The Torah and all Judaism are being threatened...by an 8 year old girl. Really?

I hope that you were as outraged as I was at the story of  Naama Margolese, aged 8. She and her family are olim to Israel. They are modern Orthodox, but apparently her attire was not modest enough for the Haredim in their hometown of Bet Shemesh. At the URJ Biennial two weeks ago, I heard Ehud Barak, Barack Obama and Eric Yoffie all talk about the importance of Israel being a Democratic Jewish state. That is a hard enough concept. Now introduce haredim acting like drunks at a ball game (baseball, college football, British soccer - choose your favorite hooligan) toward a little girl who just wants to go to school and you have a recipe for disaster. BTW - she is covered from wrists to ankles! And she is just a little girl.

I read about her story in the New York Times and almost choked on my breakfast this morning. Dan Brown - who many of us know as eJewish Philanthropy posted two videos which we all need to see. I have posted them below.

When the last secular Jew "left" the old city - a good friend of my family - there was no outcry. Jerusalem - the most beautiful city in the world - is rapidly becoming Haredi. That isn't enough. Witness the orthodox soldiers who walked out of a military ceremony because women soldiers were singing. Their rabbi suggested a firing squad was preferable to listening! (Forward Sisterhood blog).

It is time for Jews everywhere to demand that Israel be a place for all Jews - women and men, straight and gay, Dati, Haredi, Progressive, Masorti and secular - not just for those who see the world a certain way. How can we be a light to the nations if we can't even see each other in broad daylight without blowing a gasket?

One of the people in the first video below talks about how this little girl is a shanda (shame). There is a yididsh expression: A shanda fur die goyim. It refers to a shame that makes Jews look bad to non-Jews. How long before the media starts comparing Halakhah (Jewish law) with Sharia law? How long after that does Judaism get stereotyped as just another extremist, fundamentalist whacked out cult? Really people? Worry about your tzniut (modesty) and let others take care of theirs!

The Continuing Haredization of Israel

December 28, 2011 by eJP 

“We have to act now before Beit Shemesh becomes the next Iran.” (from JPost ).
Israel’s Channel 2 documentary on intimidation of schoolgirls in Beit Shemesh is causing a media fury in Israel, and from what we hear in the U.S. too.


Last night, thousands attended a rally to protest the actions of this vocal minority and to force the authorities to act.

Following, is a speech delivered last night by Hadassa Margolese, the mother of 7 year old Naama Margolese, portrayed in the above video.