The rabbis have succeeded at a whole new level of brainwashing if not there are now haskamos on ambulances. Why would anybody feel they need (or care) for rabbinic 'permission' for this?
Kol Hakavod to these women for doing whats right and standing up for themselves.
However, I really wonder if the answer to an only-male ambulance organisation is an only-female one. What is the problem with a mixed ambulance sqaud? Why can't men be mature enough to just be professional? A man who can not control his sexual urges while treating or transporting a patient in the back of an ambulance probably should not be a medic to begin with. I think adding an all female squad is perpetuating and compounding the problem, not solving it. Still though, kol hakavod (even if they had to still get rabbinic permission to do it).
Well if you recall they originally wanted to be part of Hatzoloh but they were rejected & even many rabbonim rejected them too. So they were forced to go it alone. And that is why they are posting their rabbinical approval letters, to counter the rabbinical disapproval letters that were unfortunately out there.
"But they were rejected & even many rabbonim rejected them too." My main point is just this. I am all for what they did within the confines they were faced with. More power to these brave women, and to the trailblazer Judge Rachel Frier in particular. But I still hold that it says a lot about perceived rabbinic authority, both implemented from above and maintained from below, that some communities have come to require sex-segregated ambulance squads, and haskamos on ambulances. Almost too absurd to have to point out. Whats happens when a patient won't get in an ambulance because it has the wrong haskama on it? With todays sectarian environment it will certainly happen.
Another reason why they say Hatzoloh wasn't keen on them joining them was that in some larger neighborhoods, to lower response times they have members on the ready in the ambulance on evenings. So they're afraid of "socializing" that may take place in a dark ambulance.
See how artificially sensitised we've become. Halachikly there's no problem with yichud in a professional environment in which workers are focused on their job, or one that is observable through windows, or one that involves constant and unpredictable interruptions by outside people and calls. An ambulance on-call in a busy neighbourhood would certainly qualify for all three of these. But now it's assur. Because Rabbis just can not hold back a good chumra, and now halacha is redefined. One result is that people aren't held responsible for their actions anymore, or allowed to develop a maturity level enough to control themselves in basic 'difficult' scenarios. The bar keeps on being re-set for more and more stringencies because we are expected less and less to act like adults. "Check your brain at the door, I'll do the thinking for you."
Yasher koach to them Agreed with their idea from the start and agree wholeheartedly now! May they go from strength to strength. Religious people should understand this more than anyone else. Men for the men and women for the women. Makes good common sense. There's very little of that left in today's crazy world!
You may have missed the point. I don't think that Hatzolah or Ezras Nashim plan on treating men patients and women patients only, respectively. Not even as an ideal, and for this I give them credit (it would probably be illegal anyway).
The rabbis have succeeded at a whole new level of brainwashing if not there are now haskamos on ambulances. Why would anybody feel they need (or care) for rabbinic 'permission' for this?
ReplyDeleteKol Hakavod to these women for doing whats right and standing up for themselves.
However, I really wonder if the answer to an only-male ambulance organisation is an only-female one. What is the problem with a mixed ambulance sqaud? Why can't men be mature enough to just be professional? A man who can not control his sexual urges while treating or transporting a patient in the back of an ambulance probably should not be a medic to begin with. I think adding an all female squad is perpetuating and compounding the problem, not solving it.
Still though, kol hakavod (even if they had to still get rabbinic permission to do it).
Well if you recall they originally wanted to be part of Hatzoloh but they were rejected & even many rabbonim rejected them too. So they were forced to go it alone.
DeleteAnd that is why they are posting their rabbinical approval letters, to counter the rabbinical disapproval letters that were unfortunately out there.
This comment has been removed by the author.
Delete"But they were rejected & even many rabbonim rejected them too."
DeleteMy main point is just this.
I am all for what they did within the confines they were faced with. More power to these brave women, and to the trailblazer Judge Rachel Frier in particular.
But I still hold that it says a lot about perceived rabbinic authority, both implemented from above and maintained from below, that some communities have come to require sex-segregated ambulance squads, and haskamos on ambulances. Almost too absurd to have to point out.
Whats happens when a patient won't get in an ambulance because it has the wrong haskama on it? With todays sectarian environment it will certainly happen.
Well the backlash they're getting is thankfully shrinking, hopefully in the near future it would be best if they're simply abdorbed into Hatzoloh.
DeleteAnother reason why they say Hatzoloh wasn't keen on them joining them was that in some larger neighborhoods, to lower response times they have members on the ready in the ambulance on evenings. So they're afraid of "socializing" that may take place in a dark ambulance.
ReplyDeleteSee how artificially sensitised we've become. Halachikly there's no problem with yichud in a professional environment in which workers are focused on their job, or one that is observable through windows, or one that involves constant and unpredictable interruptions by outside people and calls. An ambulance on-call in a busy neighbourhood would certainly qualify for all three of these. But now it's assur. Because Rabbis just can not hold back a good chumra, and now halacha is redefined. One result is that people aren't held responsible for their actions anymore, or allowed to develop a maturity level enough to control themselves in basic 'difficult' scenarios. The bar keeps on being re-set for more and more stringencies because we are expected less and less to act like adults.
Delete"Check your brain at the door, I'll do the thinking for you."
Yasher koach to them Agreed with their idea from the start and agree wholeheartedly now! May they go from strength to strength. Religious people should understand this more than anyone else. Men for the men and women for the women. Makes good common sense. There's very little of that left in today's crazy world!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteYou may have missed the point. I don't think that Hatzolah or Ezras Nashim plan on treating men patients and women patients only, respectively. Not even as an ideal, and for this I give them credit (it would probably be illegal anyway).
Delete