Hasids Wage Holy War

NY Post ^ | 9.7.2003 | JOANNE WALTERS, AL GUART and ADAM MILLER

[NYC GOP Chick]

September 7, 2003 -- A bitter border battle between Orthodox Jews in Williamsburg over an eruv - symbolic walls that enable them to carry objects or wheel baby strollers outside their homes on the Sabbath - has escalated into an all-out holy war.

[KantianBurke]

Wow. The Hasids acting like a bunch of Talbanesque punks. What a shock (sarcasm off)

[Ronin]

Oy!

[NYC GOP Chick]

Yep. They infested the neighborhood (Williamsburg) where my dad grew up, and he just nods and sighs at these stories. Let's just say that they're not particularly tolerant of Jews who don't follow their hardcore, strict ways. Kind of like a certain sect of another religion...

[ml/nj]

Wow. The Hasids acting like a bunch of Talbanesque punks. What a shock (sarcasm off)

Maybe you'll be willing to stop posting here then until the next time a Hasid worried about an eruv intentionally kills someone?

ML/NJ

[KantianBurke]

"The Satmar group are the majority around here, and they want to impose their interpretation of the religious law on everyone," said the man.

"They harass and shout at anyone they see carrying anything in their hands or pushing a stroller on the Sabbath. It's not right."

[doosee]

Wolfgang Duffal, one of the security guards hired by the ultra-Orthodox group, said Friday's clash nearly erupted into an all-out street fight.

With a guard with a first name like that, Wolfgang, I think I would go eat elsewhere.

[ml/nj]

They harass and shout at anyone

Oooooh. To anti-Semitic types like you this is equvivalent to smashing thousand year old idols, blowing up discoteques, and flying airplanes into tall buildings.

Really! You need help.

ML/NJ

[KantianBurke]

They're akin to the Taliban due to their lack of tolerance towards others who mind their own business but sadly don't fulfill their percieved view of G-d's commandments. If you want to believe they're all nice and fuzzy go right ahead. Those of us in the real world who have dealt with their zealotry will continue to call them as we see them.

[goldstategop]

Some ultra orthodox Jewish sects are stricter than others. Most want to have nothing to do with the outside world. The Lubavitchers are a big exception.

[KantianBurke]

Point taken. What's really irritating is their strangelehold on marriages in Israel. If you're a Conservative Jew like myself, tough noogies.

[verity]

A zealot of any stripe is still a zealot!

[LizardQueen]

Reminds me a bit of the religious police in Saudi Arabia, the ones that yell at women for not covering enough hair or skin.

It saddens me to see this. Israel has had so much trouble with radical Islam that you'd think that those of the Jewish persuasion would be more sensitive to this kind of religious totalitarianism and not partake of it themselves.

LQ

[ml/nj]

A zealot of any stripe is still a zealot!

And what: you believe in nothing?

Just yesterday I harassed a Liberal who supports the Clintons and thinks George Bush is a dolt. (You wouldn't believe the number of times I used the word rapist in my conversation with this woman I met at a picnic! I kept repeating the word because I could tell it made her uncomfortable.) Am I like the Taliban too?

ML/NJ

[Valin]

I recall reading that they've been know to throw stones at secular/reform Jews that drive through their neighborhood on the Sabbath in Israel.

[goldstategop]

They take the Sabbath seriously. They're willing to make sacrifices to live by their faith and yes, it bothers them when modern society profanes a holy day.

[APRPEH]

before you jump on this know that this same chasidic group is also well known for visiting hospitals regularly to see comfort sick people and demonstrate very high levels of hospitality to anyone who needs it. you just must play by their interpretation of the law.

[Kakaze]

" you just must play by their interpretation of the law. "

From, what I've read here no matter how charitable they are....they must also learn to abide by the laws of this country , and thats not by violently assailing people on their sabbath.

they are free to worship and encouraged to do so....right up until they physically infringe on others in public places.

[Alouette]

Those of us in the real world who have dealt with their zealotry will continue to call them as we see them.

You never miss an opportunity to attack religious Jews. What specific personal experience have you had that makes you so bitter and hateful?

[verity]

It seems to me that you do not fully understand the word 'zealot.'