Chareidim are Warning Beit Shemesh that there will be a "Genecide" If Dr. Aliza Bloch is Elected

by Rationlist Judaism 

I walked out of my house the other day to find a brochure warning that the Jews of Beit Shemesh, just like the Jews of ancient Persia, need to “assemble and stand for their lives.” No, this wasn’t about a new front in the war with Hamas, or Hezbollah, or any other Islamic genocidal terrorists. The genocidal threat being referred to was the possibility of the non-charedi candidate winning today’s run-off election for mayor.

This kind of hyperbole further demonstrates how detached the charedi community is from the real dangers facing Israel. But putting that aside for now, let’s analyze further. In the brochure, there was a letter signed by dozens of charedi rabbis from the city, explaining that the threat of genocide is spiritual rather than physical. Kol kiyum haYahadus, “the entire existence of Judaism” in this city, they explain, rests upon this vote. It’s important to clarify: the non-charedi candidate facing the charedi candidate is the incumbent mayor, Dr. Aliza Bloch. She is a religious woman. She has already been mayor for five years. During that time, the charedi population of the city grew significantly, with her help. There are endless new charedi neighborhoods and new charedi schools and yeshivos. Declaring that “the entire existence of Judaism” depends on her being ousted is nothing short of utter absurdity. But beyond the hyperbole of a community with a siege mentality that wants ever more power and control, there’s something going on here which is representative of a broader problem. Mishpacha magazine ran a feature article this past week, “Behold a People,” proudly claiming that the Hamas war has led to a unique period in which there is genuine achdus in Israel. (Of course, this is a fraudulent claim, as there is no genuine achdus without shared communal obligations, but let’s put that aside for now.) Bizarrely, in an article claiming that there is achdus, it acknowledges that many charedim do not even recognize the greatness of the sacrifice being made by Zionist Jews in the IDF: This is the great hour of the national-religious world, but, on the defensive yet again about the draft law which threatens the yeshivos, the chareidi world in Israel and beyond has been slow to recognize the unfolding story. We should call it what it is: authentic Jewish heroism, both physical and spiritual. Still, the author hastens to add that this physical and spiritual heroism does not mean that the charedim are not doing something at least as important: Acknowledging that does nothing to alter the fact that the Torah learned in yeshivos and kollelim is the guarantor of Jewish national survival. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said last week that “without physical existence, there’s no spiritual existence.” It’s a materialistic worldview that we’re taught to see in reverse. Without the Torah, there is no Jewish People. And here, once again, is the rhetorical sleight-of-hand that is fundamental to charedi discourse. Did you notice it? It is 100% true that without the Torah, without spiritual existence, there is no Jewish People. But that does not at all equate to “the Torah learned in [charedi] yeshivos and kollelim is the guarantor of Jewish national survival”!!! There is far more Torah being studied today that at any point in history. There is plenty of Torah learned outside of yeshivos and kollelim, which barely even existed until a few decades ago. There is plenty of Torah learned in national-religious yeshivos and kollelim. There is plenty of Torah learned in charedi yeshivos and kollelim outside of Israel. There is plenty of Torah that can even be learned in charedi yeshivos and kollelim in Israel by a few thousand elite or otherwise exempt learners. (And all this is aside from the strangeness of the mystical claim that permanent full-time Torah study of charedi men cloistered in the charedi yeshiva world, who are not teaching Torah to the nation, has any effect whatsoever on Jewish national survival.) Equating Torah, spiritual existence and Jewish national survival with the exemption of every charedi young man from IDF service is as absurd as claiming that the ever-more-charedi city of Beit Shemesh is in the middle of a spiritual genocide. We need serious discourse, not idiotic hyperbole and absurdities.

Kamala Harris Sounds Just Like a Satmar Chusid She Says She Distinguishes Between Israeli ‘Government’ and ‘People’

Vice President Kamala Harris told CBS News on Friday that she distinguishes between the Israeli government and the Israeli people, as if Israel were not democratic, and as if Israelis disagreed with their government over the war in Gaza.

Harris spoke to CBS News and responded to a question about whether the Biden administration would end military aid to Israel over the death of 30,000 Palestinians.  (CBS did not distinguish between terrorists and civilians killed).

