The Center for Haredi Phobia opened in Israelthe other day, the center will offer unique programs to change the minds of those who fear and hatred the Haredim in Israel. It is has been thought for sometime that people in Israel fear and hate what they don’t know and besides for a few glimpses of Haredim on the street and maybe a screening of Ushpizim at their local Chabad House, very few people actually know any Haredim.
The Center for Haredi Phobia will feature a number of different programs to take you inside the Israeli Haredi community so you can see for yourself that it’s all about the love and not the hate.
Riot Phobia: Many Israelis were disenchanted with the Haredi population in the past year because of the riots that Haredim started so they can enjoy religious freedom, while no one else could. Go inside, see the community for yourself on a lovely Saturday evening as two Haredi men will show you how enjoyable rioting can be. Lose your fear and become one with the Haredi youth as you light neighborhoods on fire, beat up police officers and run from water cannons.
Mehadrin Bus Phobia: Many folks believe that buses should be mixed, but the Haredim don’t. Take a bus ride on one of the many Mehadrin Buses and if there happens to be a woman trying to break halachic authority by sitting up front, join on in the beat down. See for yourself that beating up women who want to pull a Posa Parks move on the Rabbis, is a feel good activity that just brings out the love.
Anti Feminism Phobia: Sit through a class on the reasons why women of the wall cannot be allowed to bring their pritzus and kefira to the last holy site in Israel. Join a special minyan on Rosh Chodesh for shacharit, followed by a chair throwing demonstration. Haredim want to get a point across, but they don’t want to be too violent, the plastic chairs can be seen from a mile away, unlike sticks and stones. Hear the women give their feminist shrieks as they dodge chairs lobbed by you and the center for haredi phobia members teaching the course.
Haredim are not fanatic’s people just don’t read the signs: The secular media has a way of portraying the evil Haredim as a bunch of backward Taliban type religious fanatics. It is quite common to hear of women having bleach dumped on them for no apparent reason, but these women are never innocent, they dress scantily and try and avoid reading the dozens of signs prohibiting this in out neighborhoods, then they wonder why they had bleach dumped on them. We don’t use tar and feathers as per a ruling from the high court.
Fur Phobia: They want to ban fur in Israel, but that is like putting a knife in our tradition. What would we be without fur hats? How would people be able to tell us apart? Go inside the Haredi synagogue and see for yourself how important the fur hat is – don’t be afraid, dress in pants and be welcomed in with open arms.
Other phobia programs offered: Boycotts, 17 kids, Women in the kitchen, Anti Zionism, and more.
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{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Heshy,
I think you’ll appreciate Doron Rosenblum’s post masbirim.nuts.il (a play on the gov’t's site: http://www.masbirim.gov.il/)
joel
Religion and State in Israel
@religion_state
Ha’aretz had an article just today somewhat along these lines, though satirizing Yuli Edelstein’s masbirim.gov.il website
There’s a simple solution to Harediphobia. Ship them to Yemen or Afghanistan. Iran is too modern, and Saudi doesn’t allow Jews. They can have their beloved ghetto back. They can revel in their oppression. They can live in a country which validates their primitivism, superstition and hatred of women. Then maybe, just maybe, Israelis can get on with their lives.
Unfortunately, they’ll live in that country in Israel before Israel is as old as Moshe Rabbeinu (this is assuming Israel hopefully survives its other obstacles …)
…” and maybe a screening of Ushpizim at their local Chabad House,”
Haha, so true!
I believe to be classified as a phobia it has to involve extreme and irrational fears of harmless things. Being afraid of Haredi jews is perfectly rational considering their actions.
The funny thing about much of the Hiloni media is that if you take the things they say and replace the word “Haredi” with something like “African-American” people would go crazy and there’d be tons of cries of racism. But if you say those same things about Haredim no one seems to care. It’s a ridiculous double standard and the anti-Haredi discrimination needs to stop.
Haredim are not a race – they are an extreme part of Judaism – similar to the way the Taliban are an extreme part of Islam.
Sure and you could say the same thing about any media that is based within a certian culture or Religion. Jews can bash Jews and blacks can bash other blacks, but you cannot cross breed.
Blacks can also bash whites without being called a “racist”. A white bashing a black would immediately be called a “racist”. A woman can bash a man without being called a “sexist”. A man bashing a women will be called a “sexist”. Bubba Metzia is absolutely correct in that there is a double standard on this issue. Personally, I do not pay attention to these kinds of things (who bashes who). There are much more important things to be paying attention to.
Criticism is one thing, but when there are newscasters saying things like “now we will move from Haredim to people” and can get away with it its ridiculous. The fact that this is Jews discriminating against Jews makes it all the worse. These are our own people.
A poor choice of words, to be sure. But we know for a fact that followers of Charedism believe non-Jews have no spiritual worth, that killing them really isn’t murder and that they don’t really have souls. Tanya and the rest of that poisonous tradition teach them this.
One badly chosen sentence vs. An entire philosophy of bigotry and racial superiority. If those balance you need your scales adjusted.
“non-Jews have no spiritual worth, that killing them really isn’t murder and that they don’t really have souls.”
A very bad mistranslation of tanya. Are you sure you mistranslated by accident?
If you haven’t already, check out Real Jews” by Noah Efron.
With the overflowing crowds that will certainly be frequenting the establishment, wouldn’t it be in the best interest of the public is there were soldiers protecting the holy site. Who better to secure the area but hareidi soldiers…..oh right…. Well then I guess there can be a bunch of yeshiva bochurim learning outside and offer spiritual protection to all visitors,
A question: do Haredim call themselves “Haredi” or “Ultra-Orthodox”, or are those words used only by outsiders? (By the way, I love the way some people say “those guys are really, really Orthodox”).
Sometimes. Mostly they call themselves “Jews” and exclude everyone who isn’t in their particular sects.