Tel-Chai Nation

After an event in Jerusalem that involved soldiers attending a concert where women also sang, now some Haredi rabbis are worsening the situation as could be wholly expected:

Several senior Rabbis in haredi communities published a forceful letter warning against singing events intended for mixed audiences of men and women.

Under the headline "A Serious Breach in the Holiness of Israel", the Rabbis write, "The great Rabbis of Israel have already raised objections to various types of singing events that do not meet the approval of the Sages. We are pained to hear that joint singing events are being held for boys and girls, and even if carried out with a partition, it is certainly forbidden for a yeshiva student and a Beit Yaakov seminary student to participate in such an event."

The Rabbis add, "This is a most serious breach in the holiness of Israel, which every God-fearer is obliged to correct. If it happens, Heaven forbid, who can set it right?"

In the letter, signed among others by Rabbi Dov Lando and Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch, it is written, "And the matter is clear and simple that a yeshiva student or a seminary student who goes to such a place distances themselves from affiliation with the heritage of the servants of the Lord, in the yeshivas and Beit Yaakov seminaries."

Finally, the Rabbis appealed to the heads of the yeshivas and the directors of the seminaries, "We ask plainly of the great ones, the heads of the yeshivas, and the Rabbis who direct the seminaries, to urge the necessary discipline in this matter, and not to treat this serious issue lightly or to give in."

I think any yeshiva student who really wants to better the situation would do well to leave those shoddy yeshivas and study Torah outside of them. This is abominable, because the rabbis' statement delegitimizes women, and it's obviously aimed foremost at the menfolk. It also erases the differences between synagogue prayer and general life management. The Haredi rabbis who issued that statement should be condemned for the wrongs they're committing that are also coming at the expense of both men and women, making it difficult to learn how to interact with each other.

Labels: anti-semitism, dhimmitude, haredi corruption, islam, Israel, Jerusalem, jihad, Judaism, misogyny, Moonbattery, racism, sexual violence, showbiz, terrorism, war on terror