A chareidi youth traveling from Belgium to the UK was taken into custody after border authorities realized he was carrying someone else’s ID. The 16-year-old chareidi youth was being driven in an organized line used by chareidim traveling between Antwerp and London.
As the vehicle was heading into the English Channel Tunnel he was placed under arrest following a border authority inspection. The driver was also detained for questioning but released when it was determined he was not connected in any way to the actions of the youth.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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8 Responses
Hopefully this kid has some reasonably coherent excuse for what happened so he doesn’t become another poster child for pidyon shivuiim. Even if the chaedidim choose not to offer basic civics courses in their yeshivot, they have to at least provide a course in “Common Sense 101” with regard to the do/don’ts of internatinoal travel, IDs, carrying stuff for others, etc.
Get ready to read tons of articles with the word “Askanim”!!
So, what is the newsworthy news here? That some adolescent tried to cross a border illegally? Was he carrying contraband? Suspicious amounts of cash? Too many volumes of Talmud? If he was travelling from Antwerp, was he carrying diamonds in his hat?
1. He’s in Europe, and unless there is something mentioned in the article, his only “crime” is not having proper ID. If it turns out he was using fake ID to avoid arrest or deportation for some other reasons, then its more serious.
2. He is a kid. Sixteen year olds are children. They normally don’t publicize arrests of minors, espeically for immigration offenses.
3. Perhaps the yeshivish world should develop a basic “Civics for living among goyim” to explain to the kinderloch things such as having correct paperwork (how bank accounts work, how to schedule a trip, etc.).
There’s got to be more to this story….stay tuned!
To No. 5
I guess with such insights, thats why they call you “Chacham Hador”….In most of the world, presenting false identity documents when crossing an international border is a serious crime no matter what the motivation or intent.
Perhaps the yeshivish world should develop a basic “Civics for living among goyim” to explain to the kinderloch things such as having correct paperwork (how bank accounts work, how to schedule a trip, etc.).
That would be BITUL TORAH and show that hishtadlus is part & parcel of living in the world (scary thoughts!!)
No. 7: What in Halacha prohibits a Jew from complying with secular laws requiring secular, correct identification at border crossings? I can think of nothing (but I am not that smart), but I do know that Halacha requires us to honor secular law to the extent that it does not conflict with Halacha. And considering how many frum Jews, including Gedolim, travel regularly between the US and Israel, or anywhere else and anywhere else, it would appear that the great majority of frum Jews follow secular law when crossing borders. Even the automobile trip from the Five Towns to Lakewood requires a driver’s license, auto registration, and, if you don’t want to wait 10 minutes to pay the tolls, an E-Z Pass.