What if this was their mother, sister or daughter?

Please take a moment and read this. If you're reading this through Bloglines, please take the time to go to my site and read this article (in case it doesn't show up as a hyperlink).

This Saturday started off like any other. I slept in, made my breakfast and read my newspapers (the Globe and Mail & Toronto Star) really slowly. That is pretty much how I start my day of rest. I endeavour to read or engage in activities that bear no resemblance to work. When the time comes, I'll add packing up the hubby and Little Maple for Shul to my to-do list.

On page three of the Globe, I was greeted by the enclosed article that talks about Orthodox Jewish women being attacked aboard Jerusalem's city buses. Were they attacked by muggers? No. Hooligans? No. They were attacked by Orthodox Jewish men vigorously demanding these women move to the back of the bus where it is assumed women are supposed to sit. Hmmm. Further in the article there are references to shops being torched for displaying immodest clothing in their display windows and gangs of men who splash bleach on immodestly dressed women who walk through Jerusalem's Orthodox neighbourhoods. Hmmm.

Seeing an article like this depresses me as it gives narrow minded people ammunition to blight Israel and clouds the reality that members of certain Ultra Orthodox sects have no idea how much damage they are doing to how the outside world perceives them and the Jewish community at large.

This and many cases like it are working their way through the Israeli courts. This is not about religion. The courts should see this in the cold clear light of day as a series of assaults, arson and harassment of a disadvantaged element of society. Some women who live within these enclaves receive treatment just slightly better than the average house cat. It is time for the learned leaders within these communities to re-read the Talmud and practice the Golden Rule to their women. Would this gentleman mentioned in the article be happy if his wife, sister, daughter or mother was thrown to the ground in a similar manner? Many know that to be sent to the back of the bus is dehumanizing and was a flash point for the US civil rights movement. I do not think this gentleman and many like him realize that to be sent to the back of the bus gets a North American's blood boiling.

It is articles like this that cast a dark cloud over the Orthodox movement. As Josh was part of it in his youth, there are benefits to the movement people do not see in the media or are seldom exposed to in their everyday life. The list of positive elements is long, but here is a short list for the benefit of blog readers.

Modesty/education: The notion that a woman should dress like a queen and be beautiful without losing her dignity. A woman who is uneducated cannot be an equal partner in the marriage: teach their children, generate her own income in a dignified way or help her husband when he needs help.

Discipline: Having one day of rest with the family allows one to have quality time disconnected from the electronic world, a chance to become better connected with one's community and recharge one's intellectual batteries.

Rituals: Gives one a chance to learn history, legends, songs and wisdom in an easy to digest form. It gives meaning and connectivity to what looks like to many, a bunch of strange writing and annual rituals that are perceived as a burden. Passover is a good example of this. Everyone knows the seder, but what's special is that my grandmother was born on the second night of Passover and it's on the second night (one year) that my grandmother's broken desk clock which sits in our living room, started moving and stopped when Passover was finished; that alone inspires us to do an extra good cleaning job on the apartment and sing well because we know she is watching over us.

Mitzvahs/Good Deeds/Golden rule: Do what you can, while you can! The Cub Scouts say "do a good turn to somebody everyday". Raising and teaching children is a mitzvah. Donating money to the poor. Taking the burden off of another person's shoulders. Helping an old lady across the street. Giving someone shelter. Most people know a good deed when they see it and it's a built-in assumption that the Almighty is watching.

As it relates to the article above, Jewish values are not being followed, nor are any mitzvahs being done in throwing someone down on a city bus, splashing them with bleach or torching their business. I wonder, in 120 years when this gent goes to the "Pearly Gates", the Almighty looks upon him, his lifetime of mitzvahs, and returns him to Earth in his next life as a woman. HA HA!! (Nelson Muntz battle-cry)

Thoughts?!