Supermarket in Ramat Bet Shemesh without safety permit destroyed by fire caused by irresponsible children

One of the worst things about this latest disaster in Bet Shemesh is that the supermarket itself had no technology for preventing fires to begin with:

Jerusalem District Fire Investigators have completed their investigation into the July 19 fire that broke out at a supermarket in Ramat Beit Shemesh, determining that the fire was caused by children playing with open fire in one of the supermarket’s rooms, while the store was open and operating normally.

The fire broke out in a supermarket located on the entrance floor of an eight-story residential building. Firefighters brought the flames under control and prevented them from spreading to the residential apartments. The incident ended without any injuries.

The investigation findings also revealed that the business operated without a permit from the Israeli Fire and Rescue Service, and that no fire detection and extinguishing equipment was installed. The Fire and Rescue Service stated that such systems could have prevented the spread of the fire and reduced the extent of the damage.

The Fire and Rescue Department emphasized that this is a phenomenon of businesses and buildings that do not meet fire safety requirements and clarified that meeting these requirements is a basic condition for protecting human life and property.

The Fire and Rescue Department also called on parents to talk to their children about the dangers inherent in playing with fire and to keep ignition means away from them. According to them, the combination of playing with fire and the lack of safety measures could end in disaster.

The problem is that the Haredi parents whose children caused this debacle likely didn't even teach them why it's important to look both ways when crossing the street. And then the supermarket itself made things worse by not only leaving the children unattended, they didn't even coordinate with safety officials to make sure the complex was safe and had a permit to operate. This is similar in some ways to the recent case of a daycare center in Jerusalem that operated without proper safety for the children in its care, and resulted in 2 deaths. Over the years, we continue to see this kind of alarming lack of recognition for safety of anybody in Haredi enclaves, and it's miraculous nobody died in this latest disaster.

Haredi journalist was arrested for child porn

The newspaper the offender in question works for is not made public any more than his name, but anyway, here's what the case is about:

A senior Haredi journalist has been arrested on suspicion of possessing pedophilic content.

Police say they arrested the suspect, a 58-year-old man, this morning at his home in Kiryat Yearim, an ultra-Orthodox town west of Jerusalem.

Officers who searched his house seized his laptop and cellphone.

The suspect will be brought today to the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court for an extension of his remand as investigators continue to probe the case, police add.

The suspect, who is not yet identified ahead of his hearing, is variably described in Hebrew media reports as the editor of, or a senior reporter at, a well-known newspaper in the ultra-Orthodox world.

Apart from privacy laws, why all the secrecy? Whoever the creep is, he and his newspaper should be boycotted into the ground. Yet another example of how the ultra-Orthodox world is not the saint they'd want everybody to think they are.

Haredi rioters attack soldiers of the same background

Another nasty encounter with Haredis hostile to presumably anybody not considered a leftist, and the guilty party was demonstrating in favor of those who vandalized a chief justice's house in Alon Shvut:

A demonstration in support of those involved in last month's riot outside the home of Israeli Supreme Court Deputy President Justice Noam Sohlberg was held in Jerusalem and ended in violence, during which three Haredi soldiers serving in the IDF's Netzah Yehuda Battalion were attacked.

The event began with a vehicle convoy from Beit Shemesh to Jerusalem, after which participants continued on foot to Shabbat Square. During the march, demonstrators carried signs opposing the enlistment of Haredim into the IDF, including one reading, "We will never serve in the enemy's army."

Participants also shouted slogans against police officers, and in several instances objects were thrown at them.

The three soldiers, who happened to pass through the area by chance, were assaulted by some of those attending the protest.

The march took place following the release of 63 haredi suspects who had been arrested in connection with last month's riot outside Justice Sohlberg's home in Alon Shvut.

According to the investigation, the rioters damaged Sohlberg's home and the family's vehicle. Windows were smashed, flower pots and planters were broken, and the entrance to the house was vandalized. Israeli flags bearing swastikas were also placed in the street.

Following the incident, Justice Sohlberg's wife, Meira Sohlberg, described what they found upon returning home.

"We are children of Holocaust survivors," she said. "Jews are hurting one another like this. Look at this destruction-a pogrom. What is this, Kristallnacht?"

That the thugs would even bring a desecrated flag to their repulsive riot was a most antisemitic act, and makes clear there's a crisis of 5th column self-haters in Israel's Haredi enclaves, some of which even allow PLO flags to be flown. That also speaks volumes.

One of the commentors to the article said:

Two comments are necessary regarding this article:

1. If it isn't clear to anyone up to now, it should be crystal clear now: the Chareidi community does not consider itself citizens of the State of Israel. (There are many that do, but the vocal, rioting ones certainly do not.)

2. I've said this before: According to Rashi: Just lifting a hand to hit a fellow Jew makes you a "Rasha," an evil person. That is the true Torah value expressed by one the giants of Torah. Of course, if you consider all the other Jews in Israel as the enemy, calling them Amalek, then this warping of Torah values lreads to rationalizing - falsely - that you can hit them. It's time for them to "change their tune" and join us in the real Torah world.

Another said:

I am charedi. I have one married son who served (reserves) for ten months in a combat unit in Gaza during the war and another two in Lebanon. I have another married son in Kollel. Both have families. My Kollel son learns (Torah) nightly with my reserves son. IMHO, the behavior of these so-called "charedim" (in costume) is against the Torah, is a chilul Hashem and is reprehensible.

But that's exactly why the Haredi lifestyle just isn't working anymore. If more would leave it, we'd be much better off.

Haredi anti-army extremists were celebrating death of recruitment advocate

An ultra-Orthodox activist who tried to integrate Haredis into military service sadly passed away, and what a shock, there's Haredi extremists who're celebrating the death of an innocent man:

Following the death of Yaakov Aharon Farber, who was behind the Maalot Tzur initiative to integrate haredim in the IDF, extremist factors celebrated with several events and announcements.

Kugel, fruit, and drinks were handed out at yeshivas and study halls "in honor of his death." The refreshments were accompanied by a sign with a quote from Proverbs: "When the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy," noting that they were donated "in honor of the death of one of the leaders of the forced apostasy in our generation, Yaakov Farber, may the names of the wicked rot."

The "Kav Hahagana" (Defense Line), which is affiliated with the Jerusalem Faction, published an announcement, stating: "When the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy. The conscriptor who founded Maalot Tzur croaked an hour ago; from now on, he won't be able to draft haredim."

Farber, of blessed memory, passed away at 32, after years of fighting an illness. He led the Maalot Tzur initiative, which was designed to integrate haredim into military service while adapting the framework to their way of life. The program included, among othe

r features, service without military uniforms and participation by married men who were not studying in yeshiva and who maintained ongoing guidance from rabbis. It's utterly terrible when clans like those in focus do something most inappropriate, especially after October 7, 2023. The ultra-Orthodox clans' members should be ashamed of themselves. What the guy was doing was a positive example, and it's a shame he's gone now, much too young.

The problematic side of the cafe that's open on Shabbat

A discovery came up about Cafe Basimta, which has been open on Shabbat and harrassed by Haredi extremists, that now has some embarrassed, and for all we know, the Haredis may still go after it:

Jerusalem’s premier soccer team made an unusual announcement last week: It would give a new cafe free advertising on players’ uniforms for the coming season.

