Following the arrest of an avreich, a Tzfat resident who played music over speakers shortly before candle light as is customary in many frum areas in Eretz Yisrael, Yahadut HaTorah MK Yisrael Eichler turned to Minister of Public Security Yitzchak Aharonovich for answers. He questioned how police would react if a chareidi complained about music in Tel Aviv. (Aharonovich’s office maintains ministerial responsibility for Israel Police).
Last week, YWN-ISRAEL reported avreich Avraham S. was brutality arrested because he was playing music and failed to comply with a demand by a policeman to shut it off to the officer’s satisfaction.
According to the avreich’s wife, the policeman violently assaulted her husband without provocation in front of their hysterical children. He then spent Shabbos in lockup and was compelled to travel on Shabbos from one facility to another.
In a Knesset query to the minister, Eichler asked that if and when a chareidi complains over the music heard in Tel Aviv on Shabbos if a policeman would be dispatched to act in a similar fashion, beating and arresting the offender.
Eichler explains he has gathered eyewitness testimony backing the statements of the wife – who stated the policeman acted inappropriately and illegally, all without provocation. Eichler goes on questioning why it was necessary to compel him to travel on Shabbos, to move him to another detention cell. “When the music is Shabbos tunes of chareidi Jews then it disturbs those who hate Shabbos and no one gets up and shouts anti-Semitism”.
The minister gave the version police have reported, that chassidic music was blaring over loudspeakers and it was a disturbance. “The officer requested they shut it off but the avreich refused to comply with instructions to identify himself. He even knocked the officer to the ground”.
(A complaint has been filed against the policeman with the Justice Ministry Police Investigations Unit).
Eichler stated “we oppose any attacks against police. I call upon you to clarify if the officer was attacked as he claims was the case. According to eyewitness reports, there was no such occurrence”. Eichler added that he will rely upon the outcome of the investigation by the Justice Committee officials.
“We must clarify the relationship between the media frenzy against the chareidim and the police’s violent reaction against the chareidi tzibur. There is no justification to recruit police officers to serve the enemies of Shabbos Kodesh to operate against the Shomer Shabbos for the crime of playing music. ”
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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5 Responses
I live in Jerusalem. In the building next to me they play this “music”. It is so loud that I can not exist. I have complained to the idiot who does this but he says he is doing a mitzvah.
According to shulchan aruch, a shofar was blown before shabbos. OK, but how many decibels is a shofar? This idiot’s loudspeakers make it impossible for me to function it is so loud. He refuses to turn it down, what can I do? call the police?
Tell me, if he would lower the volume, would he still have a mitzvah or even better is there a mitzvah that can come from an avaira?
1. Volume and contents are separate issues.
2. I’m sure that if anyone complained about frum music in Tel Aviv, even during the week, he would get a medal. (-:
#1, take him to a din Tora. BTW, I know someone who had a problem with an upstairs neighbor making noise so he made noise when the guy wanted to sleep (later than normal hours). The guy came running down complaining. My acquaintance then offered a deal.
Until there is a frvm task force set up to trully investigate claims against by the frvm against the police these stories will sadly continue to happen. The task force that investigates claims against the police doesn’t care for the chareidim. When I was brutally attacked by police officers and thought about opening a complaint I was told not to. I was warned that if I went ahead with it I would very likely face some trumped up charges and be thrown out of the country! The democracy that is the state of Israel is trully amazing!
If the Avrech is so inclined, Im sure a lawyer will win him some money for false imprisonment etc. But who knows. Under what grounds can a police officer tell you to turn music down before 11pm in Israel? When was lighting? 5pmish!!??
My neighbour has parties and plays music at very high extreme levels of loudness, and the cops say I cant do anything before 11pm. So after 11pm, they also dont do anything. They are worse than he, because he couldnt continure this if they werent enabling it.
Now so thats the fry bor next door.
How about religious jews? When I lived on Shmuel HaNavi in Jerusalem, I was kept up all night isru hag, because Dushinski three buildings over, was doing hakafot shniot until 2pm plus in the morning. Tell me, if you can do hakafot rishonot, without enough boom boxes to fire a rock concert, how come you are doing that to us during your hakafot shniot? They will face din for that. Incredible insensitivity, and chutspah. Do your second circles like your first, I want to sleep, as did several hundred other residents of the neighbourhood.