Those lines from a popular sixties song might just have been the message of Justices in the Israeli Supreme Court... to those who would try and deny others form pursuing their rights in a free and democratic society.
The Mehadrin Bus controversy has hit the court system.. Yesterday the Israeli high court heard a petition by five women including Orthodox Novelist Naomi Ragen against unregulated public segregation between the sexes on Israeli bus lines.
For those who don’t recall, this legal action was undertaken as a result of several incidences of violence against women by certain extremist individuals for violating their Tznius codes. Their crime? Sitting in the front male sections instead of the rear female section of a Mehadrin bus... and in one case a non Mehadrin bus that had informally adopted Mehadrin standards. A group of feminists - one of whom is the aforementioned Naomi Ragen - decided it was time to end this policy of sex discrimination altogether.
But they must have really been surprised by the reaction of the Justices:
"It is reasonable to provide bus lines for the haredi community," said Justice Elyakim Rubinstein during the hearing.
But he also said:
“However, one cannot impose separation and demands for modesty on those who oppose it.”
He did not however abandon Charedi desires either:
“Solutions must be found. For example, by having the bus driver protect passengers so that when one passenger disturbs another, the driver will order him off the bus. Another idea is to display a sign informing riders that the line is segregated.”
Justice Yoram Danziger pointed out: "a voluntary arrangement which harms dozens or hundreds of women is impossible."
This is clearly the correct approach to the problem. One must have sensitivity for all concerned. In a democratic society people should have the right to practice their religion freely, as well as the right to interpret their religion in ways they see fit. And also as well, people should have the right to not observe Halacha at all.
Of course it would be nice if everyone could see the beauty of the Torah and observe Halacha. That is after all what God intended for his people in the
There are better ways to achieve the goal of universal Mitzvah observance than through force and intimidation. And since we do not have a Halachic government in place today we at least have the next best thing: A democracy. This court is truly expressing democratic ideals in how it is handling the Mehadrin bus line controversy. Respecting the rights of the minority as well as the rights of the majority
The Supreme court should not be vilified as anti Charedi or anti religious. That is unfortunately how most of the Charedi world looks at them. They have been vilified and have had mass protests when the court ruled against their interests in the past.
But look at what they do now. They are trying to accommodate everyone. I’m not sure if they will succeed. But I’m glad to see they are trying. I think the next time Charedim want to vilify the secular courts in