Cafe Basimta was facing harassment from haredi Orthodox protesters who wanted it to close on Shabbat, and Hapoel Jerusalem said it wanted to send the message that Jerusalem is “an open and diverse city, where there is room for everyone.”

But on Tuesday, Hapoel Jerusalem reversed course and retracted the offer, after learning via an inquiry from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that Cafe Basimta is an official project of Jews for Jesus.

“Our original intention was simply to support a small business that was being denied its freedom of operation, and we still believe in that principle,” club spokesperson Matan Avrina told JTA. “However, we also realized that this specific story is more complex than we initially knew.”

For the secular Israelis who have flocked to Cafe Basimta in response to the protests, too, the revelation of the cafe’s ties to a Christian missionary organization is complicating what had seemed like a simple skirmish in the city’s culture war over businesses open on the Jewish day of rest.

Perhaps it's not that surprising a business like this could operate on Shabbat. That said, it's still no excuse for what the Haredi hoodlums were doing, and only makes for bad publicity. So the authorities should continue to make sure the Haredis just simply stay away and remain in their shoddy enclaves, because their behavior doesn't help, and is illegal.

Insular Haredi society is becoming a national security crisis

So here's a writer who's talking about how the Haredis, in their own way, are taking attention away from more pressing issues like Islamofascism by imposing their belief systems on other Israelis, as they pave the road to hell with "good intentions":

The Oct. 7 war turned a simmering political dispute into a national crisis.

Hundreds of thousands of Israelis answered the call to reserve duty. More than 900 lost their lives. Families endured repeated deployments while businesses struggled without employees, and parents went months without seeing their children.

At precisely the moment when the country needed every able-bodied citizen, thousands of Haredi men continued to avoid military service.

The Israel Defense Forces has repeatedly warned of severe manpower shortages, and Israel’s courts have ordered the government to enforce the draft of Haredim. Successive governments, however, have refused to apply the law. Given the reaction to the 16 arrests this year, it’s hard to imagine any government arresting thousands of Haredi draft dodgers; those arrests triggered violent demonstrations that blocked highways, shut down rail traffic, attacked detention facilities and assaulted police officers, including one whose son was killed in Gaza, and even targeted the home of a Supreme Court justice.

Instead of enforcing existing law, the Netanyahu government has sought legislation that would equate Torah study with military service and limit the arrest of draft evaders. In 2024, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara ordered the Labor Ministry to cut daycare subsidies for the children of ultra-Orthodox yeshivah students who disobey military draft orders.

Netanyahu, however, wants to restore such subsidies. In other words, the government has moved from enforcement to reversal.

Whenever the issue of Haredi draft dodging comes up, I’m reminded of the U.S. military’s practice of shaving recruits’ heads as part of standardization. Imagine if the IDF did that to the Haredim. Instead, the army bends over backward to accommodate the demands of even the more moderate Orthodox soldiers who may refuse to serve in units with women or to be trained by them. The army recently backed down after leaders of Hesder yeshivas (institutions that combine Torah study with military service) threatened to stop sending their students to the Armored Corps over the proposed inclusion of women in tanks alongside men.

The ultra-Orthodox fear that their children will lose their religion in a secular army, though thousands of observant Jews proudly serve in the IDF. Nevertheless, many Israelis would gladly accept some alternative form of national service for those unwilling to join. Even that compromise has largely been rejected by Haredi leadership, which insists that Torah study alone fulfills their national obligation.

While there are valid issues to find here, the only problem is whether the writer's being altruistic. If he's just attacking Netanyahu - but wouldn't attack a left-wing politician who did the same - what good is this critique?

That aside, it's pretty clear at this point the Haredis aren't going to accept even simple national service, based on their increasing belief in segregation from wider society. That's wrong, as was the attack on a supreme court justice while distributing leaflets that looked like Israeli flags with a swastika in the middle. That incident amounted a most anti-semitic act, and as a result, how are the clans who do such a repulsive thing any different from antisemitic movements in non-Jewish societies?

What began as David Ben-Gurion’s original exemption—intended for a few hundred exceptional scholars—has evolved into a blanket exclusion for an entire community. This is no longer simply a question of fairness. It is a question of national survival.

Today, roughly one-quarter of Israelis reaching military age are Haredi. By 2050, that figure could approach 40%. If current exemption rates continue, then the burden on the shrinking pool of secular and national-religious soldiers will become unsustainable. As that burden grows, reservists will serve longer and more frequently, imposing growing costs on families, employers and the economy.

Equally concerning is the economic model that successive governments have enabled. Many Haredi schools provide no instruction in mathematics, English or science, leaving graduates ill-equipped for modern employment. Hence, the employment rate among Haredi men remains dramatically below that of other Jewish Israelis, while many employed Haredi women work in lower-paying or part-time positions. [...]

Ironically, Israel’s Arab citizens increasingly demonstrate the opposite trajectory. While significant socioeconomic gaps remain, Arab participation in higher education, professional occupations and the workforce has steadily increased as more seek to improve their standard of living. The Institute for National Security Studies has noted that whereas much of the Arab sector is moving toward greater economic integration, Haredi leadership largely seeks to preserve the existing system of dependency and exemption.

The Haredi leadership is no longer content merely to preserve its own way of life; it increasingly seeks to extend its religious norms into Israel’s public sphere.

For years, the ultra-Orthodox have imposed their standards at the Western Wall, where restrictions on women’s prayer and the rejection of non-Orthodox religious practices have alienated many Israelis and much of the Diaspora. Their ambitions now extend well beyond holy sites. In Bnei Brak, municipal rabbis recently ordered gender segregation on the sidewalks of two major streets. At the national level, Netanyahu’s coalition has advanced legislation allowing universities and colleges to offer gender-segregated master’s and doctoral programs—a proposal so troubling that Israel’s university presidents and medical school deans publicly warned it would undermine academic freedom and equality.

These are not isolated disputes. They reflect a broader effort to redefine Israel’s public institutions according to ultra-Orthodox religious doctrine.

On the part about Bnei Brak, the municipality did appear to reverse their plans after backlash, but for all we know, they could still enforce them without signposts too. As for the legislation, yes, that's sadly a dumb move, because it's just implying Netanyahu's trying to survive at all costs, rather than make an effort to convince the Haredi public it'd be better to vote for Likud instead. He certainly shouldn't be letting them blackmail anybody on the right.

Since we're on the topic, there's also a troubling item about plans to give the old Bikur Holim hospital building to a Haredi girls' seminar:

The fate of the capital’s oldest Jewish hospital, Bikur Cholim – opened on Straus Street in 1925 after moving from the Old City and closed in 2020 – will determine whether downtown Jerusalem is accessible to all its residents.

So said Havilio, the longtime community activist and politician who, for decades, has represented the voice of the secular, pluralistic, and traditional community in the haredi (ultra-Orthodox)-dominated municipality and is a deputy mayor heading the Ha’ihud Ha’Yerushalmi faction.

The municipality had approved plans to allocate the historic and much more beautiful eastern building for a seminary for 1,000 haredi teenage girls run by the Slonim Hassidic community, triggering an uproar among liberal Jerusalemites. Havilio said the mayor’s plan was illegal, and various opponents threatened a lawsuit.

