Excellent essay.
Rabbi Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer הרב יוסף גבריאל בקהופר
Friday, December 30, 2011
The Events in Beit Shemesh: A Hareidi Resident Speaks - Op-Eds - Israel National News
The Events in Beit Shemesh: A Hareidi Resident Speaks - Op-Eds - Israel National News
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All based on the "No True Scotsman" argument. The entire essay is "Well don't blame us! They're not really Chareidi!" Sorry, it doesn't wash any more than Muslims after 9/11 shouting that they shouldn't be profiled in airports just because 100% of the plane bombers were Muslims.
ReplyDeleteThe underlying problem is exemplified by the Agudah's official statement which, summarized says:
The fanatics are right in the goals but wrong in their tactics.
As long as a so-called religious Jew looks at a girl dressed al pi halacha and thinks she's immodest because she doesn't hold by his own personal chumros there will be a continued breakdown in Jewish society.
There is a far greater gulf of distinction between the run of the mill Charedi and the Toldos Aharon/Neturei Karta persecutors of young girls than there is between that Charedi and yourself. It is only on account of the inaccuracy of current societal identifications that the association is made in the reverse.
ReplyDeleteRabbi Bechhofer,
ReplyDeleteWhy do Israeli Chareidim seem to view the violent types in Chassidic garb as family? (maybe as the black sheep, maybe not). They don't view the secular and RZ groups like that. Is it the superficial resemblance based on clothing, culture, etc.?
The sad reality is that the gap based on whether a society serves in the army or not, linked to the gap based on whether a society possesses a work ethic or not, is the main fault line in contemporary Israeli society, leading to the distorted demarcations that you note. :-(
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