“It’s important for us to distinguish or at least not conflate the Israeli government with the Israeli people,” she said.
It was not clear what Harris meant. The idea that one does not conflate a people and their government is usually expressed with regard to autocratic regimes; Israeli voters elected their current government in November 2022.

Moreover, while Netanyahu has faced strong opposition over domestic issues, Israelis broadly support his conduct of the war — and oppose the Biden administration’s vision for the region such as a “two-state solution.” A recent Gallup poll showed that nearly two-thirds of Israelis oppose the creation of a Palestinian state — a reversal from a decade ago.

Not even Americans support the Biden administration’s policies. A recent poll showed that nearly two-thirds of Americans support an Israeli attack on Hamas terrorists in the city of Rafah, which Biden has opposed publicly.

Harris’s confused response reflects an enduring hostility among Democrats toward Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On Saturday, Biden said he believes Netanyahu is “hurting” Israel more than “helping” it — a bizarre statement about an lay in the middle of a war. Biden snubbed Netanyahu for most of the latter’s first year in office. But as Netanyahu has repeatedly said, opposing his policies on the war means opposing the majority of the Israeli people.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

NYP: " Biden only cares about his re-election chances, not helping Gaza"

 

With so much shouting and partisan rancor during Joe Biden’s State of the Union rant, it was easy to miss the most important news.

That would be the president’s plan to have the American military build a floating dock off the coast of Gaza. 

In the middle of a war.

No boots on the ground, he insists, but that could be an impossible promise to keep if only because of construction logistics.

And what if Hamas attacks our troops, or an errant rocket from Israel or the terrorists hits Americans? 

The risks are necessary, Biden suggests, because of the humanitarian crisis. 

“Nearly 2 million more Palestinians under bombardment or displaced, homes destroyed, neighborhoods in rubble, cities in ruin, families without food, water, medicine. It’s heartbreaking,” he said Thursday.

He added that the dock in the Mediterranean would unload large ships filled with food, water, medicine and shelters. 

And then what?

Who provides security and how do the goods get distributed to the truly needy, as opposed to Hamas gunmen, up and down the Gaza Strip (inset)?

Who pays? 

Religious Researcher: "If Grinberg Wins ..Beit Shemesh will Become another "Poor Frum Town "

Shmuel Grinberg 

  Religious Researcher in a Gloomy Assessment

 Beit Shemesh will lose its non-Orthodox residents and become another poor ultra-Orthodox town* 

Tomer Persico, researcher and lecturer in the fields of world religions, after finding out about Shmulik Greenberg's Night of Agreements in Beit Shemesh with Chareide Parties

*Beit Shemesh started the last act of its tragedy play today,* a play that describes the transition from a suburb of Jerusalem, which until the nineties was a traditional-secular, to an ultra-Orthodox city.

Aliza Bloch is expected to be rejected in the mayoral elections. The ultra-Orthodox representatives will completely control the municipality, and it is possible to assume that *the municipality itself will lose its professional employees and be filled with cronies and businessmen.

Funds will be directed to ultra-Orthodox interests out of political and non-professional considerations, various regulations will appear on the streets and limit the lives of the secular, slowly pushing them out.

The city itself will lose its non-Orthodox residents and become another poor ultra-Orthodox town. As Eli Yishai said at the time about Beit Shemesh when he opposed the idea of ​​splitting into two cities, secular and ultra-Orthodox: *"An ultra-orthodox city is without recognition, without taxes, without industry. It is not right to do that."* So here we are, just without the split.

Now, according to the agreement between Dagel Torah and Shas, this time Shas voters will support Dagel's candidate, Greenberg, and in the next elections both parties *will support a candidate from Shas, whichever (that is, whoever Deri chooses).*

Think for a moment until this deal disdains the democratic process: a man based on party affiliation, *treats the ultra-Orthodox as a herd that will vote according to the instructions of its leaders,* does not allow the city representative to continue with the mayor if they want him to, *and does not give any motive to the current mayor. to do a good job, because he is not continuing for another term anyway.*

Bloch herself said yesterday that the ultra-Orthodox want to determine "who will be the mayor in the next 15 years, which party will get what. *We want to have Bnei Brak here who will vote 30 years in advance who will be the mayor.?"*

Complete destruction of logic and the democratic process - and all under the auspices of democracy. 

