The need to restrain the burgeoning power of Jewish fundamentalism in Israel grows ever more urgent. The latest flashpoint is public transportation.
For several years, on an increasing number of public buses, women have been expected not only to cover their arms and legs, but also to board and sit separately from men, in the back of the vehicle. On January 31, in a long-awaited decision, Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz announced that these so-called “mehadrin lines” — borrowing a phrase that implies very strict adherence to religious rules — were legal as long as they were “voluntary.” He said that the state would not tolerate the use of threats or violence to enforce the separation, a pledge that became immediately suspect after he also said that he found no evidence of such coercion used against women.
That would be news to the women who more than three years ago petitioned Israel’s Supreme Court to ban gender-based segregation on public buses, using as proof their own experiences of harassment. The Israeli writer Naomi Ragen, an Orthodox Jew, was one of those petitioners. She had been physically threatened on the No. 40 bus in Jerusalem because she refused to give up her seat to a man.
For the operator of a public bus to suggest that women sit in the back is akin to the person behind the luncheonette counter in Greensboro, N.C., declining to serve the four black students who arrived there 50 years ago and tried to order some food. There is nothing voluntary about segregation. The mere suggestion is demeaning and unacceptable in modern society.
We fear that this continued diminishment of women’s rights will open up a dangerous wedge in the already fraught relationship between American Jews and Israel. In the last few months, a woman was arrested for wearing a prayer shawl at the Kotel, and another woman was hauled in for police interrogation just for praying there, as she had done for years. “Where does it end?” Ragen asked in 2007 after her experience on the bus, when she said there were 30 mehadrin bus lines in the country. Now estimates put the number between 56 and 90.
Supporters of Israel must strongly protest Katz’s acquiescence to the segregationists. The right of Haredi men and women to live and worship as they please must be protected, of course. But Israel’s public sphere must be open to all. In a 21st-century democracy, no one should be relegated to the back of the bus.
"Supporters of Israel must strongly protest..." Does the term "supporters of Israel" include the Forward newspaper? I think that it probably does, but it would be nicer if it were obvious. The first-person pronoun "we" appears in the article, and it obviously means "we, the Forward editorial staff". Speaking of "supporters of Israel" as a third-person term (as someone else) leaves the impression that it does not necessarily include the writer of the editorial.
Thank you Forward, for your editorial. Segregation must be fought and defeated through non-violent protest and legal action. The Forward is an essential part of my Jewish and intellectual life. I am deeply concerned about the increased control the Haredim and Orthodox Jews in general have over the Israeli public sphere - and by extension over Jewish life. I depend on the Forward for keeping me informed.
Todah Rabah,
Max
The article says "The Israeli writer Naomi Ragen, an Orthodox Jew, was one of those petitioners. She had been physically threatened on the No. 40 bus in Jerusalem because she refused to give up her seat to a man." This segregation is clearly abuse of women.
Consider the Amish and their ancient traditions, would they behave this way? Not only would they not, they would not ride on the bus at all. If this type of segregation of women is so important to the old time traditions of the Haredi men, how is it that these same men are so readily able to accommodate the advent of modern busses into their antique narrow scope of what is acceptable? Advanced transportation but no advancement in thought?
To describe the circumstances here as "segregation" is utterly disingenuous and typical anti-religionist demagoguery. Segregation can be either acceptable or unacceptable, depending on the purpose for the segregation. Church-goers are not segregationists because they designate a building for Christian--not Jewish--worship. However, if white church-goers forbade black church-goers from entering, that would be impermissible segregation because the purpose is not to facilitate religious worship. Here, the purpose of designating rules for a limited number of bus lines is to allow observant Jews to adhere to the mandates of the Torah, not to demean women.
It is fascinating to observe that the so-called adherents of "tolerance" and "pluralism" seek to absolutely, positively forbid a small number of bus lines to operate in a manner which is sensitive to the needs of Torah-observant Jews (i.e, what the Forward editors derisively label "fundamentalism").
The article says that segregation on buses lead to a women being physically threatened for refusing to give up her seat to a man, the Torah teaches us to have good morals and ethical behaviour, treating other people with respect. Because segregated buses have led to Naomi Ragen being physically threatened (and there could be more cases like this) this goes against what we learn in the Torah about being respectful towards other people. The case of Naomi Regen caused by segregated buses encourages people to believe that Orthodox Judaism is sexist and treats women badly.
I do not understand the Forward's fsscination with women and the Iaraeli transportation system.
Ther have bee less than ten reported incidents of harrasment of women for sitting in the wrong section of a mehadrin bus since the program started in Israel. Compare that with the hundreds of thousnads of sexual assualts on women around the world on crowded trains and buses in that period of time.
In Japan, fully three quarters of wonen who use public transportation have been groped. Sexual assault is the number one reported crime on New York City subways. Japan, India, and Egypt run women-only cars on their longer distance trains. Public announcements in the New York City subways urge women who have experienced illegal sexual contact to report it to the authorities. The Forward has nothing to say about the thousands of women who have been molested in NYC but cannot place the handful of cases in Israel in conetx.
Secondly, it is obvious that your editorial staff has never ridden on mehadrin or quasi-mehadrin lines in Israel. I spent two weeks in Israel in january and rode both. My wife and I travelled from Jerusalem to Petach Tikvah unknowingly on a mehadrin line. No one made a peep about my wife and other women sitting in the front of the bus going and coming. The only complaint was from my wife who on the way back did not want me siiting next to her or more correctly on top of her. Anyone who has travelled on Israeli busses know how narrow the seata are. A seat can accomodate about 3/4 of a normal adult. Secondly, the inner city busses have passenegs sitting facing each other with very little legroom in between. The comfort level is not very high, Those who follow a modest life-style are doubly punished.
