for them) comments from yesterday about the Rupture.

[Office of the Chief Rabbi]

(I'm back)
No; VIN censored me. That's why we love you, Shmarya: even the trolls get through for a while. Freedom of the press, er...blog.

[maven]

My goodness, I thought this Heshy was a somewhat zealous but slow high school student, but he's apparently close to 50!

That long diatribe about his trip to Europe was typical. He's amazed that the "Germans" in the airport didn't shoot him, and that Stalin and Hitler are watching him daven from hell, but how were they allowed to kill so many for so long without mercy? What is that proof of?

[alwaysright]

@HESHY If killing 6 million jews is sign of love, you should really curse your god and tell him/her to F off and love/kill someone else. P.S. i am sorry to tell you there is no hell, and hitler just killed himself. The end!

[OMG]

Why pay attention to some idiot, he is just trying to drive traffic to his blog. Let’s just ignore him and a few thousand Charedi morons.

[jay]

Even Iran allows their women to work, drive and use a cell phone. It's sad to see that the Haredi world is becoming more extremist then Shia.

[Yochanan Lavie]

FGBA: Thanks.

[Chaim Heller]

Hesy, interesting how in your blog you let us know why god does things.

Does he communicate directly with you?

[Jeff]

IF YOU GOOGLE Heshys house.blogspot.com

There was a Heshy who protested against civil rights for gay people a few years ago. He walked around Manhattan with a sign and made a damn fool of himself. On one blog, he stated that if he discovered his son was gay, he'd break his legs. I'm pretty certain this is the same Heshy. He's a notorious lunatic.

In any case, as I said - there's no arguing with this level of delusion.

Even if you know well,still you wont convince anyone who is close minded and made up their mind.
Once an apikoras,always an apikoras.

Posted by: Deremes | May 22, 2011 at 01:24 PM

A ubiquitous trait among fundamentalists of all backgrounds - they have absolutely no sense of irony.

[maven]

Can you believe what this meshuggener Heshy wrote on his blog?

WHY SIX MILLION DIED

As practicing Jews we understand why 6 million were murdered. When Jews turn their backs on G-d than G-d turns His back on them and lets the forces of nature cause havoc. Its open in the Torah that if you follow My laws you will be blessed otherwise you suffer. The vast majority of the 6 million were secular or semi religious going down spiritually. Those orthodox Jews who did perish did so because they believed in live and le live and failed to admonish their fellow secular Jewish brothers.

[Jeff]

Those orthodox Jews who did perish did so because they believed in live and le live and failed to admonish their fellow secular Jewish brothers.

So God kills people for being tolerant, and allows pieces of garbage like Heshy to live.

Yeah, sounds like someone I'd want to worship.

[Jeff]

I didn't want to increase this lunatic's traffic, but I couldn't resist, so I looked at his blog. He used to call it "Heshy's House"; now it's "Chareidi Empowerment Organization". The subtitle is "A Chareidi Think Tank".

There are simply no words.

[David-Daniel]

@ Heshey my brother there is not need to argue in this forem. I can imagine that it is taking away from you learning and your simcha. Please let it go.

@Shmaraya my sister there is no need to argue for neither side will back down. This is a very fragile subject of "life" and everyone is doing their best to live it. I understand that there are different sides of the spectrum and there is no need to disprove someone else for believing in yourself is hard enough these days.