The sequel?

lack of professionalism, lack of vitality, and decline of the city. This is the Beit Shemesh sunset.*

*חוקר הדתות בפרשנות קודרת: בית שמש תאבד את תושביה הלא-חרדים ותהפוך לעוד עיירה חרדית ענייה*

 תומר פֶּרְסיקוֹ, חוקר ומרצה בתחומי דתות העולם, בפרשנות מעניינת לאחר ליל ההסכמים של שמוליק גרינברג בבית שמש:

*‏בית שמש התחילה היום את המערכה האחרונה במחזה הטרגדיה שלה,* מחזה שמתאר את המעבר מעיר פרוורית של ירושלים, שעד שנות התשעים היתה מסורתית-חילונית, לעיר חרדית.

עליזה בלוך צפויה להיות מודחת בבחירות מראשות העיר. נציגי החרדים ישלטו בערייה באופן מוחלט, ואפשר לשער *שהערייה עצמה תאבד את עובדיה המקצועיים ותתמלא במקורבים ועסקנים.* כספים יופנו לאינטרסים חרדיים מתוך שיקולים פוליטיים ולא מקצועיים, תקנות שונות יצוצו ברחובות ויגבילו את חיי החילונים, שאט אט ידחקו החוצה.

העיר עצמה תאבד את תושביה הלא-חרדים ותהפוך לעוד עיירה חרדית ענייה. כפי שאמר בזמנו אלי ישי על בית שמש כשהתנגד לרעיון לפצל אותה לשתי ערים, חילונית וחרדית: *"עיר חרדית תהיה בלי הכנסות, בלי מסים, בלי תעשייה. זה לא נכון לעשות את זה".* אז הנה לנו, רק בלי הפיצול.

עכשיו, על פי הסיכום בין דגל התורה לש"ס, הפעם בוחרי ש"ס יתמכו במועמד דגל, גרינברג, ובבחירות הבאות שתי המפלגות *יתמכו במועמד מטעם ש"ס, יהיה אשר יהיה (כלומר מי שדרעי יבחר).*

חישבו רגע עד כמה הדיל הזה בז להליך הדמוקרטי: בוחרים אדם על פי שיוך מפלגתי, *מתייחסים לחרדים כאל עדר שיצביע על פי הוראת מנהיגיו,* לא מאפשרים לתושבי העיר להמשיך עם ראש העיר אם הם מרוצים ממנו, *ולא נותנים שום מניע לראש העיר הנוכחי לעשות עבודה טובה, כי ממילא הוא לא ממשיך לקדנציה נוספת.*

בלוך אמרה אתמול בעצמה כי החרדים רוצים לקבוע "מי יהיה ראש העיר ב-15 השנים הבאות, איזו מפלגה תקבל מה. *רוצים להיות פה בני ברק שיודעים 30 שנה מראש מי יהיה ראש העיר".*

הרס מוחלט של ההגיון וההליך הדמוקרטי - והכל בחסות הדמוקרטיה. *ההמשך: חוסר מקצועיות, שחיתות, ודעיכה של העיר. שקיעת בית שמש.*

Dutch king defies calls of over 200 mosques not to visit Holocaust museum with Israeli president

 The Dutch king has defied calls from more than 200 mosques to call off his attendance at the opening of a Holocaust museum in Amsterdam alongside Israel’s president on Sunday.

The National Holocaust Museum was said to be too much of a “great significant and national importance” for King Willem-Alexander, 56, not to be at the inauguration, according to the Netherlands Government Information Service.

Isaac Herzog’s attendance was described as “a huge blow to anyone who cares about the fate of the Palestinian people and values justice” by the K7 alliance of Dutch mosques.

The organization argued that the Dutch government should not receive the Israeli dignitary, adding: “But certainly not by our king. We therefore ask his majesty not to participate in Herzog’s reception.”

It criticized the president for signing an artillery shell with the phrase “I rely on you” before it was fired toward the Gaza Strip.

Details of his trip to Amsterdam for the museum opening were on Wednesday leaked to Israeli media.

The Coward Chief Rabb Yosef: 'If they force us to enlist, we will leave Israel'

You know what?? Pack your bags and get out! We don't need Jews in Israel who don't want to be there. Don't threaten us. Get out!! By by Charlie don't let the door hit you on the way out! You can move to the Satmar Town of KJ they welcome Sfardim" whom they derogatory call "frankinim" 

 The Sephardic Chief Rabbi, Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, commented Saturday evening on the haredi draft law.