“This is a historic mistake,” Havilio told In Jerusalem. “At present, the border between haredi residents and institutions and non-haredi ones is on Hanevi’im Street. A haredi seminary would move the border by a few meters south to Jaffa Road. The city center will then not be allowed to have places of entertainment, cafés, or stores that could remain open on Shabbat or any liberal projects.

I think it is wrong to turn what could make an important museum into something isolated, Now, here's yet another, more troubling piece that certainly confirms what the first one's allegedly concerned about:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemns “horrific” comments made by Rabbi Dov Lando, the spiritual leader of the ultra-Orthodox Degel Hatorah political faction, who said yesterday that religious soldiers were committing murder by serving in the army.

Lando denounced those in the religious Zionist community who serve in the army, at a meeting with heads of the Mir Yeshiva, at his home in Bnei Brak: “I am speaking about those with knitted kippas that are required to go.”

“If the state sends people, soldiers, for the honor of the state, and they kill people, is that also permissible? It’s very much murder. So they incite murder. They wage wars not only for the sake of salvation, but for the honor of the state,” he said.

In a statement released by his office, Netanyahu condemns the comments.

“IDF soldiers, secular and Haredi, leave their homes, their work and their families, and risk their lives in order to protect the State of Israel, its citizens and all of the nation of Israel,” Netanyahu says.

“They deserve deep appreciation, gratitude, and full support from all segments of the public, and certainly from the world of Torah,” the statement reads.

One could reasonably wonder if Lando sympathizes with Islamic jihadists. His words certainly tell exactly what the Hamas would want to hear, and Lando's effectively desecrated the memory of millions of victims of barbarism in all forms. Based on this, how can such Haredi clans claim they're not antisemitic/self-haters? In this report, it notes that:

Rabbi Lando accused Religious Zionist figures who support IDF enlistment of encouraging “actual murder," claiming that soldiers are sent to fight “not only for the sake of saving lives, but also for the honor of the state."

Here, it sounds like he's saying it's inherently wrong to save innocent lives, and acting as though honor for the state is also wrong. And then we wonder how else October 7, 2023 occurred, in addition to irresponsible military officials. Lando's lack of moral compass is another reason why the tragedy occurred. He shouldn't be recognized as a rabbi at all. He's nothing but a shoddy fraud in a black suit and hat who's more addicted to the socialist ideology than serious liberty and freedom. People like him are exactly what's taking us back to the dark ages.

So as far as national security crises go, Lando's definitely providing examples of why we need to be on the lookout for 5th column inciters who're as bad as their more leftist counterparts.

Haredis continue protesting against community members enlisting in army

The sad case of hoodlums and trespassers rioting continues in Ramat Gan and Jerusalem:

Ultra-Orthodox demonstrators protested Wednesday outside army recruitment centers in Ramat Gan and Jerusalem, where new Haredi IDF recruits were set for enlistment.

In footage of the protest near Ramat Gan’s Tel Hashomer, on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, at least a hundred young men in ultra-Orthodox garb were seen gathered outside the center, some sitting cross-legged on the road as cars honked at them.

Over a dozen demonstrators attempted to break into the recruitment center in Tel Hashomer, the Israel Hayom outlet reported.

According to the daily, some 140 ultra-Orthodox young men were expected to be conscripted into combat support roles, sparking anger among extremist anti-draft groups. Many ultra-Orthodox Jews believe that military service is incompatible with their way of life, and fear that those who enlist will be secularized.

In Jerusalem, where protesters chanted against IDF enlistment, police officers at the scene declared the gathering unlawful and worked to disperse the demonstrators, police said in a statement.

Considering how negatively insular the ultra-Orthodox customs they follow are, that's why "secularization" is almost a blessing. But of course, if the recruits want to, they can always arrange for Torah studies in the army proper. All the vandals who took part in incidents like this should be heavily fined to compensate for the serious damage they've caused.

A woman who wisely chose not to return to Jewish "Taliban cult"

Here's an interview with a woman who wisely left what's called a "taliban cult", one of the worst products of Haredi clans like the Satmar and Lev Tahor in Israel:

When Rose Feldman wants to explain where she came from, she looks through her phone for a photo from the not-so-distant past. For a moment, it is hard to connect the young woman with flowing hair sitting in the room with the girl staring back from the screen: covered from head to toe, her head wrapped in a burqa-like covering.

She rarely allowed herself to be photographed in those years, but that rare image says a great deal about the world she came from. To outsiders, they were known as the “Taliban cult” or the “shawl women.” For Rose, it was simply life itself: the world in which she grew up after her family joined the cult.

Today, as she volunteers for national service at a boarding home for children removed from their families — a home very similar to, and located near, the one where she herself spent her later teenage years — Rose can define more clearly than ever just how abnormal the place she grew up in really was. “Everything was very detached. We moved all the time from place to place,” she says.

The cult, built on a sophisticated system of control by multiple authority figures who frequently change, is constantly evading the authorities. School was out of the question. From the moment her family joined the cult, when she was 8, she stopped studying.

‘The shock of my life’

Rose’s life was defined by wandering: from Jerusalem to Tiberias and from there to Bnei Brak, often at night, in order to evade the authorities. Sometimes they slept in cemeteries and at the graves of righteous figures. Every so often, someone would be added to or removed from the family.

“At one point, I was raising a baby who was not even connected to our family,” she says. What sounds absurd now felt almost self-evident to her at the time. “I was mature from a young age,” she says, because she always knew she had one purpose in life: “They teach you to prepare to be a mother. That is the role. That is what a woman is supposed to do in the world.”

One of her friends was already engaged at 11. Rose was told she was engaged — to a man she did not know and had never even met — when she was 14, two weeks before the planned wedding. “Relatively late,” she says. “He was in Jerusalem and I was in Tiberias,” she recalls. Although she had been prepared for that moment throughout her short life, when it finally arrived she was mainly “in the shock of my life. Just stunned.” Rose was brought to Jerusalem, to the place where the wedding was supposed to take place. But the ceremony never happened. Moments before it began, police raided the site and arrested everyone present. Rose was taken to a police station and from there to an emergency center. Afterward, by court order, she was formally removed from her home and transferred to a boarding school. [...]

For her, service at the boarding home is an opportunity to give back to the place that gave her safe ground and allowed her to choose a life different from the one laid out for her. It is also a deeply personal closing of the circle. “The children are my heart,” she says. “When a child chooses to share something with me, it is worth everything. It is the most meaningful thing I could have done.”

The psychological control and prohibitions: ‘You’ll go to hell’

The police raid on Rose’s child wedding was dramatic and traumatic, but it was far from the happy ending of the story. As the cliché goes, you can take the girl out of the cult, but you cannot take the cult out of the girl.

Another four years would pass before Rose decided, in a single phone call, that she was not going back. Reaching that moment required enormous patience and acceptance from the staff at the last boarding school where she was educated — an Or Shalom family home operated for and supervised by the Welfare Ministry. Eventually, because of the seeds planted during that period, and very much because of Rose herself, she decided to begin a new life.

Read the full article. It's very fortunate she came to her senses, considering all the intimidation tactics they brainwashed her with. Such cults have to be dismantled and dispersed, and her parents, whether they were Haredi or not, should be utterly ashamed of themselves for doing something that could've endangered her health and life, along with her humanity and dignity. Now, she's lucky to have found and regained it again.

