In line with its annual minhag, residents of Meah Shearim on Independence Day observed a day or mourning over the Zionist rule that began 66 years ago. The veterans of the community gather to recite Tehillim as they acknowledge the bitter day on which the State of Israel was established.
In Beis Knesses Yeshuos Yaakov in Meah Shearim Tehillim and Slichos were recited along with “Vayechel” at mincha as on a fast day.
Some of the younger residents will walk around in sackcloth to symbolize the community’s protest against the Zionist state which it feels has turned its back on HKBH and his Torah. In observance of mourning, all stores in Meah Shearim remain closed as well and appropriate pashkavilim are displayed on the walls of the community.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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27 Responses
why dont they join their arab friends on may 15th for a fun filled day of celebrating Nakba day.
If they hate it that much, why don’t they go live somewhere else? Nobody is holding them back.
I guess they didn’t learn about Hakaras Hatov in yeshiva. They live in this “Zionist rule” for free. We provide protection food housing and they go and mourn the day their lives got better. Chilul hashem
One who is cognizant of current events would realize that they’re closer to the truth then most.
Let them all move to Ramallah, the sooner the better.
you guys got it all wrong……. they actually were celebrating the yom tov – after all dont they close their businesses and not work for yom tov? dont they dress “strangely” compared to our society, so this yom tov calls for sacks! (maybe it’s actually PURIM by them) as for the tefillos – who really knows what Hashem is hearing from them – we dont really know how it is accepted up there – and by the way who is even noticing them other than themselves or the gawkers!!! chag sameach
To takamamosh btw the chareidim were there long before the state they did not get there as a result of the formation of the state but i am sure ypu wont let the facts get in your way
I am sure they are mourning when they get their government handout
Most of the ppl living there are there from before the establishment of the state. They owe Israel nothing.
My family lived in Israel for over 150 years.
This is mild and harmless. Up until now, the zionists and the hareidim had a policy of mutual toleration. The hareidim were free to go on being hareidi, largely relying on support from overseas and the “grey market”, and in return for being tolerated, they did nothing to hurt the state. Now that the zionists are threatening to imprison or expel the hareidim, the stakes will be higher, and the rhetoric and actions will get sharper.
to Chaimgold: unless you were donating money to the anti-zionist yeshivos, how were you providing protection, food and housing. The government funded pro-zionist yeshivos, but those aren’t the ones protesting in the article.
to rkefrat: if 10% of Israel’s Jews join the Arabs in asking the United Nations to repeal partition and call a free election within the boundaries of the Palestine mandate, do you really think the zionists will win? It isn’t in your interests to turn the hareidim from neutral to hostile.
to takamamash: The anti-zionist hareidim would probably be quite content to have their neighborhood moved to Palestine – all it takes is a UN resolution. You do realize no country recognizes Israeli sovereignity over Mea Shearim (or anywhere else in Jerusalem). Think twice before wishing the Palestinians had a Jewish peace partner.
i mean this with all sincerity , i would LOVE to see a country for and by chereidim. I would love to see them figure out how to run a municipality, organize a national school system that they could all agree on, provide medical services to those in need, when its assur to go to school to become a doctor. oh id love to see that……Beachavod gadol, if everyone is in the bais medresh yomam velayla, who is harvesting the food? running the hospitals? developing the land, providing national security>? negotiating with terrorists…just a thought!!
Apparently they’re unaware that the gedolim disapprove of new days of mourning bizman hazeh just as they disapprove of new holidays. So just like we don’t observe yom hashoa and yom hazikaron, they shouldn’t be observing yom ha’atzmaut (as a day of mourning, or rejoicing, or anything else). Tish’a Be’av is our national day of mourning. Like the Brisker Rav told the Satmarer Rebbe, someone is anti-Zionist if he ignores the zionists, not so much if he pays a ridiculous amount of attention to them.
to #10 – it is not harmless “fun”. anyway for a group that values learning torah yomam vlailah they sure seem to have a lot of free time on hand
Leeches. Let them leave, all they do is take & take & give nothing. You should see them on the buses – one man tried to make me move 2 days ago so he could sit down. Like that will happen! They are rude, agressive & not to clean either (the women are marginally better.) I can’t count the incidences of Chillul Hashem I have seen them commit. It’s not surprising the Chilonim despise them. So next time they need a hospital or the fire dept – let them make do in their hovels.