“There are Yeshiva students who go to reserves. Not everyone merits to learn Torah. Everyone merits to be a student, and Torah students are exempt from army service under any circumstances, no matter what. If they force us to go to the army, we will all leave Israel. We will buy tickets and leave. There can be no such thing,” he claimed.

“All the secular community understands this, and they need to understand that without Torah, without study halls, without yeshivas, there will be no existence and no success for the army. The soldiers succeed in the merit of those studying Torah. Everyone needs to say this with pride - we are studying Torah, and it is the Torah that protects us.”

Who says you don't take your money with you when you die? 2 Women Drove a Man’s Body to a Bank to Withdraw His Money

Two Ohio women have been accused of driving the body of a deceased 80-year-old man to a bank to withdraw money from his account before dropping his body off at a hospital.

Karen Casbohm, 63, and Loreen Bea Feralo, 55, were charged Tuesday in Ashtabula with gross abuse of a corpse and theft from a person in a protected class, according to Ashtabula Municipal Court records.

Police said they were called Monday evening and told that two women had dropped off a body at the Ashtabula County Medical Center emergency room without identifying the person or themselves. A few hours later, one of them contacted the hospital with information on the deceased, who was then identified as 80-year-old Douglas Layman of Ashtabula.

Officers responded to Layman’s residence and made contact with Casbohm and Feralo, who told them they had found Layman deceased earlier at the home where all three resided. Police allege that, with the help of a third unnamed person, they placed Layman in the front seat of his car and drove to a bank where they withdrew “an undisclosed amount of money” from his account.

Layman’s body “was placed in the vehicle in such a manner that he would be visible to bank staff in order to make the withdrawal,” Ashtabula Police Chief Robert Stell said in a news release Thursday. Stell told the (Ashtabula) Star Beacon that the bank ”had allowed this previously as long as they were accompanied by him.”

Lt. Mike Palinkas told WEWS-TV that one of the women had been in a live-in relationship with Layman for several years while the other had been staying there for a few months. The women said it was normal for them to take money from the account, but Palinkas said he didn’t have a full explanation for why they went there that day.

“Allegedly, they wanted to pay some bills but outside of that, there wasn’t a specific motivation provided,” Palinkas said.

Casbohm was arraigned and ordered held on $5,000 bond while Feralo is scheduled for arraignment next week. It’s unclear whether they have attorneys; numbers listed in their names had been disconnected. A message was sent to the county public defender’s office seeking comment if the office was defending one or both.

Police said they continue to investigate and other charges are possible. The coroner’s office said an autopsy to determine the cause of Layman’s death could take up to eight months.

 

22 Years After Shocking Grand Canyon Crash, Lone Survivor Chana Daskal Laid to Rest in Monsey

 The only survivor of a tragic helicopter crash that took the lives of five young members of Brooklyn’s Jewish community on a Grand Canyon sightseeing trip in 2001 passed away on March 9th in Monsey.

47 year old Chana Daskal lived in Seagate, but had been staying most recently in Monsey because of an illness that was unrelated to the injuries she sustained in the deadly crash. Dozens of people turned out amid steady rains for a Motzei Shabbos funeral for Daskal that was held at the home where she had been staying, with burial taking place at the Har Shalom Cemetery in Airmont.

Daskal, her husband David, Aryeh Zvi Fastag, Shayie Lichtenstein and Avi and Barbara Wajsbaum, were all returning from their aerial tour of the Grand Canyon on August 11th when their helicopter crashed into the 5,500 foot Grand Walsh Cliffs in the Arizona desert some 60 miles away from Los Angeles.

Daskal sustained life-threatening injuries in the crash, which took the lives of everyone else aboard the Eurocopter AS350, including pilot Kevin Innocenti. The Los Angeles Times (lat.ms/3wNLrbU) reported that the crash took place at 2:30 PM, with flaming wreckage of the helicopter scattered around the area.

All six passengers were thrown clear of the helicopter when it slammed into the ground on the desolate mountain, according to The New York Times (nyti.ms/3veDTyp), with just the pilot remaining inside.

“It was demolished,” said Steve Johnson, a spokesperson for the Mohave County, Arizona, sheriff’s office. “The only things recognizable were the tail and rotor blades.”

