tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-121132128950771892.post8833607619452009105..comments2023-03-03T05:26:44.455-05:00Comments on Ba'al Teshuva's handbook: Beit Shemesh – The combination of insensitivity and intolerance.Ari Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14940276840978703145noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-121132128950771892.post-9061004357830727872012-01-30T15:02:02.507-05:002012-01-30T15:02:02.507-05:00AHG,
We has a chance to discuss this further in p...AHG,<br /><br />We has a chance to discuss this further in person, but for the benefit of the readers, I wanted to respond on the site.<br /><br />The issue I brought up is not an issure of what's right or wrong according to jewish law or secular law. The point that I made is that we have a group of people that are particularly sensitive to a particular issue. The question that I raised is should we adjust our actions to people with sensitivities?<br /><br />If I had a neighbor with particularly sensitive hearing, should I try to keep my radio volume level to a lower degree than I would otherwise. The secular law doesn't tell me that I have to. The religous law doesn't tell me that I have to. Even still, I'm arguing that it's the mentch-like thing to do.<br /><br />You can take the same individual scenerio and apply it to a community. <br /><br />The arguement of who's there first does hold some weight, but as we discussed, that also adds creditbillity to situations like the Hamptons whose non observant Jewish community protested the building of an Eruv when more othodox Jews moved in. <br /><br />FYI There is room for this in Jewish law as well. It's escaping me right now, but halacha as a particular term for a sensitive person and different laws apply.<br /><br />Just to reiterate, I called anyone who attacks another person criminal. I'm not defending their actions in the slightest. I am proposing that it's derech eretz for all of us to be more sensitive to the feelings of others whether we agree with them or now.Ari Millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14940276840978703145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-121132128950771892.post-54505654437647746712012-01-26T05:07:13.477-05:002012-01-26T05:07:13.477-05:00First, when it comes to the situation in Beit Shem...First, when it comes to the situation in Beit Shemesh, it would seem that you are not familiar enough with the facts on the ground to comment. The girls attacked and shouted at are dressing modestly in accordance with the standards accepted by the majority of Orthodox authorities. Furthermore the school is not in an ultra-orthodox neighborhood; it merely borders on one. At the time the land for the school was acquired, it didn't even border an ultra-orthodox neighborhood. The ultra-orthodox neighborhood expanded, placing itself next to what might be described in American lingo as a modern orthodox neighborhood. (I've been receiving periodic updates on the situation since September thanks to a local Beit Shemesh resident. Long before the media too hold of the story.)<br /><br />Your article, as well as numerous others I've seen online, that engages in a form of apologetics for the ultra-orthodox community, intentionally or unintentionally imply that their was a lack of modesty by the school girls. it is slanderous (Motzei Shem ra) and offers the appearance of agreement with the objective of the hooligans while only objecting to their methods.<br /><br />What is being asked is tantamount to an Afghani family moving in next door to you and offering your wife a burka to wear so her husband and children won't be exposed to her lack of modesty. Nay, that would be too polite, it's actually tantamount your new neighbors shouting "whore" at your wife while she minds her business in her own backyard, covering her hair, wearing a long skirt and long sleeves, but not a burka.<br /> <br />However, I believe the situation in Beit Shemesh was only tangential to the point you wanted to make and were only using the situation and the reactions as a springboard.<br /> <br />So with that in mind, an analogous question would be: <br />"Should blacks go through a certain neighborhood where the all white residents would be offended?"<br /><br />I assume all decent Americans would answer "Yes!".<br /><br />Let's see why this is more analogous:<br /><i>"Should the KKK demonstrate outside a black church?<br />Should Nazi’s demonstrate outside your synagogue?"</i><br /><br />In both these examples it's is the intolerant, exclusionary, group demonstrating their hatred in front of the target of their vitriol. We would rather not accommodate the distasteful situation even if we are "forced" to recognize the groups legal rights. However, we would never suggest that Jews or Blacks go out of their way to show sensitivity to these bigots.<br /><br />However, that's exactly what you're suggesting the rest of Israeli society do to accommodate the chareidim. Everyone needs to go out of their way to accommodate their intolerance of those who think differently than them and desire to exclude them from their neighborhoods.<br /><br />The other questions aren't really parallels at all. If a group of bikini clad girls decided to march down the main road in Meah Shearim in protest, we would have a parallel situation. That's not what's going on.ahgnoreply@blogger.com