Religious families of Golani brigade soldiers who disliked women singing at event should be ashamed of themselves

We recently had here another case of religious families and soldiers who cowardly follow the belief they shouldn't listen to women sing, effectively desecrating the memory of the biblical Miriam:

An end-of-training ceremony for Golani Brigade soldiers at Golani Junction sparked disappointment among some religious soldiers and their families after organizers announced that women's singing would be included as part of the event.

According to the father of one of the graduating soldiers, attendees were informed before the ceremony began that female vocal performances would accompany the program and that anyone who objected could step aside during those portions. Parents had arrived at the site as early as 5:00 a.m. to attend the ceremony following the soldiers' concluding march.

The father said that, in practice, a number of religious soldiers and their families repeatedly left the parade ground whenever female soldiers performed. However, he argued that the loudspeaker system surrounding the area meant they could still hear the singing, making the arrangement ineffective. Throughout the ceremony, officers addressed the graduates and praised their families, with musical performances alternating between speeches. "You could see mothers with headscarves and fathers wearing kippot walking aside again and again," he said.

According to the father, his own son joined the groups leaving during the performances, returning to formation after each song before departing again when the next performance began. "It was a disgrace," he said, adding that his son later told him, "Is this what we walked dozens of kilometers all night for, that they would spit in our faces?" The father said the experience left many feeling they were being singled out rather than accommodated.

After the ceremony, several parents reportedly tried to locate the unit's rabbi, who had attended similar events in the past, but were told he had already left. "We couldn't do much," the father said. "It's a military ceremony, and we respect the army and the event, but I don't understand how mutual that respect really is."

If they don't have the courage to listen to women sing, let alone dance, what are they fighting for exactly? And why does this article feel so biased in their favor? After October 7, 2023, that they would continue this shoddy embarrassment and corruption of Judaism is repulsive, and did they ever consider they're humiliating the lady singers? One sure thing, if I had a daughter who sang there and they tried to get her censored, I'd press police charges against said religious families and soldiers for making petty issues at a lady's expense. It's been argued in the past that modern generations aren't being taught to defend/respect a woman's honor and dignity. By refusing to appreciate a woman's ability to sing and dance for the right reasons, they're perpetuating such a problem. And again, they're disrespecting biblical Miriam as well.

Update: INN appears to have erased the article. Is it really that embarrassing for them that they gave such a report sans objectivity? This definitely is surprising now.

Former Haredi girl becomes fashion stylist

So here's an interview with a former resident of a Haredi clan who became a fashion designer after being expelled from school over petty issue. First:

Chumi Polak is a familiar name in Israel’s fashion industry: a busy stylist who works on productions, commercials and with artists. But many people only recently learned her name in a very different context, as the partner of musician and judge Assaf Amdursky, whom she has been dating for the past year and a half. Polak had also dressed Amdursky over the years, and when the timing was right, love followed. [...]

Amdursky is 55 and you are 36, a 19-year age gap.

“That’s true, but there’s a difference between a 20-year-old woman dating a 40-year-old man and a gap like this at our age,” she said. “I think the age difference becomes much less significant. Assaf is Peter Pan, someone who is constantly in motion. He’s a second-year film student and also plans to pursue a doctorate. He is always doing something, he takes care of himself and he looks wow.

“I’ve also been through a thing or two, and I feel very mature. I don’t think I could be with a man in his 30s. I feel Assaf is a man who knows what he wants, and I love that.”

Oh, it's okay for a 20 year old woman to date a 40 year old man. Such things are practically discussed in the Torah/Bible too, and from a modern perspective, if the lady is 18 and up, then it's perfectly legal and in good taste. Now, on the background of the fashionista herself:

Polak’s appearance, an edgy blonde with a cool haircut and hipster style, gives little hint that she came from a completely different world. She was born in Jerusalem to a Haredi family, the eldest of six children. “Chumi is short for Nechama,” she said. “My mother called me that from a young age and it stuck. It’s a name that always raises questions and I always explain it. In recent years, I’ve even started introducing myself again as Nechama. Nechama Miriam Pearl Polak.”

Her mother was born in London, “a Yiddish-speaking Haredi woman who came to Israel and married my Haredi father. I have a wonderful family and amazing parents, and I am very close to everyone. On the other hand, I was always something a little unusual in that landscape.

“I felt people didn’t understand me. I asked questions in a society where questions were not encouraged. I was stubborn, someone who stood her ground, not the kind of good, obedient girl who tries to please everyone. I was a bit wild and hyperactive. I had character.”

Polak grew up “in a very Haredi neighborhood” and studied at Bais Yaakov girls' school until ninth grade, when her family moved to Bnei Brak. “My father became close to a certain admor (Hasidic rebe), and my parents moved to live in his court,” she said.

What happened?

“One day we had a free period at the seminary, and my cousin, another friend and I ran away to the beach through a hole in the fence,” she said. “We rolled up our tights and our skirts and got our feet wet in the water.

“That evening, an older red-haired man came to my parents’ door with a letter saying someone had seen us and that I was suspended from school immediately. They demanded that we apologize and sign a code of conduct bylaw. My mother begged me to do it, but I refused. I didn’t feel I had done anything so terrible that I needed to apologize. My cousin and the other friend apologized, signed and were allowed back. I was expelled.”

In the Haredi community, she said, being expelled from one school makes it difficult to be accepted to another. “That’s how I found myself without any framework for half a year, and people more or less shut me out,” she said. “Before that, I had been very popular in class. Suddenly, no one called. Silence.” “During that half year, I had free time, I started going out and discovered the world. A little before I turned 16, I moved to Jerusalem. I had a few friends there who were older than me. I moved in with them and started waitressing. I was still religious and waitressed in long skirts. After half a year, I moved to London.”

It's a bold step. “Yes,” she said. “I did extreme, dramatic things without fear and without much thought. I’m more measured today, but that’s my nature. I’m impulsive and I’m not afraid. No one in my family left home or left religion, but I just did. I flew to London without thinking it through, with 100 pounds in my pocket.

“I had a friend there who worked at mall carts, and I have a British passport because of my mother. I sold hair and beauty products from carts inside stores like Harrods and Selfridges and made a lot of money. The pound was worth eight shekels, and sometimes I would make 1,000 pounds a day.”

Well see, when certain segments of society act so petty, that's certainly atrocious, and seriously, she was right to leave the Haredi community where she was born. Her parents shouldn't have been part of it either. It also says here that:

Have you already left religion at that stage?

“It took some time. But I remember that Shabbat in London when I was 17, when I left the house and ordered a hamburger with bacon. Both Shabbat and bacon. I woke up in the morning and said, ‘Okay, let’s see what happens,’ and nothing happened. It was cool.

“I never had an issue with Judaism. I just wanted to see everything. But faith always stayed in me, and actually the older I get, the more I return to religion. For the past five years, I’ve been eating kosher again, and I also keep Shabbat once a month. It does me good. When I visit my parents, I always dress modestly.”

Perhaps she shouldn't, although good for her she resumed kosher eating again. But that sex-negative hysteria has got to go, because it's having a ruinous effect on women's confidence and dignity, and we could seriously do without it. It's also alluded to at the end:

How would you define your style?

