Over the past year more than 70 fires were started by arsonists in the vicinity of Ramat Beit Shemesh. As a result, police opened an investigation to discover the identity of the arsonists. Detectives were shocked to learn that the leading suspects behind the fires were seven children, aged 12 and three children aged 10 from the Chareidi community.
Police also discovered that motive behind the fires was boredom and a contest between the children. The police discovered that the children hid accelerate near their Talmud Torah and during recess or after the school day was over they rushed to a thicket and lit a fire so that they could watch firefighters in action.
In a number of the instances in which the children lit these fires, the firs grew large enough that they threatened the lives of people and wildlife. In some instances neighborhoods had to be evacuated including schools.
Due to the age of the children, their parents were called to the police station and the children had to be released under strict oversight and various conditions, including the intervention of social welfare.
A police spokesperson said: “This has been a very complex investigation during which we worked on various fronts in order to arrive at the identity of the arsonists. Sadly, it appears that these are acts of mischief that have caused an incredible amount of damage and could have caused the deaths of many people. We call upon parents to supervise their children and curb behaviors that could cause a danger to their immediate surroundings.”
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6 Responses
for this they have time, secular studies God forbid
Why is anyone shocked? How do you think we have 16 year old alcoholics & addicts? They started young, too. There are no alternatives here for kids after cheder…. their parents don’t keep track of them, they are out all day & night, probably steal from the bakery or get fed by soft-hearted neighbors or their friends’ mothers, & get into all sorts of trouble. Why do you think the riots & protests are so damaging? The KIDS are doing the organizers’ dirty work.
The city needs to build separate but equal facilities for boys & girls to have somewhere to go… a gym, a youth center etc. Girls aren’t such a problem as they are raising their younger siblings but eventually said siblings become troubled kids too. Parental neglect, abusive “educational” environments & lack of opportunities for personal & economic growth contribute to these behaviors. It’s about time Revacha did their job & came out at 8:00pm to watch what goes on. They need to watch at 1:30 & see 4 year olds dragging 2 year olds from Gan. No, I’m not exaggerating, I have stopped my car on numerous occasions to let them cross HaYarden, the main road connecting Aleph & Bet.
There are many visible reasons why this is happening, but not one solution – thanks to cowardly politicians and local Rabbis who assur anything that isn’t Torah-dik. So the only alternative is to deal with parents – legally. It makes my blood boil to see what is happening to our youth & nobody who can does anything about it.
this is so sad – perhaps a horrible reflection on the chareidi/frum communitees of today – as a frum woman i have over the past few years wondered and worried about what the frum community expects of children. they are growing up being cheated in a sense of childhood – the memories that i have of my youth included sunday outings to family and friends (no cars in those days – but this was important to our upbringing) we had recess and after school activities geared to releasing some of that energy and tension which school discipline (until 4pm daily) was unable to allow especially in a fun manner. today’s children dont have “time”: for grandparent visits or the older generations of family either – there is much that can and should be learned outside of the classroom as well – how sad is it that these children dont realize the danger in what they think is a “fun activity” just to bring some excitement into their serious lives???? at these young ages better teach them ben adam l’chaveiro, mentchlichkeit and how to act among peopole (even of other nationalities and religions) how to be kind to one another and not hurt others – these are lessons that should be taught early on instead of sitting in front of a gemara for so many hours in the day – yes gemara can be taught later on in years when it is appreciated – but the basics across the board are missing in so many – even the parents cant teach these things to the children as they spend so many hours in the “yeshivas” and are exhausted by the time they get home. perhaps we need to go back to basics and lower the sitting and learning long term expectation !!!!!
To everyone who is freaking out on this page (and elsewhere):
Fact check – The typical Chareidi kid is not a serial arsonist.
Stop freaking out and blaming everything on your specific pet peeve.
*reads comment from @dounome *
Did I miss the memo? When did this user become a manhig? How much Gemara is too much?
SIDEBAR
if learning gemara doesn’t teach children about valuing other people’s property etc AND puts the children under such immense pressure… imagine if we had a bunch of nice morahs teaching these kids “middos tovos” (which would likely be based on their world outlook & not our sifrei mussar)… I don’t want to imagine how the little me would have reacted.
V’haMeivin Yavin
to yechezkel 18 – i was brought up with derech eretz kadma l’torah – i am not belittling the “gemara learning” in any way – however, as you can see that at the age of 10 & 12 they have not yet been able to apply “the values of other peoples properties”, as this begins with mentchlichkeit and respect for the values of others – hence referring to hml’s comments about they grow up to be 16 yr old arsonists, addicts etc. they have to be taught basic LIFE values and understanding at an earlier age – only then can the gemara learning be applied and understood”.
@dounome
Please continue solving all of Klal Yisrael’s’ problems in your mind, you do a great job (hypothetically speaking of course – as I wouldn’t confuse you for someone with real life experience)