Daskal, the mother of two young boys, was found by rescuers pinned under the helicopter’s burning tail section and was airlifted to the University Medical Center in Las Vegas, with burns over 80 percent of her body. She sustained a broken back in the crash and had both of her legs amputated.

According to the Arizona Daily Sun (bit.ly/3TtTWlm), Daskal was hospitalized in Las Vegas for five months before she was airlifted to Staten Island University Medical Center’s regional burn center in January 2002. At the time, she thanked those who rescued her, as well as the medical team who treated her and surrounded her with love and prayers.

“Without them I would not have had the strength to survive everything that has happened to me,” said Daskal, who noted that she was confident that G-d had had a reason for keeping her alive.

The National Transportation Safety Board ultimately found that the crash was caused by a pilot error, reported the Associated Press (bit.ly/48QpHcC). Daskal settled a lawsuit for $38 million in 2005 against the estate of the pilot, the helicopter manufacturer and the tour company, which had charged $317 per person for the three-hour tour, which included a picnic along the Colorado River.

Daskal’s medical bills had topped $11 million by 2005, and her lawyer, Gary Robb, estimated that her future care could cost $23 million. At the time of the settlement, it was ranked as the largest pretrial cash settlement for a personal injury case in the United States.

Spain the kicked out all its Jews Now Wants to Kick Jews Out Of Israel and Create a State for Arabs

 

 Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Saturday that he will propose that Spain’s parliament recognizes a Palestinian state. 

So where will the 7 million Jews go? He says that "this is out of moral conviction". Here is a guy whose ancestors expelled all its Jews from his country, and now wants to take a giant piece of Israel and give it to a bunch of uncivilized barbarians "Moral Conviction" my tuches!

“I will propose granting Spain’s recognition to the Palestinian state,” Sánchez said. “I do this out of moral conviction, for a just cause and because it is the only way that the two states, Israel and Palestine, can live together in peace.”

Sánchez added his voice to a chorus of other European leaders and government officials who have said that they could support a two-state solution in the Middle East as international frustration grows with Israel’s actions in the Palestinian territories.

French President Emmanuel Macron said last month that it’s not “taboo” for France to recognize a Palestinian state. British Foreign Minister David Cameron said that the United Kingdom could officially recognize a Palestinian state after a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war.

Sánchez said that his position on the conflict in the Gaza Strip is much like his country’s support for Ukraine following Russia’s full-scale invasion more than two years ago.

He stressed that Spain demanded “respect for international law from Russia, and from Israel, for the violence to end, the recognition of two states, and for humanitarian aid to reach Gaza.”

His comments at a rights conference in the city of Bilbao came as aid shipments were headed for Gaza amid the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and a new international willingness to work around Israeli restrictions.

Five months after Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking 250 others hostage, Israel’s military has battered the territory, killing more than 30,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Israel Has a Population of Almost 5 Million Women with an 85-Year Life Expectancy

 

As of the end of 2023, Israel’s population of women was 4,949,800, of whom approximately 31.3% were aged 0-17, approximately 54.8% were aged 18-64, and approximately 13.9% were aged 65 and over. This, and other data on the status of Israeli women, was released by the country’s Central Bureau of Statistics ahead of International Women’s Day 2024, to be observed Friday, March 7.

In Israel, Muslim women marry at an earlier age than other segments of the population. Their average age of marriage is 23.5, compared to 25.4 among Druze women, 25.6 among Jewish women and 27.6 among Christian women. (This data is from the year 2022).

In 2022, the average age of all Israeli women who gave birth increased to 30.7, a year and eight months higher compared to the average age in 2000.

The average number of children that a woman in Israel is expected to give birth to during her lifetime (Total Fertility Rate) is 2.89, higher than the average in OECD countries, which is 1.58.

In 2023, approximately 1.2 million Israeli women (35% of the total) are mothers of children who are up to the age of 17. Of them, 90% live with their spouse.

Women in Israel live longer than men. Their life expectancy in 2022 was 84.8 years, compared to just 80.7 among men.

However, Israeli women are only expected to live 79.7% of their lives without health problems that impair functioning, as opposed to men who are expected to live 83.1% of their lives without such problems.

