Rabbonim affiliated with the Eida Chareidis have told authorities they will work to prevent a reoccurrence of an attack that took place against a female firefighter working to extinguish a blaze in Meah Shearim.
Firefighters on Wednesday, responded to burning garbage receptacles in Meah Shearim. When some of the locals realized one of the firefighters was a woman, they began pelting her with whatever objects they could find. She was injured in her back lightly after being struck with a bottle.
Community spokesman Yissacher Benedict expressed outrage, telling Israel Radio they have been working for a long time to bring these youths under control, adding rabbonim issued a letter of apology over the alarming incident, rejecting any notion of objecting to the presence of a female firefighter who is working to save property and lives in the community.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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21 Responses
There is no shortage of men capable of firefighting. Women are unnecesary and it is untznius for them to do it.
Oh my gosh! are they serious?? Does this not fall under like 100 hundred halachos? Including tznius? Throwing stuff at another person, at another yid, at a women? What on earth is wrong with the people there? They are not coming up with this on they’re own, they are learning it from somewhere. It is very nice of the rabbanim to put out an apology, especially when they are the instigators! This is really sad!
iced- You are an an embarrassment to Yiddishkeit.
You seem to be part of the problem.
Basic respect comes before mussar.
just sayin….
Yes it unztnius for women to do anything if a man can do it, I mean my wife shops at the supermarket, I can do that, she cooks and even talks to other people sometimes even saying hello. I can do that. To #1 you are absolutely correct. Why nothing will make women want to stay Orthodox and see value in Judaism more than telling them they can’t do anything but stand around. Look how happy they always are on Simchat Torah just standing there.
UNACCEPTABLE!!!!! WHY IS IT ANYONE’S BUSINESS WHAT GENDER THE FIREFIGHTER IS?????!!!!! SHE IS DOING HER JOB, LET HER DO IT! IF ANYONE HAS A PROBLEM THEN PEACEFULLY GO TO THE MUNICIPALITY AND COMPLAIN! You would be very surprised at how much people will listen if you do things nicely. even the non-frum ppl who hate frum. “Treat others as you want to be treated”
Iced.
I hope that you are kidding.
I am not sure if you are Male or Female but next time that you have a TRUE emergency, make sure that the person saving your life is of the same gender as you.
Because of people like you they started the EZRAS NASHIM (Female Hatzoloh). I just hope that no life is lost by someone hesitating to call the regular Hatzalah because the person needing the emergency help is female.
@Iced: If Mr. Benedict and the community sanction women firefighters in Meah Shearim who are you to judge and tell women what they should do with their lives? Yes, I know–Kol K’vodah……but my friend, we are wating for you–in the 21st Century!!!!
We wonder why Moshiach hasn’t come yet? Could it be because of Sinat Chinum? These “chasidimn” should be taught a lesson.
all your lomdish comments are missing the point. heres the bottom line: if youre chas v’shalmon in a burning building and you need someone to rescue and drag you out do you really want a woman coming up that ladder?
to Jew Yorker: IF she’s strong enough what do I care? There are tons of female fire fighters, cops, soldiers etc… all able to do the job.
BTMODAD
“Look how happy they always are on Simchat Torah just standing there.”
Your’e right! Thats why this year the Rabbi of my synagogue, may she be well, instituted an 8th Hakaffah just for women with the men standing around and watching.
Jew Yorker: The gemara’s definition of a chossid shoteh is a man who will not rescue a drowning woman because he is afraid of negiah
I daresay the same is true of a man who refuses to be pulled out of a burning building – maybe even more so.
This community is not helpless nor inexperienced in policing their internal affairs. If they wanted “these youths” under control, they they would be so. Mr. Benedict is applying the damage control brakes. This is just bad press, throwing things as the “other” and burning trash bins are not among the red lines that would move them to take action. (action that can be rather ugly, yet effective.)
The fire dept. sent her there as a provocation. When a nightclub is on fire, I’ll bet they send men.
to BTMODAD: ” there are tons of female fire fighters?” oh really? thats whay in ny 99.7% of firefighters are men. the women dont stack up physically to their male counterparts and generally do not even bother applying despite all the lib protests for so called “gender equality.”
to shazam: the point of my hypothetical was not that a man would resist leaving a burning building rather than be rescued by a woman. only a shoteh would draw that conclusion. the point was imagine youre in that situation and some woman who passed the firefighters exam only because they lowered the standards of the physical exam for diversity purposes is the one coming up the ladder.
Which fool would want a woman firefighter to be sent to carry him (or her) out of a burning building?
Anyone? Please raise your hand.
It is well known that fire departments lower their physical standards to allow women to join. This is due to their being sued for “discrimination”. These women are far less physically fit then men. That is a fact of mother nature.
Women do not belong in the fire department. And that has nothing to do with Yiddishkeit or Judaism, even. It is a simple safety issue.
Then, of course, there are many Halachic violations with a woman being in the fire department. To start with, wearing the fireman’s uniform and pants. And that is just the tip of the iceberg.
Well, I don’t see any hands raised. So, really, no one wants a woman “fireman” to come rescure them if, G-d forbid, they needed to be carried out of a burning building.
well said, dr. missme
To No. 16 “Missme”
Among many absolutly mindless comments on this issue, perhaps yours is the worst. First of all, nearly 8 percent of emergency responders in the NYFD are now women…more than double the number since 9/11. They are required to meet the SAME standards as male first responders in terms of their ability to run up stairs carrying full loads of emergency breathing equipment etc. Second, anyone who would find a woman dressed in the NYFD uniform to be violating norms of tzinus is a very sick person and needs help.
Perhaps, the appropriate response to the attack by the chareidi animals against this woman in Meah Shearim would be to allow chareidi property to burn to the ground while they standby and watch. The Chareidi rabbonim always seem to condemn these attacks but do nothing to stop them. Perhaps if they knew there would be consequences to their inaction, something might happen.
Oh, it’s so nice to see Israelis looking to Saudi Arabia as their model for civil rights. I knew Jews and Muslims could agree on something!
“gadol” #18:
You’re dead wrong. The FDNY did not even accept applications from women until 1977. A group of women sued the department in 1979 after failing the physical, claiming it was discriminatory.
The women who sued were allowed to take a different test. As a result, 41 females entered the department in 1982.
In 1983, the city devised still another test for women testing speed instead of strength. The next year, the judge ordered the test changed again to be less physical and increased the weight of the written exam.
The Chareidim are correct. Females do not belong in the fire department.
These are the Israeli Taliban. Luckily the firefighter was not as hurt as poor Malala in Pakistan.
These young men in meah she’arim would have pelted D’vorah, the Israelite warrior prophet who successfully led her army to defeat the Canaanites. As Iced says, “Women are unnecesary (sic) and it is untznius for them to do it.”
Was D’vorah “necessary?” Grow up, boys.