It is amazing that about 10 people, or less, can instill fear on nearly half of a city. And that the police don't do anything about it. And that other community leaders don't do anything about putting stop to this group. Once again, they call themselves the "sikrikim", giving themselves a sense of ideology and holiness, as per the way the term is used in the gemara.
Kikar Shabbos reports that after a relative lull in their local activities, and a general quiet period, the self-appointed guardians of tzniyus standards and Jewish community behavior, are back in action, in Bet Shemesh once again.
Kikar reports that they have been busy threatening business owners that they either comply with the rules that they set down or else. When the business owner does not immediately comply, their storefront windows have turned up smashed almost immediately.
The report talks about a shoe store that was threatened to stop selling heeled shoes. When the owner did not remove the shoes from the store, the window was smashed. Another shoes store that was divided in 2 with a wall separating them and separate entrances was also approached and told they are not allowed to sell womens shoes at all. The windows were then smashed.
They approached another store, not even in their own neighborhood, that sells womens lingerie. The store does not open to the street, has no picture window with displays of merchandise and the clerks are all women. The group of enforcers went to the store and set a series of rules that must be complied with, including not selling more than 3 styles in any size, and only basic undergarments can be sold and only in one color.
A wig and makeup store, also in a different neighborhood was also attacked, because they did not approve of the way the storekeeper dressed. A stink bomb was thrown in the store and the window was defaced with mud.
Sounds like the only thing that should be "smashed" are the heads of these jackasses.
ReplyDeleteIf the lingerie store wants to be left alone, they should find out where these guys live, and give their wives some free samples.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately that would only end up with these poor women getting abused for bring pritzus into the house.
ReplyDeletePritzus is like savlanut. It's something that only applies to other people.
ReplyDelete"Other people" -like your wife.
ReplyDeleteThrow these meshugeners out of Israel, preferably to Gaza or Lebanon
ReplyDeleteThese guys are obsessed with sex. It reminds me of how Leib Tropper published a sefer on Hilchos Yichud!
ReplyDeleteWhy are you criticizing these wonnderful Jews who take matters of Tznius seriously. If not them - who. If not now - when? B'Makom Sh'Ein Ish... Somebody's got to do something!
ReplyDeleteBet Shemesh is turning into another Las Vegas. First it's heels on shoes. Before you know it Victoria's Secret will open up across the street from the candy store in the mall! After that... who knows what kind of debauchery we will see!
Oy!
(What is Victoria's secret anyway? Anyone know what her secret is?)
actually the candy store in the mall left because the rent got too high....
ReplyDeleteunfortunately a secondary issue in bet shemesh is the impotence (sorry) of the police. there was a rash of thefts going on throughout the city by the same guy using the same story at everyone's front door - he succeeded for about a month here, then suddenly attempted the same thing in Modiin and their police got him right away. and - mazel tov - our police called all the victims to ask them to identify the guy in a lineup.
there was another, more telling, story 3 years ago, of a villa (bnei beitcha) broken into - they dismantled the alarm system and the bars, and robbed the entire house of everything over a 3 hour period on Shabbos. but a corner of the car and the strange gait of one of the thieves was caught on video - not to mention police cars driving past every 5 minutes for that 3 hours, when normally they are never even seen driving around as per this camera.
It is amazing that about 10 people, or less, can instill fear on nearly half of a city.
ReplyDeleteThat's how bullying works. Those 10 are causing the fear, but they're not alone, the rest of the people are contributing by not doing anything about it.
There is one sure cure to bullying, and that's standing up to the bully, once and forcefully enough so it doesn't occur again. When (and where) I grew up, the baalei batim "took care" of certain kinds of problems (like abuse of children, for example) in a quick and effective, though unofficial, manner.
Reminds me of someone who constantly bullied me as a kid in Israel. I was scrawny, short, and was still learning the language, so I was the perfect target. But as time passed, I learned the language better, and finally got tired of his bullying. In my traipsing around I had found one of those huge nails (close to a foot long and made out of heavy iron) that are used to nail railroad ties down, it was my prize possession at the time. One day while we were playing outside, the bully did his thing, and of course all the kids around did nothing more than encourage him. I happened to have my nail with me, and I grabbed the bully around the neck with one arm, held the nail in the other hand, and loudly threatened to bash his brains in. See, I had just learned the word "brain" and was able to say it [mostly] properly finally. The bully was scared sh*tless, I don't recall, but he may have even peed his pants, and all the kids thought I was crazy and really was going to do it (which of course I wouldn't because I wasn't a fighter then, and aren't one now). After I released him, the bully ran home, and suddenly I became a "hero" of sorts to the local kids. It was great :-)
So in this case, all you need to do is to get together a bunch of baalei batim, maybe 15 or 20, big strong ones (like you, Noah, and I'm sure there are plenty of other big guys around BS/RBS that care enough about this issue). Find these bullies, grab them a few at a time (always more than one at a time so they can "bear witness" to each other later on thus sowing fear among their ranks) and beat the crap out of them. Not enough to break bones or anything that would send them to the hospital or cause permanent damage, but just short of that, enough to cause pain that will last a week or two. The bullying will stop shortly thereafter. Not only that, but BS/RBS would get a "reputation" of not accepting such bullying.
It is amazing that about 10 people, or less, can instill fear on nearly half of a city.
ReplyDeleteThat's how bullying works. Those 10 are causing the fear, but they're not alone, the rest of the people are contributing by not doing anything about it.
There is one sure cure to bullying, and that's standing up to the bully, once and forcefully enough so it doesn't occur again. When (and where) I grew up, the baalei batim "took care" of certain kinds of problems (like abuse of children, for example) in a quick and effective, though unofficial, manner.
Reminds me of someone who constantly bullied me as a kid in Israel. I was scrawny, short, and was still learning the language, so I was the perfect target. But as time passed, I learned the language better, and finally got tired of his bullying. In my traipsing around I had found one of those huge nails (close to a foot long and made out of heavy iron) that are used to nail railroad ties down, it was my prize possession at the time. One day while we were playing outside, the bully did his thing, and of course all the kids around did nothing more than encourage him. I happened to have my nail with me, and I grabbed the bully around the neck with one arm, held the nail in the other hand, and loudly threatened to bash his brains in. See, I had just learned the word "brain" and was able to say it [mostly] properly finally. The bully was scared sh*tless, I don't recall, but he may have even peed his pants, and all the kids thought I was crazy and really was going to do it (which of course I wouldn't because I wasn't a fighter then, and aren't one now). After I released him, the bully ran home, and suddenly I became a "hero" of sorts to the local kids. It was great :-)
(continued)
So in this case, all you need to do is to get together a bunch of baalei batim, maybe 15 or 20 of them, big strong ones (like you, Noah, and I'm sure there are plenty of other big guys around BS/RBS that care enough about this issue). Find these bullies, grab them a few at a time (always more than one at a time so they can "bear witness" to each other later on thus sowing fear among their ranks) and beat the crap out of them. Not enough to break bones or anything that would send them to the hospital or cause permanent damage, but just short of that, enough to cause pain that will last a week or two. The bullying will stop shortly thereafter. Not only that, but BS/RBS would get a "reputation" of not accepting such bullying.
ReplyDeleteI can't guarantee that it will work, but it is very likely that it will. Obviously it will only work if the situation is as you described - only 10 bullies. But if the bullies comprise much more than that, for example, if they control a good chunk of city hall, then it won't work as a long-term solution.