What a disgustingly incendiary article!
Closing stores and davening is define tell a step up from burning flags and garbage cans and calling soldiers nazis. These people are fighting a battle that they lost 66 years ago. The moment there was a state and it was under attack, every normal Jew had an obligation to strengthen it, because from that moment it is the jewish nation under attack. These people are fools and everyone jew proud of his heritage shouldnt be ashamed to say so. G-d willing, their expressions of their foolishness will be limited to such harmless expressions of protest.
A friend of mine used to call Neturi Karta “Herzl’s Chasidim” since so much of thier self definition is bound up with Zionism.
Thinking cap wrote: The moment there was a state and it was under attack, every normal Jew had an obligation to strengthen it, because from that moment it is the jewish nation under attack.
Are you aware of the anti-Semitism that the state of Israel has caused the last 66 years?
I am not from the group of the NK, however do not say that we are required to strengthen the state of Israel we definitely are required to strengthen it’s Jews. but not the state which fights Judaism.
Let them all join the Arabs-this is disgusting
Let them move the yeshiva to Gaza so that they won’t have to worry about the Evil Zionists. As comment #1 says, they can celebrate Nakhba Day with the Arab rashaim a week from Thursday.
dear ignorant computerbubby :I’m a charedi doctor and one of my charedi sons is a volunteer firefighter and studying to be a EMT- so keep your racist comments to yourself.I’m sick of people calling charedim parasites and leeches -we pay VAT the same as you and you forget you’re leeching US military aid money at the tune of billions of dollars a year so you can have yr villa,cars,etc. and not have to pay even higher VAT to pay for military expenses
“jerusalem mom”
So true.
“Computer bubby”
We’re all sick of that misconceived-chiloni-telavivi- lapid backed rehtoric which we all know is a bunch of baloney. The facts speak for themselves
Cut out the garbage that “chareidim dont work, etc.” maybe you dont , but the rest of us respect and understand the chashivus for learning and dedicate our lives to it , and work if need be. One isnt a stira to the other
You all completely misunderstood what I wrote. I wrote another post which I thought clarified things but YWN didn’t post. So I will try again – I apologize if you took what I said as a personal attack. If you don’t belong to the ignorant people of Meah Shearim who work the system with more dedication & skill than I could ever fathom, I WAS NOT ADDRESSING YOU. And FYI I am Chassidic, but being pro-Israel makes me somewhat different, even though I look the part. I don’t discuss Yom Haatzmaut with my friends & I stood up & stopped what I was doing when the Yom Hazikaron siren went off. Those soldiers who died, the ones who served & the ones who still serve are the reason we (& the scroungers) can enjoy life in Israel. And yes, I work, just like my husband does. We pay all our bills & our rent on our small apartment, it is clean & neat & I do my own cooking & cleaning & I planted a garden. What else would you like to know? apart from my age & my weight!
Lastly – i despise Lapid & what he represents. But who I vote for is my business, not yours.
OK now?
I don’t understand. If they wanted to protest against Independence Day, they should have kept their stores open. Everyone else closes their stores on that day in celebration.
computerbubby: No, it’s not “OK now”. Your calling the heroic Yirei Shamayim residents of Meah Shearim as “ignorant” is not a reflection of them. It is a reflection of yourself.
This notion that the haredim were in Israel before the creation of the state is fiction. There were a few. Most came at the same time as everybody else.
Even those whose families have been in Israel for 150 years (with absolutely no olim marrying in), they are still indebted to the state for protection, support, services, just like everyone else.
If they want to be independent of the state, they should sever their connections to the electric grid and water lines. Never call the police. Don’t use the roads or buses. Accept no subsidies or government benefits. Support themselves.
Or ask that the British come back