“I’m very eclectic, and every day I can be someone else. I love vintage and mixing designer pieces with vintage, but not anything too revealing. Even as a stylist, I don’t dress people very exposed. I don’t like it. The Bais Yaakov girl stayed in me.

“You’ll never see me in tank tops or flip-flops. It just doesn’t feel refined to me. I also work a lot with the Haredi sector. I understand the nuances and subtleties, what is allowed and what isn’t, the language, and the trends there.

“To this day, I still have amazing pleated skirts from seminary. There’s no style like that. I shortened one into a mini and gave it a Miu Miu feel, and left another as a midi. It’s wow, and it’s chic.”

Again, this is a weakness she has to overcome. It's the personality that matters, not whether the clothing is modest or revealing. I hope she'll come to understand that, and she doesn't need to do business with the Haredi segment, unless perhaps to help convince them to leave it. That could be very helpful, considering the Satmar, if any, have been one of the worst 5th columns for decades now.

Women also need room for prayer

The writer Shmuel Sackett noticed something very troubling during one of his overseas trips to the USA when it comes to how women can pray:

I am writing this article on an EL AL flight back to Israel, having concluded a two-week visit with family and friends. New York - or at least the few parts that I saw - looked the same to me, with one new addition in the frum community that everyone is excited about: The 24 hour “Minyan Factory" which allows you to daven anytime you want. I must admit that these places are extremely convenient and I davened in the “Non-Stop Minyanim" in the Five Towns and also in the brand new one in Monticello on St John St. From mikveh to mincha… and from Kaddish to coffee, these places offer everything Am Yisrael needs… except one. A woman's section. Women are not welcomed in these minyan factories.

How do I know? Simple! I came to daven one morning with my wife (what a rebel!!) and innocently asked where the women’s section is? The gabbai of the Non-Stop Minyanim on Cedarhurst Ave waved his hands - as if to say: “Please don’t ask ridiculous questions"… but I pressed on. “Seriously, my wife wants to daven. Where is there a place for women?" Realizing that I was not joking around he apologized and told me that there are so many men coming to daven that there is just no room for women. I thanked him for his explanation but made sure I got in the last word. “It’s unfortunate how you found room for pizza and sushi but not for women."

The minyan factory in the Catskills was exactly the same. A tremendous amount of money was invested into buying a big house in Monticello, which was renovated from top to bottom. The rooms are big, spacious and clean. There is a beautiful Bet Midrash in the building as well, where guys can sit and learn and there is a mikveh downstairs that is modern and nice. There are coffee machines, vending machines and even a small Judaica store which sells everything a family needs. However, just like the Five Towns, this minyan factory does not have a mechitza, allowing women to daven.

Please don’t misunderstand me. When I write that we need to have a place for women to daven, I am not pushing the agenda of “The Women of the Wall". Those women are not interested in davening, they simply want to fight. Their agenda is to break the religious hold on the Kotel and to water down authentic Tefila with reform Judaism. My words are the complete opposite! I am referring to our holy wives, mothers, sisters and daughters whose power of prayer can pierce the heavens! [...]

What has happened to us? When did we begin to distort concepts - in the name of holiness - that actually drive us away from our Father in Heaven? Am Yisrael desperately needs the tefilot of our Eishet Chayils, women of valor, and we need to welcome them in every shul we build. Countless commentaries and passages in the Talmud teach us that it was because of the women that we left Egypt. We all know that women loved the land of Israel, so were not punished in the sin of the spies and did not die in the desert… only the men! Nothing is purer than the tefilot of women who do not look at their watches (or cellphones) when they daven. They cry when they daven - much more than men - and their heartfelt words penetrate the “Gates of Tears", which have never been locked.

I assume frum alludes to a Haredi community, but whoever's running the store in the neighborhood he speaks of has certainly done it again, and embarrassed Judaism for the sake of selfishness and irresponsibility. That's the precise problem that's already long brought down Orthodox Judaism. Perhaps since this is in New York where this is taking place, that too is why this is regrettably happening, and what if it turns out some of these communities are so leftist they support Zohran Mamdani? One more reason they're being utterly shameful with their exclusion of women even from prayer services.

Jerusalem cafe should remain open on Shabbat, if that's how these Haredi thugs are going to behave on the very day

A cafe in Jerusalem works on Shabbat, and unshockingly, some Haredi hooligans decided to harrass customers:

The owner of Cafe Basimta in Jerusalem’s Nahlaot neighborhood, Yoel Ben David, clarified on Saturday in a conversation with Walla that he will continue to open his business on weekends despite the ultra-Orthodox protest that took place at his cafe.

The Jerusalem Post magazine had highlighted Cafe Basimta last week as a new specialty caffeine spot which could serve as a "home away from home" for those seeking a quiet area in Jerusalem.

Ben David described his fear that the protest could turn violent and noted that the broad support he received from Jerusalem residents encouraged him to continue as usual.

Speaking to Walla, Ben David described the tense moments and addressed the protesters’ use of children during the demonstration.

"Suddenly they arrived, and it was disturbing and quite sad to see small children being sent to bang on windows and overturn tables," Ben David said. [...]

Despite the protesters’ harsh response, the business owner is drawing encouragement from the mobilization of the city’s secular public. Several hours after the confrontation began, dozens of residents from across Jerusalem arrived at the site to express support and bolster the staff.

"I feel very encouraged; there is a large community here that supports us," Ben David concluded, adding that he was moved by the wave of messages and phone calls he had received from many residents since the morning.

It's far from the worst thing that could happen that a restaurant would be open on Shabbat, and offensive that the Haredis would come about in such a repugnant way. That's practically what led to October 7, 2023, and after that horror, these kind of offensive "protests" can't be done anymore.

Of course, we have to hope the police will make sure there's no attempts at arson, realizing the ultra-Orthodox extremists have been capable of committing offensive crimes like those that could endanger lives. Everything must be done to ensure that no matter what one thinks of Shabbat, no terrible incidents occur to this restaurant.

Reintegrating Haredis into wider society will be expectedly difficult

Michael J. Salomon and Louis Libin give some observations as to what's wrong with the ultra-Orthodox mindset that's led to shocking contempt of wider society to the point they'd block transportation on the roads:

The haredi (ultra-Orthodox) world has long stood apart, wrapped in its own traditions and ways, but lately, the gap between its insular mindset and the broader society, which includes the National-Religious and a large part of the Yeshiva world, has grown alarmingly wide.

This divide isn’t just about religious practice or lifestyle choices; it’s about a dangerous attitude that echoes some of the very forces that led to the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash – the most sacred site in Judaism. [...]

This sense of entitlement is rooted in narcissism, a belief that they are somehow superior to the rest of society. It’s a psychological state where the self inflates to ridiculous proportions, creating a delusional bubble where reality is distorted.

People caught in this mindset genuinely believe they are better, holier, or more important than their neighbors, to an extent that can defy compassion.

This isn’t just arrogance. It’s a dangerous delusion of grandeur from some. Those who hold these beliefs have convinced themselves that their community’s way is not only right but inherently above the rules that bind everyone else.

