Needless to say that following Operation Protective Edge, Jews in chareidi garb face an added element of danger in Arab countries, even moderate ones like Jordan since their Jewishness is visible to all. With Shmitah rapidly approaching some are asking how the mashgichim are operating in Jordan to maintain a watchful halachic eye on produce.
The mashgichim arrive in a mini bus carrying about a minyan of them, all dressed in Bedouin attire including kafiye which conveniently hides their peyos. Seeing a bearded Bedouin man in a long robe and a kafiye ‘working’ in fields is nothing out of the ordinary. The mashgichim explain police warned them that arriving in their traditional chareidi garb might precipitate an incident and therefore, they are abiding by instructions of local police and are working undercover so to speak.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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7 Responses
Very disheartening and very distasteful for a Jew to voluntarily place himself in a situation where his life is at risk unless he dresses up like a Muslim. What a shanda!
Ashrechem Yisrael
and YWN is stupid enough to publicize this on the internet, practice what you preach, just like some racial stuff can’t be posted, of course this security issue shouldn’t be posted.
Moderators Note: Yea…stupid YWN…..ever thought of the possibility that perhaps the mashgichim took those photos of themselves, and sent them to every charedi newspaper in Eretz Yisroel? Nah….impossible…YWN is just “stupid“.
It is questionable whether it is appropriate for a Jew to hide his Jewishness using non-Jewish garb. Being a mashgiach in territory hostile to Jews is not critical and food can be obtained from elsewhere.
@ujm where is this question in sefarim?
ujm, yes, I have read of these discussions, and Muslim garb to hide identity in order to protect one’s safety is I believe permissible since one is not presenting oneself as an idol worshiper – Muslims are monotheistic, despite every other element of distaste about their raison d’etre. And if you knew about food availability to shmittah observers in Israel, you would understand that the food from Jordan is pretty vital. It’s the perishable fresh produce. Not optional. Other options for produce import in the same category involve very inferior produce from places like Russia, which is extremely costly even while being poor quality. That is done as well, but cannot cover many basic vital food necessities.
It’s an interesting illustration of the halacha that a head cover, even if it drapes over the torso, is not chayav to have tzitzis.