On inner city mehadrin buses, charedi women do not go to the back of the bus. They enter by the back door which is considerabbly wider than the front door and opens to a empty isle in the middle of the bus. At first, I thought that these women did not pay. I found out thet the Charedi women literally "punch their own ticket". There is a hole-punch at the back door which the womnen use to punch a hole in their Kartis - - -10 ride ticket- which indicates that they have used one ride up. I have never heard of a group that is discriminated against which at the same time is trusted to operate by the honor system. Have you?
In summation, your editorial is less about the facts than the Charedi relative lack of PC and PR compared to their foes.
"Ther have bee less than ten reported incidents of harrasment of women for sitting in the wrong section of a mehadrin bus since the program started in Israel." That is because there are not many segregated buses in Israel so I would expect the number of reported cases of harassment of women on segregated buses to depend on the number of segregated buses that there are. There is a huge difference between assaults on women on other public transport systems and in Israel because the enforcement of segregation on buses in Israel directly led to the woman's harassment and that is wrong.
@Hanoch- I am a Torah observant Religious Zionist Jew & I find these "mehadrin" bus lines reprehenbsible.
"...another woman was hauled in for police interrogation just for praying there, as she had done for years."
I assume you are referring to Anat Hoffman, a leader of Women of the Wall.
Please note that Anat has stated repeatedly that the Police called her by telephone and she thereafter came to the Police Station on her own accord. She was not "hauled in for interrogation".
Joel Katz http://religionandstateinisrael.blogspot.com/ http://twitter.com/religion_state
@Hanoch, your use of a church as an example is "utterly disingenuous". A public bus in a supposedly democratic country is not a church - or a synagogue - and users of that public bus system have no right to impose segregation on themselves and other passengers on any basis whatsoever. In a democracy - or in a Jewish state worthy of the name - the bus operator and the government would have no right to collude with passengers in such a fundamental violation of human rights. (I have no objection, however, to the Haredi church-goers setting up their own private bus system and running it along segregated lines.)
The mehadrin buses are run by a private company. The reason the men get the front section of the bus is obvious- tzniut. It's more modest for men to be in front where the women can view them, than vice-versa. Separating men and women is not based on discrimination but for the obvious reason that when men and women mix freely, "things can happen." Separating the genders protects the women from possible sexual harassment. In any case, less than 1% of buses in Israel have separate sections for men and women.This is for bus lines that run from one haredi neighborhood to another, where separating the genders is the norm. The media is making a big deal over a small issue. Tolerance of diversity also means respecting the norms of minority groups such as haredim.
It seems there are always those who are prepared to defend the indefensible and tolerate the intolerable.
In the past many years I have gone from a youngster who attended a Zionist Camp to a very young man in Europe helping refugees get to Israel to a very proud Jew who felt I was a part of Israel to a man who now will not make donations of any kind of support Israel in any way because of the way Israeli citizens are treated in Israel. I grew up in a Jewish Home and I am surprised that the orthodox do not believe I am Jewish. I am ashamed that Israeli citizens who are not orthodox but conservative, or reform or very secular have allowed a small segment of the population to steal a country that we should all be proud. I am an American of jewish faith. I have never had a desire to go to Israel even to visit, but I have always had strong feelings about Israel. The idea of a democracy that Israel attempts to present to the me and my fellow jews is not the type of democracy I would tolerate or accept.
If the people in israel want freedom to live and practice their beliefs that should come here to America.
Maskil, it appears you missed my point. I am well-aware that a "public bus . . . is not a church". I was flagging the misuse of the word "segregation" which was done for the same demagogic purpose apparent in your post. "Segregation", taken alone, does not imply something immoral. Indeed, it can imply just the opposite. When you visit a public restroom designated for only for one sex, I am sure you agree. Segregation is wrong only when the underlying purpose is wrong. Here, as cogently summarized by Reuven Andreessen, the purpose of the rules on a small number of bus lines, for which ridership is completely voluntary, is not to demean women, but to aid religious observance. Your insistence that such a small accommodation to the Torah-observant community is unacceptable is a true demonstration of intolerance.
Women should learn karate or Judo. Then these idiots would learn a lesson. Trying putting people of color in the back of the bus today. Slavery was abolished.
Dr Rosenberg,from your comment it seems like you are in favor of violence towards your fellow Jews just for practicing Judaism.Why do you hate haredim, your fellow Jews so much? Liberals bend over backwards to understand and sympathize with minorities in the non-Jewish world. They support society making accomodations for those with special needs and minority cultures. When it comes to haredim however,there seems like there is a double standard. Liberal tolerance dissapears!I could respect some reasoned arguments against segregated buses, but instead of reasoned arguments we get demonizing of Jews who are just trying to practice Judaism the best they can.Charging those who want a few segregated buses in haredi neighborhoods with being equivalent to slave owners is an extremist act.By essentially calling people names because you disagree with them, it shuts down any chance of a reasoned exchange of ideas.
I hate anyone who hits women, shows disrespect to women and treat them like chattel.Their parents never taught them manners and their fathers never taught them respect for women.If it was my daughter shown such humiliation the religious zealot would not be standing up.Being as jew gives you no license to hit, humiliate , throw stones, or act like an animal.This applys to a jew or non Jew.
That is a joke. Did you ever try and have a reasoned argument in Israel with a Haredi who thinks you are out of step. You are the one that will be attacked. I believe in loving my neighbor when love is returned. I do not believe in turning the other cheek.