The Jerusalem Traffic Court convicted a chareidi driver in his 40s of driving irresponsibly as he was wearing tallis and tefilin and holding a siddur while operating his vehicle. A policeman stopped him and issued him a summons. Police reported on the summons the tallis was also partially obstructing the driver’s field of vision.
The court stated it felt it was compelled to levy the minimum sentence on the driver, a 1,000 NIS fine, a four-month suspension followed by a three-month probationary period.
The defendant did not appear in court and was found guilty and sentenced in absentia.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
11 Responses
“Driving while frum”
America has similar offenses for disfavored minorities.
Of course, if he was reading for the siddur while driving, or had the tallis wrapped around his head, it would be a problem.
Holding a siddur?! If this guy was davening while driving, then I would also give him a ticket. If he had sufficient kavanah to daven, then he would certainly be distracted from driving. If he had sufficient focus on driving, then his davening likely lacked kavanah. I don’t know if the police should be giving tickets for lack of kavanah in tfillah….
Let’s emphasize a few things:
1. They did not rule it illegal to drive in Tallit and Tefillin.
2. They ruled driving with a Tallit over his head, obstructing his line of vision illegal.
3. Reading from a Siddur while driving, was ruled illegal.
4. The driver didn’t even show up, automatically causing the verdict to be guilty. He could have had a chance if he had the decency to show in court.
Don’t let the tallis and tefillin fool you. He can’t be chareidi. . . They don’t work, remember?
Good !!! I almost got run over by a guy leaving Shacharis to get his kids on their tenders. He was trying to daven & drive
The idiot should lose his license permanently. He didn’t even have the guts to show up in court.
Should have appeared and tried his luck.
does’t Kohellet tell us not to be overly religious?
driving with a talis over the head is not too brilliant; maybe downright stupid.
Your headline is misleading. His rightful conviction, suspension and fine had nothing to do with his wearing tallis and tefillin. He was given a very lenient sentence because his field of vision was obscured and he was concentrating on a book in his hand not on the road. Bechasdei Hashem an accident was avoided. A big thank you to the police officer who apprehended and ticketed this idiot. That is on the side of gashmius. On the side of ruchnius, did the driver really think it was mechubadik to squeeze in his davening when he was doing something else? Is that how davening is supposed to be?
Before we get all the hysterical rants about how the Charedi are being pick on, please note that if he was davening with kavanah, he was a real menace on the raod.
FYI – there is a follow-up on this story. The guy says that the police officer’s description of what he was doing is not quite accurate, and he failed to show up because he never uses the secular calendar – and so was confused about the date of the hearing.
I’m not defending what he allegedly did – just adding some info. FYI, I believe that if he was doing what was alleged, he should absolutely be ticketed, and if he failed to show up, of course the judge had no choice but the find him guilty. Nothing anti-Chareidi here – if what they say he was doing is true, he’s a Chosid Shoteh.
an Israeli Yid