This thinking fractures the social fabric because it undermines the principle that we all share responsibility for each other. When a group believes it can opt out of contributing to the common good while still drawing heavily from society’s resources, it breeds resentment and division. It’s a betrayal of the values that hold a nation together.

The behavior of some members of this community in public spaces only deepens the crisis. Their presence in street protests or confrontations often comes across as an embarrassment, not just to the broader society but to their own heritage.

It’s painful to think about the grandparents and great-grandparents who served the nation, who sacrificed for the collective good, seeing their descendants acting in ways that seem to reject those very ideals. The older generations understood the meaning of contributing to the nation’s welfare and respecting laws.

But the real question isn’t just about judgment or moral outrage. It’s about solutions: how do we address this behavior in a way that restores balance and fairness?

How do we reintegrate a community that seems to be isolated, entitled, and that threatens social cohesion? One idea that came from a young voice in this conversation was to arrest those causing disruption and then require them to perform support work for the army.

Something they shouldn't be allowed to do is bear arms, because if they could assault people and commit vandalism and arson, who knows how long it could be before the criminal offenders are willing to attack with knives and guns? What they definitely need for now is a good psychologist, and it can't be according to the permission of their spiritual gurus, that's for sure. Even then, reintegrating them will sadly take ages.

The haredi world stands at a crossroads. It can choose to embrace a path of integration and shared responsibility, honoring both its heritage and its place within the larger society. Or it can continue down a road of division and entitlement, risking further isolation and conflict. The choice will shape the future for the entire nation.

In the end, the solution is as much psychological as it is political. It calls for a reckoning with the narcissism and delusion that fuel this crisis, and a recommitment to the values that once united everyone.

Yes, that's correct, and exactly why the offenders badly need a shrink. That's probably one of the best ways to make them realize how badly they've screwed up, and apologize for the damage they've done.

Religious studies are not an excuse for committing crimes

Rabbi Pini Dunner wrote about why Haredis cannot use their alleged interest in religious studies as excuses for committing offenses:

This week, thousands of Israelis found themselves trapped in traffic as Haredi demonstrations brought major highways and railway lines to a standstill. Routes 1, 4 and 6 were blocked.

Traffic on the Ayalon Highway ground to a halt. Trains were stopped, passengers forced to get off, and people attempting to reach Ben-Gurion Airport were stranded. Inevitably, there were clashes with police and confrontations with frustrated motorists.

In one particularly tasteless display, protesters wore yellow stars modelled on those imposed on Jews by the Nazis, except that the word “Jew" had been replaced with “deserter."

On which note, I'd forgotten to mention it before, but those who vandalized the house of a deputy justice in Alon Shvut also brought Israeli flag pages with a swastika in place of a Star of David. That was one of the most antisemitic acts so-called Judaists could possibly commit, and makes clear self-haters aren't limited to the secular leftists. More on that news in the next article highlighted.

The demonstrations were organized by the extremist Haredi group known as the Peleg Yerushalmi, Jerusalem Faction, in response to the arrest of Haredi draft evaders and those who surrounded the private home of the Deputy Chief Justice last week.

To be clear, the protesters did not represent every Haredi Jew, or even every Haredi opponent of military enlistment. But the position they espouse is not confined to this small vocal group. Haredi politicians and rabbinic authorities repeatedly assert that military service threatens the spiritual identity of Haredi young men and must be avoided at all costs.

The army, they say, is not merely physically dangerous; it is religiously dangerous. A young man immersed in Torah study would enter the IDF spiritually refined and emerge diminished. His standards will decline, his outlook will change, and his commitment to Torah will weaken.

Considering it's all written about when it comes to Moses, who asked if certain figures would just sit it out while their brothers went to war, that's why what the Haredi opposition did is just trash talk. They should be utterly ashamed of themselves, and it's decidedly time they left the country. Why, as some could validly argue, those who committed the offenses are unsuited for the army and also unemployable. Perhaps a country like Afghanistan would be a better residential area for them, and they definitely are doing exactly what the Islamofascists would want.

Now since we're on the issue, 4 Haredis from Bet Shemesh, no less, have been indicted for the horror story they caused in Alon Shvut, against a supreme court deputy who happens to be a religious man himself:

Prosecutors on Sunday indicted four men from Beit Shemesh for rioting at the home of Deputy Supreme Court President Noam Sohlberg in the West Bank settlement of Alon Shvut on June 3.

Sohlberg’s home was attacked in the protest, with windows smashed and the entrance vandalized, and some of the protesters reportedly planned to physically harm the justice.

The four are the first to be indicted over the destructive demonstration against the judge, who enraged Haredi leaders with a November ruling that called for criminal sanctions on draft-evading yeshiva students. Police have nabbed dozens of suspected participants in the violent demonstration.

The defendants were identified as Nachman Platnik, 20; Abraham Fried, 20; Gershon Hanoun, 21; and Shimon Atep, 41. All have been in custody since the day of the attack, according to the indictment, and prosecutors informed the court they would seek prison sentences. The defendants will remain in custody until the court says otherwise.

All four defendants were charged with rioting, and Platnik and Fried were also charged with trespassing in order to commit a crime.

Posters announcing the planned riot were plastered on roads and synagogues in the Haredi city of Bnei Brak on the day of the incident, said the indictment, which was filed in the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court.

What's stunning is that the police surely were aware of this, yet did not act to prevent them from reaching the area. The defendants should not be released, and should receive psychological counseling in prison if they're ever to be part of regular society again.

“Many dozens” of rioters blocked Sohlberg’s street, yelled derogatory chants including “Nazi” and brought small Israeli flags with a swastika instead of a Star of David, according to the indictment.

They also stoned the judge’s home, and smashed windows, potted plants in the entrance and the windshield of the judge’s car, prosecutors said.

Some of Sohlberg’s neighbors mistook the violent protest for a terror attack and entered safe rooms, the indictment said. It added that some neighbors also tried to confront the rioters, and one neighbor was attacked by rioters and had his kippah snatched.

That too was an antisemitic act. Seriously, it's doubtful these particular Haredis actually respect their own faith as opposed to their "interpretation" of it.

The monsters in black hats and suits haven't stopped at the deputy justice's doorstep either. They've practically gone after the chief justice of the supreme court as well:

Dozens of extremist ultra-Orthodox demonstrators rallied on Sunday outside the home of Supreme Court President Isaac Amit in Mevasseret Zion to protest the arrest of a Haredi military draft dodger.

Police dispersed the demonstration after a short while, according to Hebrew media reports.

It was the latest demonstration by Haredim to target a court official. Earlier this month, ultra-Orthodox rioters attacked the home of Deputy Supreme Court President Noam Sohlberg, smashing windows and causing property damage, while trying to break into the residence in the West Bank settlement of Alon Shvut.

The above may have been dealt with in short order, but it was surely possible to have prevented the rioters from reaching the area to start with. This is utterly atrocious and the ringleaders must be exposed, arrested and imprisoned. They're as bad as some far-left activists too, and it's to be hoped serious prison sentences will be given to the monsters who're desecrating the Torah. It's also chilling to think of what if these ultra-Orthodox would even go so far as to commit arson against a synagogue and Torah scrolls. If nothing proper is done, those could be the next targets of those some may least expect as being capable of committing such a heinous act.