US Kills 5 Innocent Gazans and Children with the Humanitarian Airdrops which are Turning Deadly

 The United States has killed at least two innocent Gazans with the airdropped humanitarian aid shipments that President Joe Biden ordered dropped into enemy territory, according to a report on Galei Tzahal.

 Torat_IDF reports that five Gazans were killed by the deadly US airdrops, condemned the US for their deaths, and called on the US to stop sending supplies to Hamas.

Besides the killed Gazans, multiple people were also wounded by the impact from the US aid. Videos from within Gaza show children chasing after the shipments as they land. At least two of those killed by the US are reported to be children.

Israeli citizens have been protesting the delivery of humanitarian aid into the Hamas terror stronghold, as the shipments delay Hamas’s surrender and allows them to continue to hold Israeli citizens hostage.

On Thursday, Biden announced he will also set up a seaport to get even more humanitarian aid into Gaza for the Gazan civilians, which Hamas then takes for themselves.

Unfortunately, the one step that would actually get civilians out of danger – facilitating and allowing their exit from the Gaza war zone, is not on the table. The US, Egypt and the world are holding the Gazans hostage to create a “Palestinian” state and perpetuate the conflict.

CNN’s "Klavta" Amanpour slammed for saying Terrorist is ‘Mandela’ to Palestinians

 Christiane Amanpour, CNN chief international anchor, is being denounced and mocked widely for a recent social media post about Marwan Barghouti.

“To many Israelis, he’s a terrorist. To many Palestinians, he’s their Mandela,” she wrote of the convicted murderer, widely believed to have directed the first and second intifadas, which killed and wounded thousands of Israeli civilians.

Amanpour has previously apologized for comments about Jews and Israel. She said live on air that she “misspoke” 12 days after she said that Rabbi Leo Dee’s unarmed wife and two daughters were killed in a “shootout.”

Biden Says He told Netanyahu that he wants him to come a "Jesus Meeting"

 

I'm curious if President Biden ever told the leader of any of the 49 majority Muslim countries that they would be having a "come to Jesus" meeting, or is that language reserved for the only Jewish country in the world? 🤔 https://t.co/SuzXUP1SXi

— Joel M. Petlin (@Joelmpetlin) March 8, 2024

 President Joe Biden ‘s growing frustration with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to mount, with the Democrat captured on a hot mic saying that he and the Israeli leader will need to have a “come to Jesus meeting.”

The comments by Biden came as he spoke with Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., on the floor of the House chamber following Thursday night’s State of the Union address.

In the exchange, Bennet congratulates Biden on his speech and urges the president to keep pressing Netanyahu on growing humanitarian concerns in Gaza. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg were also part of the brief conversation.

Biden then responds using Netanyahu’s nickname, saying, “I told him, Bibi, and don’t repeat this, but you and I are going to have a ‘come to Jesus’ meeting.”

An aide to the president standing nearby then speaks quietly into the president’s ear, appearing to alert Biden that microphones remained on as he worked the room.

“I’m on a hot mic here,” Biden says after being alerted. “Good. That’s good.”

Zera Shimshon Parshas Va'Yakheil

 

Chassidishe grocery store implements gender segregation at check-out

 A grocery store in Williamsburg serving the Hasidic community is telling customers to segregate by sex at the checkout line. The store, W Fresh, posted Yiddish-language signs near its cash registers that say female cashiers cannot serve male customers.

The goal is “not to have goytes by the registers by the stores where teenage boys and young men shop in order not to entrap the Jewish youth,” the sign says, referring to non-Jewish women. “We’ve directed female cashiers that they should not provide services for the men, and the female cashiers are exclusively for women and girls.”

On a visit to W Fresh on Thursday, some customers seemed to defy the new poster or to not see it, while others seemed to comply. Two male customers purchased items from a Hispanic female cashier. A man who appeared to be in his thirties walked toward her as well, then stopped for a moment in front of the sign, and then went to a male cashier instead. Three cash registers were open, and the store was not crowded enough for any lines to form. An employee who claimed to be the manager declined to comment on the posters but said it was not his decision to place them.

The poster said that the store arrived at its decision after consulting with the Hisachdus Harabanim, known in English as the Central Rabbinical Congress, a Satmar-affiliated group of rabbis better known for its kosher certification program for food. The organization’s beth din, or rabbinical court, did not immediately respond to an inquiry from Shtetl.

