The woman, wearing a tank top and jeans, has her full attention on the tomato box. The haredi woman touches one of her bare arms. The woman turns around and the haredi woman immediately snaps at her, pointing at her bare arms: "Next time don't come to the market like this. Next time you'll come with sleeves."
The above excerpt from an article in Ynet illustrates one of
problems isolationist societies like the one that Charedi woman ‘Tznius- cop” no
doubt comes from.
Machane Yehuda (pictured) was overhauled by Jewish merchants very likely in order
to compete with the Arab Shuk. The Arab
Shuk was opened up to Jews after the 6-day war. And business boomed. Arab merchants
of all types selling their wares had a new and booming market in all the
Israelis and tourists that came to visit the Kotel. Going through the Arab Shuk
was one of the common ways to leave that area. On my first trip to Israel I
exited the Kotel Plaza that way. It was (and still is) a sight to behold.
But once the terrorism started, many Jews feared entering
that area - although some Jews (mostly tourists I imagine) still shop there.
The Shuk was a great place to buy produce at a very cheap price. Sensing a need,
a new market for cheap produce was estabished outside the old city for Jews. It
is called Machane Yehuda. If I recall correctly it is not far from Meah Shearim.
Some people call it the Israeli Shuk.
Meah Shearim residents shop there. But they are not the only
ones. Secular Jews are increasingly doing so. And that is where yet another clash
of cultures takes place.
Here’s the problem. Meah Shearim Jews have a heightened sensitivity
to Tznius violations. A woman wearing a sleeveless top and slacks will be
considered inappropriately attired.
While this may not be a Halachicly acceptable way for a
Jewish woman to dress in public - most of the rest of the world - religious
Jews included - is used to this kind of dress and thinks nothing of it. Even
for those who do consider it a problem they simply try not to look at an
immodestly dressed woman. In the world of Meah Shearim this intolerable. They
cannot handle it.
So to the extent they are able – they try to impose their modesty
standards. Hence one will see signs related to female dress as one enters the
Meah Shearim neighborhoods. This phenomenon in and of itself is tolerable. The
residents of that neighborhood have a right to express their sensitivities to
those who enter their neighborhoods. What they do not have a right to do is enforce
them. Unfortunately some of the more militant residents of that neighborhood
don’t care about whether or not they have that right or not. They enforce it. In
some cases using means that the Mafia would be proud of.
There are horror stories of acid or bleach being spilled on innocent
passersby if they were dressed in less than Meah Shearim community Tznius standards.
They also have Tznius squads that go around checking what people wear and intimidating
merchants into carrying Tznius signs throughout Meah Shearim and the nearby
Geula neighborhood. They have torched stores, beat up businessmen who sold “inappropriate”
technology, and vandalized a religious bookstore for refusing to carry one of
their signs.
Until recently their tactics have been limited to their own
neighborhoods. But now they have decided to branch out. We all know about the
intimidating tactics that took place last year in Bet Shemesh where an 8 year
old girl was harassed daily on her way to a religious school and called a
whore. But now they are branching out. To places like Machane Yehuda. And instead
of men doing the harassing - it is women.
Last year it happened to a some women walking in the streets
of Jerusalem outside of the Meah Shearim neighborhood.
Here’s the thing. They cannot impose their standards on the
world. They do not own the world. Just because they see someone they think is
not properly dressed does not give them the right to intimidate them. To most
of the civilized world that is a forgone conclusion. But not for them.
These people are so isolated from the rest of the world
that they have no clue about sharing it with others. They see the world only
through their own eyes. If they are going to venture out into the world, they
are going to try and impose their ways on it so that their sensibilities will not
be assaulted.
Modesty is a very important trait of the Jewish people. We
would all do well to be modest in all our ways, including the way we dress. But
that does not mean we impose our desire for modesty on others. Certainly not through intimidation. That is not the way of a
Jew. It is the way of the uncivilized. That is what these people have missed
out on by being so isolated. Treating others with dignity. The way of Meah
Shearim is the way of the Mafia. Not civilization.
We all live in a world with many different people, cultures,
and values. Civilization teaches us to get along with each other. Even when we
don’t agree. Even if immodesty dressed. You
do not tell people to cover up in public when their manner of dress is modest
by most societal standards. It is insulting and counter-productive. And it
makes an enemy of a fellow Jew.
Last year there was a counter demonstration by women who
were constantly being verbally assaulted by people like this in the streets of
Jerusalem. After one of them finally got fed up with it and organized a
protest. Women who sympathized with her joined
her in dressing provocatively in the most immodest of ways and paraded
themselves through the streets of Jerusalem. That too isn’t right. But, I can’t
say that I blame them. I wouldn’t be surprised to see that happen next in
Machane Yehuda.
