Haredim: Do not wear IDF uniforms as Purim costumes. So says a new decree reportedly issued by Rabbi Mordechai Blau, the head of the haredi Guardians of Sanctity and Education, banning the once-popular custom that saw haredim, primarily children, donning IDF costumes to celebrate the biblical holiday.
Haredim Ban IDF Soldier Purim Costumes
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
Haredim: Do not wear IDF uniforms as Purim costumes.
So says a new decree reportedly issued by Rabbi Mordechai Blau, the head of the haredi Guardians of Sanctity and Education, banning the once-popular custom that saw haredim, primarily children, donning IDF costumes to celebrate the biblical holiday.
“We are at a time of [evil] decrees, and dressing up as a soldier in this period does not increase happiness, rather it increases sadness. There are children for whom soldiers mean something frightening, like taking their older brother away [to the army].
“There are other solutions, like American or British soldier costumes.
“The whole concept of Purim costumes is not to be a cheap imitation of the carnivals in Brazil or Venice. It has a deep meaning that symbolizes that during this period of persecution of the Jews, God was concealed, and the masks are also meant to increase happiness.
“Right now we are in a period similar to ‘concealment,’ but definitely not of happiness with everything concerning the drafting of Haredim,” Blau reportedly wrote.
But don’t make the mistake of thinking Blau’s decree is simple foolishness.
“We are not talking about a foolish initiative. This is a symptom [of the situation] that shows how much anger there is in the [ultra-Orthodox] sector over the attempts to draft Haredi yeshiva students by force. This is a symbolic act through which many are trying to explain that through compulsion and aggressive legislation [the government] will accomplish only the the opposite [of its intentions] — aversion to the IDF,” an anonymous haredi leader reportedly said.