Earlier this year, Shtetl reported that a poster carrying the signatures of 26 principals of Hasidic boys’ schools warned shopkeepers that if they continued to employ non-Jewish women, they would discourage their students from shopping at those stores. That poster also cited the Hisachdus Harabanim.

Williamsburg grocery stores have long been settings where Hasidic concerns about modesty have played out.

In 2012, the New York City Commission on Human Rights filed a complaint against seven Hasidic-owned stores on Lee Avenue after the stores put up signs in various languages urging non-Haredi customers to “dress in modest clothing” in order to be allowed entrance, according to the book A Fortress in Brooklyn: Race, Real Estate, and the Making of Hasidic Williamsburg. The city later reached an agreement with the stores that while they could encourage “modest” dress, they could not prevent customers who dressed differently from entering the store.

The head of the Tzohar Rabbinical organization proposes a novel approach to the issue of haredim drafting into the IDF

 

Rabbi David Stav, Chief Rabbi of Shoham and chairman of the Tzohar Rabbinical organization, presents a new approach to bringing the haredi community to IDF service.

‘’Every Jewish resident of the state of Israel has to serve in the army, no exceptions,” Rabbi Stav told Arutz Sheva - Israel National News. “It’s a commandment from God, Maimonides writes clearly that it means even newlyweds, and the prophetess Devorah curses those who do not report for duty (Judges 5:15, 5:23).”

He turned to the practical aspects of the problem: “It is impossible to force a million people to go to the IDF. None of the past proposals were ever implemented practically, and the IDF actually faked numbers because it is impossible to force people into the army against their will. Today, the State exempts them from the army and instead encourages them to join the workforce, rather than label them as draft dodgers and illegal workers.”

“We suggest that the law be altered to allow any religious individual to exempt themselves from the army by declaring that it contradicts their lifestyle. This will remove the dependency on the yeshiva community and allow the government to instead encourage service in other organizations, such as the Fire and Rescue Service, MDA, and ZAKA, and from there provide the national service vouchers needed for a better education and integration into the workforce.

Pro-Hamas Protesters to Target Israeli Event at Teaneck Synagogue

The Bergen County Jewish Action Committee (BCJAC) called on municipal, state, and federal authorities Thursday to take “decisive action and protective measures” in response to a campaign of harassment targeting the Jewish community and an event to be held in a Teaneck synagogue.

Pro-Palestinian Authority demonstrators issued public calls this week to protest an informational Israeli real estate program set to be held Sunday (March 10) at Congregation Keter Torah.

The Israel Real Estate Fair is taking place just a few hours before the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, a period in which radical Islamists escalate harassment, threats and attacks against Jews around the world.

As they have elsewhere in the United States and abroad in the wake of Israel’s defensive war against the terrorist group Hamas following the October 7th massacre, the pro-Hamas terror supporters have also escalated their attempts to target Teaneck’s Jewish community, which comprises about 40 percent of the town’s population.

According to BCJAC Spokesman Yigal Gross, “It is no coincidence that this random quiet New Jersey town has become such a flashpoint for pro-Palestinian activism. These protestors are here because we are here. They are seeking out and targeting Teaneck’s Jews.

“We support citizens’ right to free speech, but the right to worship is equally sacrosanct — which we worry they are now seeking to limit.”

On the same day, Congregation Keter Torah is also set to hold its annual “costume swap” — an event expected to attract hundreds of children and their parents — ahead of the upcoming Jewish holiday of Purim.

Gross told JewishPress.com that similar protests, including one in the neighboring town of Englewood, attracted unruly mobs from out of town and devolved into chaos with vandalism, violence and arrests.

“We can disagree on political issues, but we all have a responsibility to maintain a basic level of decency and decorum and preserve the peace and security to which everyone living in Teaneck is entitled,” he said.

Gross added that BCJAC, a grassroots coalition that advocates for the safety and well-being of Teaneck’s Jewish community, does not believe the pro-Hamas demonstrators represent the Muslim community of Teaneck.

“We believe there are bad actors trying to drive a wedge between Teaneck’s residents and to isolate and intimidate its Jewish community,” he said.

“Thankfully, they are failing in their efforts. Our community continues to stand strong and proud. The event will go on as planned, and we are thankful that neighbors of all background and faiths as well as local law enforcement are standing with our community in these difficult times.”