Update: unshockingly, now the Haredi parties like UTJ are planning a mass protest traveling to military prisons to protest the jailings. More information here. If the authorities don't take any proper action, that's wrong, and only perpetuates a sorry situation all the more.

Of course it's not solely antisemitic to criticize Haredis when they commit offensive crimes

So here's a writer who wants to make a point that there are legitimate ways to criticize Haredis when they do some repulsive like vandalize the house of a supreme court justice or worse, all because they don't want to serve in the army:

It is undeniable that political depictions of the haredim (ultra-Orthodox) occasionally dip into the bucket of antisemitic tropes. Haaretz contributors have referred to specific sects as “parasites,” and TV personality Galit Gutman notoriously labeled them “bloodsuckers” on live TV.

As the most visibly Jewish community in Israel, haredim face a reality mirrored on the streets of Brooklyn and London: those who look the “most Jewish” are often the most targeted. Haredim have even been victims of hate crimes. In one infamous case last year, a haredi couple near an anti-government demonstration in Tel Aviv were physically assaulted due to their appearance.

The defense that Israel is a Jewish state provides no immunity. There is a plethora of historical evidence to testify that Jews have never been immune from jew-hatred by dint of heritage.

Yet, despite these flashes of bigotry, anti-haredi rhetoric is fundamentally distinct from antisemitism, and treating it as such concedes haredim much more than a narrative of victimhood.

[...] Therefore, the question must be asked: What is it, inherently, about haredi Jewishness that so infuriates their critics?

Take what is perhaps the most cited statistic in Israeli public discourse: the 15,000-shekel gap between the average haredi and non-haredi family’s contribution to the state. Or consider the widespread fury over the refusal to serve in the IDF. Notice what is absent from both of these grievances? Any inherently Jewish element.

Another problem that's angered the public is their denigrating view of women, to the point where they demand dressing modestly and sit at the back of the bus, that women not be singing and dancing, and even want censorship of women in advertising, for example. Those are serious and valid issues to take with the Haredis, and strange the writer didn't seem to bring that up.

To test this, let’s substitute the haredim with an entirely different demographic group. Suppose secular Ashkenazi Jews occupied this exact socio-economic position, maintaining this same rejection of civic duty as a conscious, collective lifestyle choice.

What would society call them? I imagine “parasites” would be one of the milder labels used, their devout commitment to secularism and heritage notwithstanding. While there may very well be some anti-religious sentiment mixed into the public outrage, that does not equate to antisemitism. The hostility has nothing to do with the particularities of Jewish practice itself; it is a reaction to a civic imbalance. The ultimate proof? Neither this intensity of opposition, nor these supposedly antisemitic tropes, are ever weaponized against Religious Zionists.

Ultimately, labeling mainstream Israeli criticism as “antisemitism” betrays a much deeper ideological pathology within the haredi worldview.

First, it assumes their specific lifestyle is completely synonymous with Judaism itself, granting them an absolute monopoly on authentic Jewish expression. This monopoly warps their understanding of the draft and of Israeli society.

In their worldview, the state isn’t demanding they serve out of a basic need for civic equality. Rather, as Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch of the hardline Badatz (Eda Haredit Rabbinical Court) recently claimed, secular Israelis see the haredi brand of authentic Judaism and are “fiercely jealous of us.”

Second, and more profoundly, weaponizing the charge of antisemitism fundamentally denies the nature of the Jewish state. By branding their tax-paying, military-serving Jewish neighbors as antisemites, haredi leadership rhetorically excommunicates the rest of the country.

It signals a refusal to accept the reality of a sovereign Jewish society, choosing instead to operate as if they are living in an alien, hostile diaspora where the “outside world” and “antisemitic persecutor” are one and the same.

Another problem is how they all but segregate themselves and do something similar to what some non-Jewish societies do: predetermine their viewpoint and refuse to take a deeper look with a magnifying glass. Nor do they make any distinctions between what's in good or bad taste. They even reject the idea of reading literature that doesn't meet their worldview, if at all. That does not bode well, and requires a serious fix that'll take ages to repair, if at all.

Interestingly enough, there was a rabbi who spoke out against the "protests":

At the same time, Rabbi Salim firmly condemned the street demonstrations and called on yeshiva students to stay away from them.

"The demonstrations do not help - they cause harm, take people away from learning, and accustom them to violence," he said. "Efforts must be made through quiet channels - visits, phone calls - and one must remain aligned with the instructions of the rabbis."

Yet at the same time, these "rabbis" are still a bad influence in how they teach to literally follow a flesh-and-blood human instead of God's positions, and/or think for themselves. That's another very troubling issue.

Since we're on the subject, here's another writer who believes Haredis could make good employees in weapons factories:

Think about it. The Israel Defense Forces isn’t only suffering from a shortage of front-line troops. It also faces a grave shortage of munitions: guns, bullets, mortars, drones, artillery shells, missiles, interceptors and the like.

Israel must massively expand its domestic weapons industry, but it needs more workers to do so. At the same time, the governing coalition has collapsed under the weight of the Haredi military exemption.

Here’s a solution for both problems: Let Haredi men work in Israeli arms factories without being drafted, and count hours worked toward mandatory national service. This enables them to meet one of Israel’s vital defense needs without submitting to the control of a military establishment they don’t trust.

That could be a solution, with the remaining query being whether they'd accept, and whether they know better than to "turn traitor" and use said weapons for bad purposes, especially if they're members of a clan like Neturei Karta. If all concerns can be overcome, then who knows? Maybe something positive can come from that suggestion.

Bus companies must stop providing services to Haredi extremists who participate in vandalism

From what's told in this report, it sounds like the Haredi rioters who attacked the house of a supreme court deputy had hired a bus company to drive them to the spot:

During the hearing it was revealed that a police patrol car that was in the area during the disturbance did not intervene in the incident. A police representative explained that the two officers in the vehicle fled the scene because of the large number of rioters.

The police said that the forces joined additional units and only after gathering sufficient force did they act, out of concern for the safety of the officers' lives.

The police asked to extend the suspects' detention by 12 days and claimed they were identified on a bus that left the scene after the incident. They said there is footage linking them to the location as well as other investigative material that is still being analyzed.

Judge Sahrai ruled that this was "a serious and dangerous incident" and that there is reasonable suspicion of the detainees' involvement. He said that at this stage it is not possible to determine each suspect's exact role, but the court can accept the police position that the disturbance was carried out jointly and in a premeditated, organized manner. He also noted that some suspects refused to identify themselves and did not cooperate with investigators, which raises a concern of obstructing the investigation.

At the same time, the judge ordered several suspects released to six days of house arrest. In addition, the bus driver was released without any conditions after it was determined that the likelihood of his involvement in the disturbance was "slim to non-existent."

The judge criticized the police for not checking the driver's account, who said he had made the trip according to the instructions of the company marshal who employs him.

If a bus company manager was willing to provide any kind of material backing for dangerously violent criminals, that's very serious, and underlines the shocking problem of business agents who care far more about money than safety and dignity. What this means is that the authorities are going to have to make clear to transportation companies that any sources that suspicious must be screened carefully and the police must be informed before being allowed to use their services. And stiff fines must be issued to those who fail to uphold the law, along with potential closure of their business. As for the ultra-Orthodox vandals themselves, they have to be heavily fined as much as imprisoned, and most important of all, deprogrammed from the indoctrination they were raised under.

