Modesty Squad Made Up Of Haredi Women Harasses Seculars And Tourists In Jerusalem

Jerusalem’s large open air market, Mahane Yehuda, is gentrifying. In the last few years, Mahane Yehuda has gone from a gritty remnant of an earlier time to a hip destination, a place where tourists, secular Jerusalemites, and the remaining older traditional Jews of the neighborhoods surrounding the market all shop together with haredim, who are gradually taking over the neighborhoods surrounding it – and who do not like the market's change.

Mahane Yehuda

Modesty Squad Made Up Of Haredi Women Harasses Seculars And Tourists In Jerusalem
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com

Jerusalem’s large open air market, Mahane Yehuda, is gentrifying. In the last few years, Mahane Yehuda has gone from a gritty remnant of an earlier time to a hip destination, a place where tourists, secular Jerusalemites, and the remaining older traditional Jews of the neighborhoods surrounding the market all shop together with haredim, who are gradually taking over the neighborhoods surrounding it.

When haredi demands for gender separate shopping days and hours were turned down by market management a couple years ago, haredim threatened to open their own market in Jerusalem a bit further west, but little has come from that threat.

Instead, haredi modesty patrols have begun to harass shoppers in Mahane Yehuda in a bid to drive away secular shoppers – especially secular women shoppers.

A Ynet reporter recently watched as an all female haredi modesty squad began to harass secular shoppers:

One of [the four haredi women of the modesty squad] approaches a woman who shops at the market once a week. The woman, wearing a tank top and jeans, has her full attention on the tomato box. The haredi woman touches one of her bare arms. The woman turns around and the haredi woman immediately snaps at her, pointing at her bare arms: "Next time don't come to the market like this. Next time you'll come with sleeves."

[Another member of the modesty squad] approaches a young woman in shorts and a sleeveless shirt. "Next time cover yourself," she orders her.

Haredim are also upset with the street parties held in Jerusalem’s city center during the summer months. The parties and the bohemian multicultural atmosphere come with increased crime, haredim complain. And the secular music, mixed dancing and the “immodestly” dressed women, and the renewed night life, pubs, and non-glatt restaurants are damaging for haredi children who are exposed to them. A haredi child living in Mea Shearim can – and do – grow up without ever seeing the downtown bars, rock and jazz concerts, and “immodestly” clad women six blocks away.

But a haredi child whose family recently moved to the neighborhoods that border Mahane Yehuda has a much harder time avoiding those sights and sounds.

Approximately 35 years ago, a similar battle was launched by haredim against the Edison movie theatre located in a downtown neighborhood that had once been almost completely secular.

But that neighborhood, which bordered on the haredi neighborhood of Geulah, not longer exists. Geulah began swallowing it up in the early 1970s.

By the time haredim were rioting in an attempt to force the theatre to close on Shabbat, haredim made up a large minority of the neighborhood. When their riots and protests were finally successful a decade or so later, the neighborhood was much more heavily haredi. Most secular Jews who could had long since fled. More haredim had moved in. Newer movie theaters further west offered safer, riot-free and more comfortable experiences for secular Israelis. The Edison closed.

When I lived in Jerusalem in the early 1990s, the neighborhood was still distinct from Geulah, even though the Edison had closed and much of the secular population had fled.

Twenty years later, the Israeli media and the city refer to the area surrounding the Edison as “Geulah” or even “Geulah-Mea Sharim,” because Mea Shearim, the ultra-haredi stronghold, has also expanded, at least in popular consciousness, and has now swallowed large chunks of the slightly more moderate Geulah haredi neighborhood whole.

"We won't have it. Such a chastity squad is intolerable and is a red line for us," Shimon Darwish, head of the Mahane Yehuda Merchants Association, told Ynet. "They are trying to create a fearful atmosphere and prevent people from coming to the market. We'll do everything in our power to find out who these women are. It won't be a problem to trace them. There are security cameras in the market and I plan to check who they are and make it clear to them that there is no place for them in the market."

Darwish reportedly plans to Mahane Yehuda to root out and stop the haredi women’s modesty squads, claiming that they are “a private initiative,” rather than something ordered by haredi leadership and their male-only modesty squads that often function as enforces and extortionists, beating those who don’t comply with their demands. Still, Darwish wants to nip this in the bud before it gets out of hand.

Yaron Tzidkiyahu is the owner of Tzidkiyahu Delicacies and one of the Mahane Yehuda’s most prominent merchants. Unlike Darwish, he sees a clear link between the haredi female modesty squad and the different haredi modesty squads that operate in haredi and border neighborhoods.

"The haredim are trying to test our boundaries. That's the way I see it. Naturally, we have no intention of giving in, and we'll show them the way out. The market is multi-cultural and we won't let the haredim interfere in what is happening here and set the tone," he told Ynet.

The different chastity squads have been trying in recent years not to get involved in any acts that could be considered criminal, Ynet says, quoting a man it identifies only as Elhanan Buzaglo, a former haredi modesty squad “activist.”