@ Everyone on this post: My dear family please stop fighting! Its the reason why we are a broken nation today. There is a Mitzvah in the Torah: " Ve ahavta larecha kamocha" in enlgish "to love your neighbor as yourself" We can see that its easy to get carried away to the left or the right and that we feel that they are too strict or that they are too leanient. Its just a matter of perspective. In this search for truth I invite all of you to use your minds and open your hearts to truth and love that we all share. Granted there are extremeists on both sides but dont look at them as the example. If we all get to know eachother on a real and more personal level these sects will melt away. With the utmost respect and universal love i have for all jews I will be praying that we all embrace eachother soon

[Shmarya]

Everyone on this post: My dear family please stop fighting! Its the reason why we are a broken nation today. There is a Mitzvah in the Torah: " Ve ahavta larecha kamocha" in enlgish "to love your neighbor as yourself" We can see that its easy to get carried away to the left or the right and that we feel that they are too strict or that they are too leanient. Its just a matter of perspective. In this search for truth I invite all of you to use your minds and open your hearts to truth and love that we all share. Granted there are extremeists on both sides but dont look at them as the example. If we all get to know eachother on a real and more personal level these sects will melt away. With the utmost respect and universal love i have for all jews I will be praying that we all embrace eachother soon

Oooooo! All love and peace!

Try to process, flower child: The world does not work that way.

There is no reason to say the extreme narishkeit of Williamsburg is okay, because it is not. It has no basis in history or in halakha, and it hurts innocent people.

Part of living in this world is to make havdalah between people who pervert truth and people who honestly seek truth.

If your flower child eyes can't see this, if your acid-riddled mind can't grasp it, then go find yourself a teacher – and a psychiatrist.

[masortiman]

"Kids who know that Judaism's religion is largely bronze age superstition combined with Babylonian superstition from the 8th century CE, but who also know that Jews are a people and following bronze age superstition is not the be all and end all of Jewish identity."

I think thats a pretty negative way of looking at the literary, ethical, and philosophical power of our Mesorah. Now, do I believe in all the things that are in the Taanach, read literally? Do I beleive all the things that the Tanaim believed? No. But guess what, the Tanaim didnt believe in the Taanach literally either. The Geonim (which must be who you mean by 8th cent babylonia, since the talmud was completed by then)didnt believe in all the views of the Tannaim. Judaism has ALWAYS evolved. It was MEANT to. Its a LIVING mesorah.

I have taught my kid that there is great beauty and meaning in the classic Jewish texts. She has come to love studying them, and has gone beyond me in following them. That does NOT mean worshipping gedolim, or refusing to change the mesorah where it needs it, or giving up on modern science.

WE WILL NOT GIVE UP OUR MESORAH, OUR TALMUD, OUR CHAZAL, OUR SHABBAT, to a bunch of reactionary, ahistorical fundamentalists, nor will we listen to those who are so obsessed with the fundamentalists as to throw out the rabbinic baby with the haredi bath water.

I am saddened that the new masorti elite, the graduates of Nativ and List and the Cons Yeshiva, the best products of Ramah and USY and Koach, are so few. But its never been about numbers, has it? A remnant of Jacob will save us. I am proud to leave the future in their good, strong, hands.

[maven]

David Daniel: Do you embrace this philosophy?
"Those orthodox Jews who did perish did so because they believed in live and le live and failed to admonish their fellow secular Jewish brothers."

[Pink]

Sir, Thank you for sharing these images. I am currently attempting to get up from the floor after falling when I saw them. First note: did you see the image of the cellphone that is being banned (pretty advanced). Second, it is unfortunatly not surprising to me that this has happened, keep in mind that the Torah says that when a man beats his slave (and draws blood) the slave goes free, however when a man beats his wife (and draws blood)... nothing.

[masortiman]

"Part of living in this world is to make havdalah between people who pervert truth and people who honestly seek truth."

This is of course what those very haredim who isolate themselves do. Or claim to do.

It is fine, and great to point out narishkeit, whether its to point out foolish actions, or foolish words. But we must be wary of letting that turn into a hate, a hate that undermines our arguments, and poisons our souls.

The words of a brilliant non-Jew can give us good mussar here

"Be careful when you fight the monsters, lest you become one." F. Nietzsche

I am very interested in the way you said, I will try to make their own, what you said to me a lot. Have time to look at my store, thank you!

I am very interested in the way you said, I will try to make their own, what you said to me a lot. Have time to look at my store, thank you!