Haredi Paper “Sternly” Warned Over Snowman Picture

A beit din, religious court, in the haredi town of Beitar Illit summoned a local weekly shopper-newspaper’s editor-publisher to a hearing Sunday after his paper allegedly caused a breech in the community’s modesty standards by publishing a scandalous picture of the mayor and his family posing with a snowman.

Haredi Paper “Sternly” Warned Over Snowman Picture
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com

A beit din, religious court, in the haredi town of Beitar Illit summoned a local weekly shopper-newspaper’s editor-publisher to a hearing Sunday after his paper allegedly caused a breech in the community’s modesty standards, Behadrei Haredim reports.

Avraham Walfish’s Friday paper published pictures of Beitar Illit residents enjoying the rare snow that covered the town’s streets last Wednesday and Thursday.

One of those photographs is of Mayor Meir Rubinstein and his family posing next to a snowman.

But it wasn’t this snowman, this ‘graven image’ made of flakes of crystalline water ice that fell from the clouds, that got the paper’s publisher in trouble with the haredi law.

Instead, Walfish was summoned to the beit din of Rabbi David Tzvi Ordntlich because in that picture is a lone woman, bundled up against the cold – the mayor’s wife.

Ordntlich’s beit din reportedly “sternly ordered” Walfish to tighten controls to prevent a similar incident from happening again.

Walfish reportedly refused to comment on the harrowing incident when contacted by Behadrei Haredim, which also could not reach the mayor for comment.

[Hat Tips: Jewish Worker via Shlomo1.]

Comments

[jancsibacsi]

Big brother is watching.

[ah-pee-chorus]

shame on him. what kind of perverted editor allows a picture of ANY woman wearing just a winter coat covering her ankle length skirt, let alone his own WIFE.
whats next? women being allowed to speak and write too?

[Dov]

So when are they going to start forbidding women from going outside at all? After all, that photo is just a photo. Men can go outside and see hundreds or even thousands of women every day. How is that not worse? If this is an issue now, women being outside is definitely going to be banned at some point.

[David]

The other crime not mentioned here is that some kids and adults actually had some FUN making the snowman when they should have been "learning" Toyreh.

[NeverFrum]

Its terrible...I almost jizzed when I saw the picture...someone has to do the decent thing and put a stop to such perversion.

[Jerryny]

Circumcision is a well known tribal rite of many primitive people and it is no surprise that the ancient Hebrews practice it. What is amazing is this barbaric rite has been incorporated into the Jewish religion as mandated by "god" and rational people still mutilate their young boys at the hands of tribal witch doctors.

[Runner1983]

I think this is beyond what even the Taliban would do.

[David]

Circumcision is a well known tribal rite of many primitive people and it is no surprise that the ancient Hebrews practice it. What is amazing is this barbaric rite has been incorporated into the Jewish religion as mandated by "god" and rational people still mutilate their young boys at the hands of tribal witch doctors.

Posted by: Jerryny | January 14, 2013 at 11:43 PM

Actually, male circumcision was very common among most groups that lived in desert type areas as well a requirement in many modern militaries up until about WWII.

And it is hardly "mutilation".

But what would I expect from someone that probably hangs out on Stormfront?

[Yochanan Lavie]

What is the anti-circ rant doing here? Was the snowman circumcized?

[tonda]

What is the anti-circ rant doing here? Was the snowman circumcized?

Not confirmed, but a nearby rabbi was seen sucking on a snowcone...