"You must distinguish between women asking other women to dress modestly and violence. Some may be making the request in an obscene manner – and that's their problem," Buzaglo reportedly said. “[The female modesty squad members] may have been to an encouragement lecture and decided to implement what they heard there.”

Real haredi modesty squads don’t operate in secular areas, Buzaglo claimed, because there is no money in it. “Their activity among the haredim brings them donations. Operating among the seculars won't bring them a penny, so they don't go there at all."

Buzaglo's opinion was echoed by Yehoshua Ohev Shalom, an activist of the haredi modesty squad Committee for Purity in the Camp. He told Ynet thathe was unfamiliar with any haredi female modesty squads. But he praised the haredi women’s actions in Mahane Yehuda. "If they strengthen women it's a good thing, isn't it?" Oheb Shalom reportedly said.

Buzaglo, however, is more than just a “former activist” in a haredi modesty squad – something Ynet fails to report.

In 2009 Buzaglo was convicted of being a hired thug for  a haredi modesty squad operation by the Committee for the Purity of the Camp that savagely beat a divorced haredi woman rabbis believed was behaving immodestly. He was sentenced to four years in prison in May 2009. But he's free now.

The Committee for the Purity of the Camp was founded by a Gerrer hasid with the blessings and encouragement of the fifth Rebbe of Ger, Rabbi Yisroel Alter. Also known as the Beis Yisroel, Alter passed away in 1977. The Committee for the Purity of the Camp, however, did not die with him.

Comments

[Garnel Ironheart]

> "Next time don't come to the market like this. Next time you'll come with sleeves"

No b-tch, next time I'll come with my large boyfriend in a muscle shirt and carrying a crowbar.

[The Anti-Schmendrick]

Yep, report on the crazies. The wannabes have been active in Machane Yehuda for ages. One of the male counterparts of these choleres harassed me years ago because I was buying music CDs from a vendor, also charedi, who also stocked "non-kosher" disks. I told him exactly what I thought of his "zealotry" and that he should stop trying to hurt another Jew's business.

These crazies represent no one. They're made-for-TV caricatures who just keep guys like Shmarya going with good material.

[Shmarya]

…These crazies represent no one. They're made-for-TV caricatures who just keep guys like Shmarya going with good material.

Posted by: The Anti-Schmendrick | September 19, 2012 at 10:46 AM

That may – or may not – be true for the women's modesty squad.

But it is not true for the mens, which was founded at the direction of and with the blessings of, the most important hasidic rebbe of his time in Israel, the fifth Gerrer Rebbe, and is still supported by current Ger leadership and by other hasidic groups.

[nugatorytorah]

Its more like a lesbian squad out to make sure heterosexual women feel bad about being heterosexual.

The only men who find female skin on an attractive female offensive are "faggots" and this includes many prominent rabbonim.

[Nuisance]

"Next time don't come to the market like this. Next time you'll come with sleeves."

... or what? Their bark is worse than their bite. They are to be viewed like the multitude of beggars that fill the streets. Ignore them and go on with your business.

[Radical Feminist]

I think if those women had to earn a living and go to work, like the rest of us, that would leave little time to be wandering the streets mumbling crazy things and complete strangers. GET a LIFE! better yet GET A JOB!

[Steven W]

As a guy who is far from haredi, I hope the secular women tell the sheitel-types to pound sand.

[flat earth]

Its the Mod Squad

[Alter Kocker]

Touch any female with me, I will break the offending finger. Go any further, I will yank off your sheitel and piss on it, or you!

[jancsibacsi]

Mentally disturbed people should not be allowed to harass a citizen who goes about his own buisness its a no brainer.

[Sarek]

Great advertisement for the Israeli tourism ministry.

[A new year gift]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57UvOxnuFX8

[rebitzman]

Closing bold tag..............

[Tikvah]

They should be far more concerned with the men groping teenage girls than what the teenage girls are wearing. The men grope whether you're wearing ultra-modest clothes or not. What they should do is not allow men out in public during certain hours so women can get their shopping done in peace.

[Shmarya]

Posted by: A new year gift | September 19, 2012 at 01:09 PM

A completely biased propaganda film that lies about the evidence, lies about the judge, lies about other things in the case, and lies about the actual basis for the appeals Rubashkin has filed.

All in all, it's Yated Ne'eman-style 'journalism.'

And most people here recall that Yated Ne'eman was known in the haredi world for years by the nickname Pravda Ne'eman.

Of course, to true believers like you, the facts and the truth don't matter.

[Bas Melech]

The modesty squads should be arrested for harassment, both men and women.

Machane Yehudah vendors are a tough group.

[Ephraim]

Once again, Charedi extremists have violated Halacha:

"A person who rebukes a colleague - whether because of a [wrong committed] against him or because of a matter between his colleague and God - should rebuke him privately. He should speak to him patiently and gently, informing him that he is only making these statements for his colleague's own welfare, to allow him to merit the life of the world to come."
(Mishneh Torah, Deyot 6:9)

[No Light]

Its more like a lesbian squad out to make sure heterosexual women feel bad about being heterosexual.

