There is a lot of overlap between what is called the group of veiled women and the burqa ladies. This lady who granted the interview below is called one of the veiled ladies, but she is wearing a burqa. Maybe she only covered her head for the interview but normally only wears a "shal".
one point she makes is that in the secular communities she is well-accepted, and in the haredi areas she is attacked and vilified. In the secular communities, she is told that she reminds them of Sarah, Rivka, Rochel and Leah. I wonder how she reminds them of that, as nobody alive today has seen them or images of them. Any assumption of how they dressed is just an assumption.
Another point she makes is that we live in a democracy and everybody can and does dress how they want.
She also says most of them are baalot teshuva.
She's right - it's a democracy, and she should be able to do what she wants, as long as it doesn't break the law or harm another.
ReplyDeletePeople don't have the right to harass her, no more than charedi extremists have the right to harass girls at a dati leumi school.
However... what people DO have the right to do is to discourage (using any legal means) what they deem to be unhealthy behavior, so that it doesn't gain more traction in the community.
In other words, there's a difference between protesting a woman's "right" to wear a burka, and protesting the "idea" of women wearing burkas.
So if burka women want to invoke democracy and freedom of expression, they have to know that it's a two-way street - their opponents also have that right.
Wow. A first-hand glimpse of the inner world of a veiled woman. She is obviously new to religious life - many indications of that, including the new-age slogans she uses ("lehitchaber", "achyotai", "we all basically want the same thing" etc.)- and has chosen this lifestyle voluntarily. Still, to me it is distorted Jewish thinking. She feels closest to God when she's most covered. God wants us to have as many layers on as possible, that is our ultimate fulfillment(my words, but, I believe, her belief) etc. I still feel there's an obsession here with a distorted perception of women and sexuality. Rachmanut.
ReplyDeleteWell said, David Meir!
ReplyDeleteThis shows why it's the height of hypocrisy for the Eidah and their ilk to condemn these women. This is merely the "monster" those "Frankensteins" created. The veiled, caped, shawled, and buraq'ed ladies are only acting out a simple Kal V'chomer. If women must be erased from two-dimensional images how much more so in real life?
ReplyDeleteKol Hakavod to these women for following the spirit of their religion.
I am a bit confused as to where this phenomenon exists. Is it in the "chareidi" world? It seems to me that there is also in the mitnachel world as well...am I wrong? Am I the only one confused by this?
ReplyDeleteit is the fringe of the charedi community. it is very much connected to Breslavers, and some seem to be sfardi baalei tshuva. It is not standard charedim.
ReplyDeleteAs I said in my response on David Morris's blog, this woman shows signs of OCD, something not uncommon in the frum - and especially Chareidi - community at large. This obsession is sometimes viewed as extreme dikduk in mitzvos (as with one of my Rabe'im in Yeshiva, who would repeat the word "Shema" eight to ten times to make sure he pronounced the "ayin" properly - it is a deoraisa, after all), so it is not picked up on as quickly as in more general society. This woman has taken Tznius to the extreme based on OCD-like thinking - to quote her, "I started thinking that seeing me is only for my husband, not for anyone else" - an OCD version of Tznius. I feel bad for her and others like her - then need a good psych evaluation and treatment more than anything else.
ReplyDeleteI dont know about you...but that voice is super sexy...maybe we can get them to shut up too?
ReplyDeleteYou will notice that this girl did not have any sources at all for her actions -- just her feelings and thoughts. In other words, she is making up her own religion as much as any reformed or conservative American Jew does. This is not frumkeit and not Torah, it is just her crazy shtuyot based on her lack of Jewish education and misunderstanding of what tzniut really is.
ReplyDeleteThe Eida did not "create this monster" nor are they encouraging these women to continue their ridiculous behavior. Not once has any of these taliban women or shawl women used the Eida or any of their rabbonim as the source for their behavior and they do not have any normative Jewish sources for it either.
At the beginning of the video, a man attaches a microphone to her veil. Isn't this an issue?
ReplyDeletethat man is seemingly her husband. it still might be considered inappropriate for them to be seen touching publicly...
ReplyDelete