Update: here's more details on the investigation.

Haredi extremists vandalized the home of a court justice

Once more, the Haredi extremists who're doing exactly what the Islamofascists would want have struck again, this time committing horrific vandalism:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the ultra-Orthodox riots that took place outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg on Wednesday night in opposition to his order to increase arrests of draft evaders.

“I strongly condemn the violent riot against Justice Noam Sohlberg. Law enforcement must apply the full force of the law against the rioters,” he stated. The Prime Minister's Office said that Netanyahu called Sohlberg to inquire about his well-being and inquire whether or not he would press charges against the trespassers.

Extremist protesters caused significant property damage by smashing windows, damaging his car, and attempting to break into Sohlberg's house before attempting to flee the scene.

Police arrived at the scene shortly after and began detaining dozens of individuals for disorderly conduct.

Magen David Adom (MDA) was also called to the scene after the riot was dispersed to attend to Sohlberg, who was reportedly feeling unwell.

Justice Sohlberg's wife, Meira Sohlberg, spoke to reporters following the riot.

"It cannot be that Jews do this to one another. We are children of Holocaust survivors. Jews harming each other like this - how can it be? How can it be? Look at the destruction. A pogrom. What is this? A Kristallnacht. How is this possible? There are no words.”

Later that night, Ynet reported that dozens of haredi (ultra-Orthodox) demonstrators had blocked the Kikar HaShabbat intersection in Jerusalem, in protest of the arrest of individuals outside of Sohlberg's home.

Israeli leaders decry violent attack on Sohlberg's home

In reaction to the incident, Justice Minister Yariv Levin stressed the serious nature of the riot and stated the violence deserves full condemnation.

“I hope that this time, law enforcement will fulfill its role in enforcing the law and curbing the violence. Those who have said there is no effective protest without disruption of public order, and who have legitimized severe violence and refusal by left-wing demonstrators, also bear direct responsibility for the rampant violence," he said.

“I stand with Deputy President Sohlberg and his family during these difficult hours and call on everyone to refrain from any violence, which has no place and is unacceptable.”

Defense Minister Israel Katz said that he “strongly condemns the attempted break-in at the home of Deputy President of the Supreme Court, Justice Noam Sohlberg.”

He added, “The rioters who carried out this serious act have no connection to the Torah or the values of the people of Israel. This is a small group of extremist criminals acting with violence and bullying, harming the values of the Torah world. In a state governed by law, there is no place for attempts at intimidation, violence, or threats against judges.”

As noted here:

After damaging the home, the protesters boarded a bus and tried to leave the scene. Large police forces arrived in the area, stopped the bus and locked the protesters inside until additional forces arrived. More than 50 Haredim were arrested.

Well that proves they knew what they were doing was wrong, seeing they tried to commit flight from arrest. Meanwhile, this is one of the worst examples of how ultra-Orthodox clans are crossing the line post-October 7, 2023, and beggars serious queries like whether law enforcement is going to take any preemptive steps to preventing Haredi extremists from blocking roads and even reaching the residencies of prominent law enforcement agents to cause chaos? I think they could if they wanted to, and so far, they tragically haven't.

Bnei Brak resident arrested for sexually abusing 6-year-old boy

While repellent anti-Israel Haredi clans are blocking traffic to protest the arrest of draft dodgers, among other horrific acts, they completely ignore horrific cases like the following:

Police arrested a 35-year-old Bnei Brak resident named Meir Levi on suspicion of committing an indecent act against a 6-year-old boy in the city. Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court extended his detention until tomorrow. Police are calling on anyone who recognizes the suspect and was harmed by him to contact the Bnei Brak-Ramat Gan police.

It goes without saying this is another abominable example of how sexual abuse is one of the biggest disasters to occur in Haredi societies. That they only care about causing misery for anybody they don't agree with while this goes on speaks volumes.

Haredi anti-military protestors shouted antisemitic slurs at police in Arabic

If the following news is even half-correct, it makes clear the worst of Haredi clans have gone off the deep end:

Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) protests over the contentious draft bill and ongoing arrests of draft dodgers erupted across the center of the country and Jerusalem on Thursday afternoon, blocking traffic and disrupting public order.

The protests follow instructions from Rabbi Zvi Friedman, who, earlier on Thursday, called for protests after a wave of draft dodger arrests.

In Jerusalem, the protest was officially declared a riot by Israel Police, and officers from both Israel Police and Border Police worked to remove protesters from the Bar Ilan intersection.

A police officer and a passerby were both lightly injured after protesters threw stones at officers operating at the scene, according to Israel Police.

Footage circulating on social media also shows a protester shouting “Itbah al-Yahud,” an Arabic phrase that translates to “kill the Jews,” at officers.

Now that was really crossing the line, and proves that, if the clans these monsters come from could hang PLO flags in their neighborhoods, they're more than fully capable of being self-haters and antisemites too. Such monsters don't belong in the country, period, and above all that, spiritual gurus like the one mentioned have to be arrested and charged with encouraging crimes. These riots also took place around Bnei Brak, and there too it was utterly repulsive.

There is good news though, that these past 2 months saw a record rise in the number of Haredi army recruits, all despite the efforts of the extremists to stop it:

A total of 433 recruits enlisted through designated tracks for the ultra-Orthodox community during the IDF's April-May recruitment cycle, including a record 272 combat soldiers, the military said on Wednesday.

The figure marks an increase of approximately 24 percent compared to the corresponding cycle in the previous enlistment year. The cycle also set a new record in the Hashmonaim Brigade, where 96 combat soldiers are now training, and combat training programs are opening at their largest scale in three years.

The news is also reported here. The only objection I have is to whether they expect sex-segregated accomodations at the expense of lady army officials. That's wrong, and that's something the IDF must prove they can avoid. Other than that, it's good to see there's ultra-Orthodox who're willing to be responsible when it comes to defending the country.

Breslov-originating cult forced teens into marriage underage

The Knesset had a panel discussion with victims of a cult that may have been formed by members of the Haredi Breslov sect that was marrying teens underage:

The Knesset Committee for the Advancement of the Status of Women and Gender Equality held a special hearing on Tuesday following allegations of underage marriages in the northern town of Yavne’el, with lawmakers, survivors, and officials describing what committee members called a longstanding and deeply troubling phenomenon.

In 1986, a Breslov community largely consisting of baalei teshuvah (newly religious) adherents was established in Yavne'el by Rabbi Eliezer Shlomo Schick. The community numbers several hundred families and supports and promotes marriage at a very young age, with women marrying at age 15-16 and men at age 18.

Committee chair MK Merav Cohen opened the hearing by saying the issue has persisted for years despite repeated warnings and alleged failures by authorities to stop it.

“This has been in the background for two decades," Cohen said. “This is a principled debate about minors who are forced into marriage and sexual relationships at a young age. Time and again, the public is shocked, but nothing changes, and the authorities fail to stop a phenomenon that endangers lives."

Read more. It's angering how this continues to occur with authorities taking insufficient action against the cult leaders if that's what it takes to disperse these repellent cults. That has to change, and the worst part is that the Haredi parties in the Knesset probably won't avail in dealing with this issue.