The only men who find female skin on an attractive female offensive are "faggots" and this includes many prominent rabbonim.

Whatever the fuck it is that you're smoking, you've had enough. You sound like Pat Robertson.

[Bassy the Haredi Slayer]

I doubt it has anything to do with the Vaad, the Vaad usually operates in Haredi areas and bother haredim  The police has sort of agreement with local ethnic gangs, as long as they stay in the ghetto the police would not bother them too much.  

It is the same agreement they have with the African gangs ("refugees") in south Tel Aviv. As long as the African rob and mug the Filipino and Thai workers the police will let them operate but when they attack Israelis   the police gets in in full force 

[Jeff]

The parties and the bohemian multicultural atmosphere come with increased crime, haredim complain.

You mean like grown men chasing little girls down the street screaming "Curveh!" - that kind of crime?

[nugatoryTorah]

Ger hasids are esp offended by attractive females and thus prohibit every ger man (looks like german eh) from every seeing bare sexually attractive female flesh.

If you don't realize that this is a way for a homosexual cult to reproduce while allowing its members to enjoy minimal heterosexual activity then you are either willfully naive or a homosexual yourself.

"Modesty" is a gay thing in muslim culture as well. Most hookers in muslim countries are 12 year old boys. Yeah its sick but why do you think hasids/haredi are any different?

[Gefilte Fish]

Hebrew lesson--if any female reader of this blog is approached by these crazies, just repeat the following:

Im tigah bee ohd pa'am, eiten lach s'teerah ba'rosh.

(If you touch me again, I'll smack you in the head).

[dh]

Gefilte what does it really mean? I just got a haircut and my haircutter told me all about her vacation in Costa Rica. Before she went a friend taught her some Spanish cordialities. For ten days, it seems, she was smiling and telling everyone "Thank you, asshole! "

[A. Nuran]

If someone has already touched you inappropriately the correct response to a second assault is physical resistance. If you can joint a chicken you can dislocate a thumb

[A. Nuran]

If the assailant is male remember the Noble Meditation of the Four Sublime Verbs:

Grab
Squeeze
Twist
Pull

[The Anti-Schmendrick]

LOL. The schmohawk who approached me in Machane Yehuda was no Gerrer, no Chossid and no member of any organized patrol. Like these nuts, he was an independent wannabe.

I have many contacts among the Gerrers. All are productive, normal people.

[Gefilte Fish]

DH, it actually means "If you touch me again, I'll give you a smack in the head." Alas, I grew up with a limited knowledge of Hebrew obscenities.....

Oh, and I made a grammatical boo-boo. It's "Al tig-ee bee ....." (that is, if you are speaking to a female. "Al tig-ah bee...." is masculine).

[Gefilte Fish]

DH, it actually means "If you touch me again, I'll give you a smack in the head." Alas, I grew up with a limited knowledge of Hebrew obscenities.....

Oh, and I made a grammatical boo-boo. It's "Al tig-ee bee ....." (that is, if you are speaking to a female. "Al tig-ah bee...." is masculine).

[No Light]

NugatoryTossbag - lol forever at you using "homosexual" as an insult toward me.

However will I recover?

[Joel Berger]

It's garbage like this that has turned me against Israel. If the country had a real government, it would keep the black hats in their ghetto. It's bad enough that I have to deal with this crap in upstate NY.

[Jake24]

Ben-Zona is a bastard
Rosh Cachol is horny

[mimi]

I don't think this is "crazies" and needs to be addessed. I know many of you are men, and don't get how we ladies have had it for many years.

It is annying how women try to shame other women like that. This is worse than men, because women are traditionally the cruellest enforcers of patriarchy.

[No Light]

mimi - You're right. It's so sad that the patriarchy has been able to enlist women to work against not just their sisters, but their own self interests.

[Jeff]

It's always tragic when women internalize the patriarchal crap men feed them.

But then, they're raised from birth to be submissive, and I suppose it's less painful to acquiesce than to go against the tide and be ostracized. It's very hard to be alone, especially if one has no financial resources of one's own. That's one of the main reasons women stay in abusive relationships.

[No Light]

You've hit. the nail on the head there, Jeff. It's hard enough for secular women to leave, but. women who've been raised in systems like Haredism, Christian Patriarchy, Mormonism, and Wahabi/Deobandi Islam, they often don't even realise it's an option.

[Hometown Postville]

An interesting Christian sermon this morning which translated into insight into the Haredi way of life.... "the true spirit of religion is lost when you make loving the "rules" more important than loving your fellow man."

[Markatz]

The Jewish Taliban is the best name for these people. It seems to be a growing trend of the ultra-orthodox of all religions to behave in more extreme and hateful ways and less like the prophets they claim to worship. If this is some sort of response to secularism they're going the wrong way about it, they're turning more people against religion.