Itai Rosenblit, co-owner of White Pool, operator of the Gymboree in Harish (Yoav Etiel)
Almost 20 years ago, when I was a student at Tel Aviv University, we were taught a practical lesson in stereotypes. The lecturer showed us a short video clip of a man or woman, and then we had to describe them. Write down where they are from, what they do in life, etc. We were all wrong, in all examples. The ultra-Orthodox woman we all thought was raising 12 children in some cramped apartment in Bnei Brak turned out to be the owner of a high-tech company; The dirty man with the noticeable sweat stains we all thought was doing some manual labor in a forgettable town turned out to be a Tel Aviv school teacher who had just returned from some aerobic training. It was a nice lesson with a lesson we all know from kindergarten and/or the Mishnah: don't look at the jug but at what's in it.
I guess I didn't learn anything. Yesterday, when I read Eli Ashkenazi's report in Walla! News of a threatening letter placed in the home of a woman in Tiberias because she dresses in "unpainted" clothing, I immediately imagined a woman walking around the street in a transparent combenison, at the very least. For a moment I could even imagine her going down to throw the garbage in a bright red bikini. Still, Tiberias, and hot.
For the avoidance of doubt, it should be said immediately that Hadas Madmon, the target of the threatening letter, did not wear a bathing suit in public spaces. Although even if she did, God forbid, it was her right - and in any case does not justify the letter she received from the "worried" neighbors. But in the first moment, it was exactly what I imagined. For a moment, I even began to defend the writers of the obscure letter in my head that perhaps she had made a deliberate provocation. Maybe it's another case where the media tells half the story and brings out the ultra-Orthodox badly? Maybe it's some protest activist who deliberately moved to the heart of an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood in order to annoy the neighbors with a sickening provocation?
A terrible injustice. Amnon Levy (Screenshot, Reshet 13)
The truth is that the letter was so violent that there was no doubt that what preceded it was extreme. "We sincerely hope that you have understood the issue before we have to do unpleasant things and even more, God forbid (you will understand alone)," the letter reads, with a very unsubtle threat. Later, the same violent criminals also cut off the water in her apartment. Well, it's pretty obvious that this is a young secular woman who decided to rock the neighbors' wagon full. Then she came to be interviewed by Amnon Levy on Channel 13 and blew my head off.
Amnon Levy turned to Hadas, and a religious woman appeared on the screen. Headscarf and everything. A mother of two children, originally from Safed, who walks with modest clothes. And even very. So no, she really didn't leave the house in a babydoll or hang laundry in a naughty bikini. Her only sin, which I admit I didn't notice at first: her handkerchief doesn't cover her entire head, so you can see some of her hair. By the way, a headscarf with parts of the hair sticking out of it is the hallmark of Iranian students who oppose the hijab laws. We always knew that Tiberias was close to the Kingdom of Jordan, we didn't know how close it actually was to Iran.
The interview itself was strange. Levy tried to get headlines out of the interviewee, who really didn't seem to be looking to make trouble for anyone but just let her live her life in her own home. She tried not to make generalizations, clarifying that she had taken the matter to the media in the hope that it would help deter the letter's writers from continuing to terrorize her. The brief interview continued into a brief discussion in the studio where everyone agreed that it was just shocking. Surprisingly, even Yisrael Cohen – who admitted that it was difficult for him not to automatically defend the ultra-Orthodox – agreed that Hadas was being done a terrible injustice.
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Amnon Levy (Screenshot, Reshet 13)
But Amnon Levy, who actually understands the ultra-Orthodox, chose to focus on the "modesty" of the story. Is Hadas dressed modestly enough? In recent years, have the ultra-Orthodox been more strict about modesty than in the past? Does the Torah even deal with matters of modesty (AMLK: no)? It was an interesting discussion, but one that had nothing to do with the threatening letter that the lovely Hadas received. This is not a story of modesty, but a story of power and loss of control.
The fact that Hadas and her family were forced to leave their apartment following the threats is proof that the Israel of 2023 rewards violence. It comes from the heads of state, and trickles down. Most ultra-Orthodox, like most secular Jews, just want to live in peace. But the extremists have become more extreme, and not by chance. The ultra-Orthodox extremists did not become more modest, but they also understood that these days there is no law in Israel, and anyone who is honest in his eyes will do. Google this verse, you may think it says something completely different from what it actually says.
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